DadTalk

It is wild out there

BBC natural history programmes have a long history of camera men crouching in hides, with their massive telephoto lens, for months to get that one great shot.  In Australia they did it slightly differently, with a man in frighteningly tight shorts leaping out of bushes grappling his startled prey to the ground.

Aussie zoos can also take this interactive approach to the wild life.  We did not visit the late great Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo. It was 40C and we could not face a two hour drive and a big day out, so we visited the closer, smaller and cheaper Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, just outside Brissy. 

In a busy, but thankfully largely shaded, couple of hours we got to hand feed kangaroos, get frighteningly close to emus, cuddle koalas and handle snakes and crocs.  We also learnt that a wombat’s bum is strong enough to crush a dingo’s skull – so do not mess with the wombat. 

Oz’s more relaxed view of its wildlife is also on display up in Darwin, where we currently are.  The fancier shops are selling croc belts, the tackier ones are selling Kangaroo scrotum cigarette lighters (Great Balls of Fire?).  You can also get lowered into a tank with a 3 metre salt water croc – the “Tank of Death”.  And we’ve discovered that roo pie is very tasty.

Now I’m not a great fan of zoos. At the end of the day it is about looking at things in cages.  And I can’t honestly say if koalas mind being photographed with excited / mildly frightened small children.  But I do enjoy the Aussies more hands on approach to life and life-forms.

Picture reproduced by kind permission of V.Wallop (Mrs Round the World Steve)