Thursday, January 2, 2014

My First Week and Wings Wildlife Park.

I arrived here in Tasmania on December 30th at about 10:00 pm. My trip ended up being about 36 hours. I had five flights and my fair share of time spent sitting in airports. I had a whole day to spend in the Melbourne airport. But I made it safe and sound and Alex was there to pick me up when I finally got into Launceston.
 
I spent the next couple days just sort of hanging around and sleeping a lot. It is so lovely here. It is warm and it is so nice to be so close to the ocean. One of the big things I have noticed is the trees. Some of them seem quite similar to trees we have in Canada, but others just look so foreign. It is a bit surreal seeing the gum trees everywhere. Also the birds are very different. They are different colours and sound very different. I have seen quite a few larger, sort of quail-sized birds running around. Apparently the Greys have a kookaburra that lives right around their backyard. But he has sort of disappeared and hasn't been around at all since I got here.

I have started meeting the staff at Camp Clayton. They all seem very nice. I am trying to keep names and faces straight. Luckily for me, most of the them have their names on their shirts. It is quite helpful. I have met quite a few fantastic people that aren't camp staff as well. I have been invited to go camping on the East coast next week and I am looking forward to it very much. I have been told that there is a chance I will get to see dolphins at Wineglass Bay and maybe even swim with them. I have also been told that the East coast is just full of beautiful white sand beaches and I will get to camp almost right on the beach.

Yesterday I went to Wings Wildlife Park with Tamara and the girls and it was so amazing! They have an enclosure that you can go into and hang out with kangaroos. You can feed them and pet them and just hang out with them. It was pretty fantastic. I also got to pet a Tasmanian devil and watch them tear a wallaby leg apart. The park also had wombats, they mostly just slept while we were there, and koalas. I got a couple good pictures of the koalas, but no petting or holding. That will have to happen another time. There was also lots of birds, some snakes, and echidnas, which are one of the cutest animals in the world. They do Tasmanian Devil feedings (which we saw) and koala and wombat feedings. So if I have the chance to go back before I leave, I may be able to catch the koalas and wombats. And maybe they will let me pet them. There is another wildlife park closer to Hobart where I have heard they might let you hold a koala, so I will have to check that out as well.

Here are a few of the photos:

 











 
 










 
While we were at the park, Tamara picked me up a bunch of brochures for local attractions and activities. There are so many cool things to do around here. There are places to go see a platypus, a seahorse farm, a honey farm, there is a cave that looks absolutely amazing, and so much more. I am excited to see as much as I can. 

I am also excited for camps to start. I am looking forward to seeing how Camp Clayton runs and what their holiday camps are like. I got to help out in the kitchen this morning. And the first camp, 9/10 camp, starts tonight.

I am feeling pretty good. But every once in a while the jet lag still gets me. Sometimes I still feel a bit like I'm floating. Or like the ground is swaying a bit. And I get a bit more tired that I think I should in the middle of the afternoons. The swaying has slowly been getting better over the last few days, so I am hoping the tiredness will go away soon as well.
 
Things still feel quite foreign over here sometimes. As can be expected, I haven't even been here a week yet. But everyone has been so kind and welcoming and I am feeling quite comfortable even if I don't know what is going on half of the time. I am very happy to be here.

1 comment:

  1. So excited to see you blogging about Tasmania! I hope you have a great time there. Kristen and i could have extended our stay for the rest of our trip there in Tasi because there was so much to see and do there. I agree it is very surreal being there and I was also fascinated by all the birds. I hope you get to see a kookaburra. Josh Wilson, Kristen, and i went to Whineglass Bay and ran into the wild dolphins and sure enough they came and swam with me. Its a bit of a crazy story, but you might have already heard it. How long are you staying? will it be mostly in Tasi?

    Anyway, keep blogging! Love the photos.

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