Bring on the Animals!!

Our next adventure on the trip was to visit the Rainforest Habitat and get close and cuddly with some Aussie animals. McKenna really wanted to hold a koala but they said she was too small so I got to hold it while everyone else cuddled up to it. His name was Grizzly. He was very soft but also very stinky!

Walking through the crocodile enclosure was definitely creepy. This guy was the biggest one they had and was out in the open. Several smaller ones were laying on the banks, extremely camouflaged. It would be really easy to walk right on them without even seeing them!

We bought some pellets to feed the kangaroos but found out the emu's liked them as well! David was worried about losing a finger but all went well!

 The kangaroos and wallabies were very tame and used to being hand fed and petted. The girls had a great time.

There were so many tropical birds flying around some of the exhibits. David was able to hold this one and we snapped a quick picture. It is a yellow tailed black cockatoo.

We went back to the beach for sunset at high tide and again the next afternoon for low tide. We are still fascinated with the ocean and all the shells and creatures you can find. Also, it is amazing how different the same landscape can look with the changing of the tides!



high tide

low tide...you can walk out forever

exploring the tidal pools and sinking sand/mud...very fun!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures in Part 2 - we still have one more adventure to share, the Daintree Rainforest!

Love,

David, Erin, McKenna, Brooklyn and Blakely

Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef

David and McKenna finished term 1 and we embarked on the adventure of a lifetime!! We headed up to Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia...the closest city to the Great Barrier Reef.  Four Mile Beach was a short walk through the trees and we explored it as soon as we arrived. Absolutely beautiful! The girls also enjoyed some time in the pool.

Family photo while we are still pastey white!

The tide was out at this point.

The next day was our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We rode in a large Quicksilver Boat for about an hour to get out to the reef. The girls loved the trip, despite McKenna getting a bit queasy!

We went out to the Low Isles where we could snorkle off of the beach. It was on this island that they brough Steve Erwin after he was stung by a jellyfish as it was the closest place with medical supplies. Unfortunately he was dead on arrival.

The first thing that we did was to go out on the reef with a glass bottomed boat. As the tide was out, the coral and marine life was literally centimeters below our boat. Brooklyn was the first to spot a sea turtle and we were lucky to see about 15 more. We also saw giant clams, several tropical fish, and different varieties of coral such as spaghetti coral and boulder coral. It was incredible and made us excited to get snorkling!

Once on the island, you had to wear a stinger suit if you even wanted to wade in the water. This was to protect you from jellyfish and sunburn. We felt a bit like super heroes!

McKenna and I tried snorkling first. Having never done it before, she was such a quick learner and we were able to go about 50 m off shore looking at the reef. Once she got the hang of it, she was hooked and we couldn't get her face out of the water!

Brookie was too little to snorkle but enjoyed a swim, clinging to her Daddy!
 The boat we travelled on is in the background as is the little glass bottom boat.

Going home after a full day of fun and sun! The island is in the background.

Because we did so much on this trip and have so many pictures and stories to share, we are going to break it up a little. Stay tuned for a blog about our visit to the Wildlife Habitat where we held a koala and hand fed some critters! Love and miss you all....wish you were here!!

Love the Basisty Family