Wildlife Habitat

Wednesday morning, 17 June

We left Cairns at 7 am, heading up north along the Coral Sea coast to Cape Tribulation. 

Our first stop was the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas, which "Puts YOU in the Zoo!"  We saw some ancient cassowary birds up close.  This cassowary was red necked from one angle

and blue necked from another

Modern birds like the eclectus parrot inhabit the rainforest canopy.  These strong fliers leave their roosting trees in the morning to dine in fruit and blossom trees in the afternoon. 

Eitan and I fed lots of young kangaroos.  

After wandering through different wildlife immersion environments, we settled down for some nature talks by a zookeeper handling a snake 

and a crocodile; we got to pet both reptiles.  

We then had our pictures taken with a very friendly Koala.  Evidently, Koala handling is legal only in Queensland, and then limited to just 15 minutes a day.  Both primate and marsupial look happy with the interaction. 

The bus continued north, up to Cape Tribulation.  After lunch at a forested campsite, we walked along the Myall Beach.

This afternoon, the rainforest!