The critters

Hey everybody! I'm trying to get the rest of these Aussie photos posted so I can get on with the NZ stuff. Here are the very fun local critters. As I said before, we were in Cairns in Far North Queensland for 10 days because that is the closest city to the Great Barrier Reef. It's waaaaay up at the top of the country in the hot and sticky tropical rain forest part. There are heaps of interesting plants and flowers and birds and other creatures there, and I got to fulfill a childhood dream.

Can any of you remember back to just about 1977 and picture your book bag or lunchbox or pencil? Did any of these, perhaps, have ... a Koala bear grasping it? A 4" tall Koala that you squeezed and its arms opened and then pinched shut (you probably had to be a girl for this particular vision). There were baby sizes too -- maybe you put one of those in your hair? 

Well I loved those little pinching Koalas and ever since then I've wanted to see one in person -- to touch one!!! I remember reading that they weren't all cute and cuddly in person; that they were in fact rather nasty, but I refused to believe such rubbish. And at the Koala Park in Kuranda last week, my pathetic little dream came true. We paid a small fortune for Laurel to "cuddle a Koala" named Princess and I'm guessing she was drugged (Princess not Laurel), but honestly, animal rights be damned, I don't care! She was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Ever!! She was all round and soft and clung to Laurel like a fat little baby. There was no one behind us in line, so we hogged Princess until they pried her from our singled-thumbed hands. That's one thing we learned -- Koalas have two thumbs on each hand. Helpful if you're trying to win a tug of war with a park employee...

Finally a few backpackers came through and they wanted to cuddle a Koala too, so we did have to give her up, but honestly, Laurel and I were in love with her. We then had to move on to the kangaroos and they were kinda weird, but they had these awesome back feet. Only three toes on each foot and the middle toe is enormous! 

Thought my mom friends would enjoy the maternity info. Sounds like fun, huh?

Loved the signs they had at this place. Dennis has been having some troubles with his back and now and then it just sort of seizes up and this happened as he bent down to pet one of the kangaroos. We then determined that he had violated  the "do not act aggressively" rule and hope it wasn't captured on the video surveillance.

I really took this one because I enjoyed the Chinese Koala drawing, but if you read further, you'll find at least one rather creepy entry.

And speaking of creepy, let me just leave you with this. If you can come up with someone who would wear either of these ensembles, let me know and I'll order one. Male or female...

   
Enjoy your day, friends! Write to us and tell us what's going on in your lives...xo, K.