Koalas and Kangaroos
Port Douglas, Australia - Day 15
Why doesn't the USA have meat pies? I think I am going to have to open up my own bakery, cause I love them. Katie and I grabbed a meat pie, gobbled it up, and headed over to four mile beach. The beach was picturesque, running far into the distance and there were barely any people. Views thoroughly enjoyed, Katie and I made our way south to Kuranda. We were specifically going to Koala Gardens, but the town itself is kind of an attraction with tons of shops, some selling authentic Australian goods while some tourist junk. Car parked and tickets purchased, Katie and I ran to the koalas. We got to hold Hazel, who was soft and cuddly. The handler said that each koala is handled for 30 minutes, three times a week max. Hazel didn't seem to mind, though she seemed interested in my face and kept slowly turning her head to take a gander. After we parted from Hazel, we got to go meet some kangaroos. The pair we were able to interact with were lounging by a tree and could hardly be bothered. Katie befriended a hungry wallaby and hand fed it until its tummy was full up and it hopped off. Right next to this tiny little zoo was "Birdworld," which was a separate little zoo with a bunch of beautiful birds, chirping and nibbling away. Stomping around was an Australian Cassowary, which is honestly a dinosaur. Its got dino legs and feet, and a bone fin on its head. Before leaving Kuranda, Katie and I did a bit of shopping and learned to play the didgeridoo from a very interesting fellow named Jimmy at an authentic Aboriginal shop. He invited me to try one, so I grabbed one off the shelf and couldn't make any noise. He asked me to do the brass lip buzz and said in a heavy accent, "you have the wrong one, you are a C sharp." He grabbed another didgeridoo and handed it over. Interestingly enough, I was able to make the sound. He explained the the instruments are actually keyed, and that you can learn to change the key of your lip buzz, but that you don't need to if you find an instrument in your natural key. Katie also turned out to be a C sharp as well and was able to do it a lot better than me. Thoroughly enjoying that experience, we gave Jimmy a lot of money (for some souvenirs) and headed back to Port Douglas.
