Holidays with the Boys! Billabong Sanctuary

 

The boys had arrived just after Christmas from Brisbane for 3 weeks of Nanna and Grumps time! Yes we call him Grumps!

On New Years Day, albeit a  little damp to start with, we decided to head to Billabong Sanctuary. We had not been there before and were hoping for an easy day full of interest.

As you can see by the map and activities on offer, the day is pretty much planned and jam packed with information!

We arrived a little later and picked up the tour at 10.30 for the turtle and barramundi feeding. We all were not really knowing what to expect, but soon found that this is a hands on park, very good for little ‘Dennis’ ! and when I say Dennis, I mean Noah! The turtles weren’t backward in coming forward, and the warning to count your fingers was well warranted!

The park is surrounded by waterways and bushland, hiding the highway which was just there, and with the weather overcast for the day, it was the perfect environment and weather to enjoy our day.

 

The Wombat experience was interestingly enough – interesting! Our tour guide explained all the different types of Wombats we have in Australia, keeping it really simple for younger (and older) visitors. The boys were stoked that they were able to hold and pet them and a range of different animals at the park, this tour was the best idea out!

As we walked around, there were also many free range animals to feed and pet, all of them pretty tame, all except the bossy magpie geese that is!!

Kangaroos were on their best behaviour, although there was one lady that had put the feed into her handbag and left it on the seat while she petted one of the other animals, you guessed it, the kangaroo was very curious!

Koalas were next on the tour with an in-depth talk on their lifestyle and eating habits. (not much to it really!) which led us to the next experience of holding a Koala, apparently they have sharp claws – oh dear!

In between shows/talks there was plenty of time to have a drink and a general run around to burn off any energy that was being stored up while listening!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reptiles, well, not my favourite thing at all, but not to put my phobias onto the boys, I encouraged them to interact. The smiles kinda showed that they were willing to have a go at least!

 

 

After the reptiles, we decided to have some lunch, the kiosk had lots to choose from and wasn’t too bad for price. the afternoon we decided to do our own thing around the next part of the park. This included mainly crocs. As we have been to many parks in the Territory, crocs were nothing new! It is a necessary learning though if you are to visit the top end of Australia, so at least go to one showing of crocs when visiting!

The dingos were in a playful mood and chased each other throughout their enclosure, much to the enjoyment of the kids!

We wandered past the croc enclosures, and past a blocked off part, suddenly a croc burst out of the water, obviously the blocked off area was her (de egged) nest! She was protecting it fiercely – glad there is double fencing all the way around!

At around 2pm, the rain decided it was going to settle in again, so we decided that we would leave.

This park was above my expectation for a sanctuary, and I have been to a few, the activities were so very well planned out and flowed seamlessly. Most other parks have a different layout by letting you choose and find your way, sometimes you can get lost!

As always

AnnetteMarieBee