Simple Stuff: Photos from Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Taking the advice of mom, something I wouldn't dare admit doing under normal circumstances of course, I've decided to keep this post simple so I can share in a more timely manner. I recently had the chance to visit Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on Bond University's dime, having won two free passes in a photo competition. The sanctuary is really an amazing place and was a pleasant surprise. I had been under the impression that there would be little more than kangaroos and koalas to see, which there were plenty of, but the diversity of animals to be found could easily have been classified as 'zooworthy'.

Beyond all of the animals, Currumbin is home to an extensive ropes course. With three increasingly difficult stages lasting about 1.5 hours in total, Melissa and I were exhausted by days end. But, we left with a feeling of accomplishment and to my pleasant surprise, standing on a platform at least 50 feet in the air at times secured by nothing more than two ropes and a harness (which needed to be removed and transferred in between obstacles, one rope at a time) barely even caused me any worry. Just months ago I insist that these heights would have had me on the verge of tears, my lifelong fear of heights getting the best of me. I credit my reckless canopy walk in Ghana and the abundance of roller coasters I've ridden in recent years for giving me the confidence boost. This said, I still get the chills when I consider the inevitable bungee jump and/or skydive of the coming months.

And that's all I have to say, really. Enjoy the photos. Many of them are up there with my favorites to date (I have a bias towards animals).

A quite clearly upset Geico mascot.

How is this not fake?

Ambushed by a vicious python.

Stars of the show.

This is the expected behavior at all times unfortunately.

Thanks Melissa for the encouragement. She insisted I change to my macro lens to get an extreme close up of the bird and having been convinced, I have to say I'm thrilled with the outcome.

Same same.

Meditation.

I would have more koala photos but this one become quite aggressive and attacked! As seen in the photo above of course.

Aussie's raise their kids right. Teaching the little one how to hunt for Thanksgiving early on (so what if that's an American holiday...)

Echidna.

Roo is inspecting our food bag.

Hard to capture but I managed once, luckily - Joey popping his head out.

That big fellow in the foreground is about my height when standing on his hind legs.

In rehab for a drug problem.

These guys live the life. They get handfed all day long.

Trying to pick a fight with me perhaps?

I got on his good side soon enough.

Poses by both parties, rare.

Friends.

Someone should really tell this Joey it's time to get out of his mom's pouch...no?

Reminds me of a certain dog back home.

Classic animal move.

One of my favorites, I'm far better at animal portraits than human ones.

The feeding trough, as if handfeeding wasn't enough.

The babies were far easier to startle, so getting them to come close wasn't all that easy.

But I'm a real charmer you know.

The other drug buddy in rehab.

Another favorite, I like the greens in the background.

In for the kiss

Saying hello to the little guy.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed them and if you already saw all of these on Facebook, I apologize for the repetition. Back to studying.