Sept 9, 2025 Crikey!
We realized we are a short drive away from the Australia Zoo! We can’t pass up the opportunity to see the zoo – “Home of the Crocodile Hunter”! Plus, it’s a chance to see Australian wildlife up close!
Finally we spotted koalas! The Zoo operates a Wildlife Hospital that treats and rehabilitates injured wildlife. The koalas on display are in various stages of rehabilitation and most are eventually returned to the wild.
We realized why we couldn’t spot them in the forests around Port Macquarie, despite our hosts telling us they sometimes traverse their yard! They do blend into the spotted bark of the eucalyptus trees and the clumps of branches and leaves. Even a twig seems to support the one on the left, but what a wedgie!
They have enclosed fields where you can feed and pet the kangaroos. I was skeptical especially since I read that kangaroos are basically “deer that went to prison”!
The cassowary, the lesser known cousin of another large flightless Australian bird, the emu, is considered the most dangerous bird due to its strong legs and a very sharp, long claw on its inner toe!
And running loose all around the zoo are the Australian water dragons, large harmless lizards, similar to the iguanas we are more familiar with in the American tropics.