On Koalas, Kangaroos, and Killing Mosquitoes

So, I've finally seen the Aussie animals! On Sunday, we went to the Koala Park (not just koalas), courtesy of our tour guide (Mickis's friend) Jason, in Pennant Hills.

Without further ado, the koalas! Cute, no? They're not very cuddly and soft, though. But no matter. And they really do spend most of their time just sleeping and eating. This one here is called Phasco. She was quite active. But I suspect that it was just the one hour of wakefulness each day that we got to pet her.



On the other hand, this is a cockatoo, who decided that he had to stick his head through the fence so that he could communicate more clearly with us. They did say lots of amusing things, and the most famous "Polly wanna cracker" line, of course. I was scared that he couldn't get his head back in, but alas! There was no such problem.

This is no kangaroo, this is a wallaby. He was just really cute so I had to take a picture of him. I think he was trying to get to the leaves in the cylinder, but succeeded only in sniffing at the pink string hanging from the tree.

This is a dingo. They don't look that scary, do they? In fact, I think they look like nice fox-dogs. They were put in this intense fence, though, so I imagine they're loads more dangerous than they look.

And now for the kangaroos. They're literally in this section of the park where you're free to go in and pet them or feed them! So here are Mickis and Sina petting a very cooperative, lazy kangaroo.

And lest we forget, kangaroos are marsupials. Very aptly demonstrated here. The little joeys are so adorable! Joey joey joey!


Now, I don't know why I look so surprised, seeing as the whole day was pretty much a photo session, but yeah. I imagine I was feeding the kangaroo. Maybe he bit me or something, but I don't remember.

And look at that! They coexist in peace.

This, completely unrelated except for the fact that we went on Sunday as well, is Paddy's market. Really cheap fruits and veggies--somewhat reminiscent of Asia (not to mention the fact that it is in Chinatown).



Now for the mosquitoes. I hate mosquitoes. I managed to get bitten about ten times last night, no less than three times on my face. And most of them are swelling like crazy (luckily only one of the ones on my has swollen). So today, I got up early, went to Coles and bought insect repellant to spray on almost all surfaces in my apartment, washed all the sheets and towels (for the second time in three days), plugged in some mosquito zapper, and am hoping that this will rid me of the annoying pests. Not to mention I spent about $30 on different creams and ointments to make these stupid lumps on my arms/legs stop itching.