Dubbo's Open Plains Zoo; Feeding The Giraffe!

We got to feed the giraffe at Dubbo!
For an extra $5 per person you can get up close and feed a giraffe from a special platform. It was heaps of fun. Hayden wasn't very impressed with the idea though and choose the option of looking from afar.

You get a really great view of them.

 

This is the great little platform to feed the giraffe on. It helps them to not have to lean down so much.

We all fed the giraffes some carrots. Apparently its 'like chocolate' to them. They all seemed pretty keen for some.

Nice smile from Seth. Its a pity you can't see the giraffe's long blue tongues. They were pretty cool.

 

Josh loves an encounter with any type of animal.

This is a funny picture of a giraffe. I thought they were a lot like feeding a horse. Enthusiastic but pretty gentle.

Ben having a turn.

 

Me with my wild African hairstyle.

 

I asked Hayden 'Do you want to feed the giraffe?'...

That would be a no!

Much more comfortable with this type of giraffe.

The bigger boys have a go.

It was fun feeding the giraffes and getting to watch them eating and moving around. Right at the back you could see the night yard with some giraffes in it. One was a mother with its one week old baby, which we didn't get to see. Apparently its mother was too nervous to bring it out. Such a pity it would of been so adorable!

Beach Day

We visited NSW's central coast and where we were staying in Killcare was the most beautiful beach and rock pools. Our whole family had a great time climbing over them and the boys had a nice swim too. It was a beautiful day.

Lots of rocks to explore, which made it a great adventure.

Ben and Seth having swim. My boys can never go near water without getting in.

 

Hayden always happy to have a photo.

Hayden having a good explore.

It was a beautiful warm day in the midst of lots of cold wet ones. Made it feel even more special.

Dubbo Open Plains Zoo: Part One

One of our favourite things to watch on TV as a family is animal shows. Animal Planet, Shamwari Wildlife Rescue we love them all! So one thing we have had on our list of things to do as a family is visit the Open Plains zoo in Dubbo, NSW. Its the closest thing I think our family will get to going on a safari! It was about a 10 hour drive but we split it over 2 days and it wasn't so bad. We were real excited when we got there!

The first thing we got to see when we arrived were the rhinos. You can see a mother and baby black rhino. The keeper gave us a great chat on what they were like at the zoo and in the wild.

 

Yum nothing like a pine branch to eat!

 

The ostriches were next. After watching them a while a rabbit popped out and gave the ostriches a fright. Boy can they run!

 

There hippos were my favourite!!!! Before they got fed all we could see was an ear or the very top of their head. When they came out you can see how massive they were!

 

Hippos eating some hay... ( I missed the photo where the keepers squirt their heads with the hose which they loved.)

 

Its a bit hard to see but here the keeper has trained the hippo to allow it to file one of its tusks its having trouble with. Dangerous job! But you can see how the top lip is over one part of the fence so it can't chomp down on the keepers hand.

 

More hay for being a good little hippo. :) It was raining as we were watching this, we were getting dripping wet but it was too good to miss.

 

At one of the exhibits we noticed a very bold mouse scampering around. Its just a blur here, can you make it out?

 

Mark and the boys relaxing for a bit.

The lions were just lying around looking pretty bored until a keeper started cleaning a nearby area.

This is Josh at his new favouritist animal of all time- the otter. I was a bit surprised at his choice and wondered what appealed to him so much.

 

After watching the otters I could work out why he loved them so much- they never stop moving!!! (Just like Josh!) I tried taking a few pictures of them but they were so quick they always moved out of the shot.

Anyway stay tuned I have some more blogs on the zoo coming soon!

Road Trip!

My brother Si and his wife Leah had their first baby a couple of weeks ago. A beautiful little girl they've named Ava. Her baby blessing was planned for Easter Sunday so our family decided to head down to Central Coast from Brisbane (about a nine hour drive) and make a bit of a trip of it!

Here is our first stop at a park in Tennerfield. We loved this weather rock!

Hayden is holding  a red autumn leaf. In Brisbane we don't really experience the seasons as much. So we are just loving the autumn colours.

 

Here Hayden has found a 'sandpit' pf sorts, when we stop at our hotel in Tamworth. This is the first time he seemed to enjoy playing in the sandpit. He used to hate getting dirty. Couldn't get him away from this though.

Mark and the boys chilling out after a game of soccer.

 

A shop that Mark actually likes! A shop with products made from kangaroo skin, sheep and leather etc!

Seth and me in Tamworth, a beautiful town!!

This is a photo for my sister who lives in the US and misses Aussie bakeries.

 

The boys eating their sausage rolls and custard tarts.

We love our Prado! Great to drive, takes quite a lot of punishment (note Seth standing on it).

 

The towns in Australia have some great names: Here we are in Gunnedah! (Not to far from Dunedoo, Wallabahdah, Eumungerie, Kootingal and Eulomongo :) ).

Here is a beautiful stop in Coonbarabran.

 I love this photo! Josh and Seth up a tree.

 You can't quite catch the beauty on camera, but it was so beautiful here, mountains all around us.

 On a stop on the way to Gosford. We stopped at this beautiful park in the middle of nowhere!

Seth may be a little big to ride this horse... 

The best thing about the road trip though- we saw our first wombat in the wild! So cute!