Short Beaked Echidna

Location: Karatta, Australia
Address:  Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, South Coast Road
Date: May 2012
Website:  www.hansonbay.com.au

  Most people are aware that Australia is home to some of the most unusual and unique animals on the planet.  When we visited Kangaroo Island we had a private encounter with a monotreme.  We had come to the Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to see their resident koalas, but as we drove up their driveway we noticed a little brown creature shuffling across the field.  We parked the car and headed across the field for a closer look.

 To our delight it was an echidna digging in the grass.  In Greek mythology, Echidna was half woman and half snake.  Echidnas are mammals yet they lay eggs like a reptile so this name is fitting.  The proper word for an egg laying mammal is montreme.  There are only 2 montremes, the echidna and the platypus.  There are four types of echidna, but our encounter was with a short beaked echidna.

  The echidna continued to go about its business and paid us no mind.  The echidna is similar to an anteater because it digs in the ground and sticks its beak into the hole and then uses its tongue to slurp up ants and other insects.

  The echidna also has spines covering its back much like a porcupine.  If threatened it will curl up into a ball like a hedgehog to protect itself.  We don't believe these spines are designed to stick into an attacker like a porcupine's quills but we think it would still be a mistake to mess with them.

   We observed the echidna while it enjoyed its lunch.  It is yet another Australian creature that seems to be made up of several different animals.  While Australia is home to some of the deadliest animals on earth, it also has many, like our little spiny friend, that are some of the cutest.  Speaking of cute Australian animals, we had to get going as there were trees full of koalas waiting for us on the other side of the sanctuary.

---

Map of Our World
Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (Short Beaked Echidna)

---

Post # 118

Batman Avenue

Location: Melbourne, Australia
Address: Batman Avenue
Date: May 2012
Website: www.onlymelbourne.com.au

  We were headed towards Federation Square when we noticed the street sign in front of us.  We were about to cross Batman Avenue.  Maybe Melbourne would also have a Spiderman Street or Iron Man Crescent?  We wondered why the street was named after a fictional superhero.  It was only much later that we would discover the street was actually named after John Batman, who was one of the founders of Melbourne, Australia.  John Batman died in May 1839 and it would be almost exactly 100 years before the Batman character made his debut in Detective Comics #27.   Detective Comics is better known as DC comics.  Try as we might we could make no other connections between John Batman and the caped crusader.  We even looked through his family tree hoping to find a Bruce or an Alfred or a Wayne.  No luck.  John Batman had seven daughters and one son and married a woman named Elizabeth.  We were hoping that he had married a woman named Robin, because the name Robin Batman would have been awesome. 

---

Map of Our World
Batman Avenue

---

Post # 110

Wombat Encounter

Location: Beerwah, Queensland, Australia
Address: 1638 Steve Irwin Way
Date: May 2012
Website:  www.australiazoo.com.au/our-animals/animal-encounters

  Few things have brought us more joy than our wombat encounter at the Australia Zoo.  We still can't look at these pictures without a huge smile on our faces.  The Australia Zoo is located about an hour's drive outside of Brisbane and offers many special animal encounters.  We have always had a soft spot for wombats since seeing our first one at the Toronto Zoo.  For about 40 dollars each we had the chance to spend half an hour inside the wombat enclosure, up close and personal with our 5 newest friends.

  It is always surprising that more people are not familiar with wombats.  Everyone you meet knows about koalas, but not their close cousin the wombat.  Both animals are marsupials and only found in Australia.  Marsupials carry their young in pouches and both the koala and wombat have backwards facing pouches.  This is useful for the wombat which spends a great deal of time digging in the ground and would not want to fill its pouch up with dirt in the process.  Both animals also have hardened backsides of cartilage.  The koala uses it to sit comfortably high up in the trees, but the wombat uses it for protection.  If a predator, like a dingo, attacks a wombat, it will dive into its burrow filling the opening with it's behind.  The dingo will be unable to get a grip on anything to pull the wombat out. In fact, often the wombat will allow a small opening over its back and when the dingo reaches further inside it will use its hardened backside to crush the dingo's head against the roof of its burrow.  The final thing koalas and wombats have in common is that they are both adorable.

  We were drawn to the wombats because they are so cute, but we had to be wary as they can also be aggressive and could easily charge and bowl one of us over.  They are almost like tough little bulldogs.  When we were at the Cairns Tropical Zoo one of the keepers told us that just the day before a female wombat had attacked another keeper and she required stitches from her wounds.  The Australia Zoo staff told us that we could only approach the wombats from behind and only while they were eating.  Once they had finished eating we would have to leave.

  Five bowls were placed in a row in the middle of the wombat enclosure and each wombat took their position behind one of the bowls.  It was then that we were instructed that we could touch the wombats.  We hopped from wom-butt to wom-butt and back again stroking their fur.  All the while the wombats munched away.  We even had the opportunity to lay down on the grass with one arm around a wombat and have our pictures taken.  Then we went back to running from butt to butt, giddy with delight.

  There are three types of wombats: Common, Southern hairy-nosed and Northern hairy-nosed.  The Northern hairy-nosed wombat is the most endangered.  The Southern hairy-nosed and Common are, well, more common.  The Australia Zoo had 5 wombats that we are now on a first name basis with.   They are Laura and Meg the Southern hairy-nosed wombats and Minibus, Tonka, and Wendy the Common wombats.  In the photo above, one of the Southern hairy-nosed wombats is facing us.  In the picture below, a Common wombat is enjoying its meal.  The Southern hairy-nosed wombats have a thicker, softer fur, while the Common has a shorter, coarser fur.  Trust us we checked them all.

   Once our wombat experience was over we still could not get enough, so we continued to watch the wombats from outside of their enclosure.  If you ever get the chance we highly recommend this experience.  If you are still not convinced, watch the video below and try not to fall in love.

---

Map of Our World
Australia Zoo (Wombat Encounter)

---

Post # 24

12 Apostles

Location: Victoria, Australia
Address: Great Ocean Road
Date: May 2012
Website: parkweb.vic.gov.au

  The Great Ocean Road runs along the southern part of Australia in the territory of Victoria.  One of the highlights of this drive is the 12 Apostles. These are tall rock formations that were caused by the giant ocean waves eroding the limestone coast.  They are called the 12 Apostles but when we visited there were only about 7 still standing, and we believe there may have never been more than 10.  We were informed that another one had fallen just the year before.

  As you stand on the coast and face south you really feel the awesome power and beauty of nature.  With the wind blowing in our faces and the waves crashing against the rocks we really felt like we were at the edge of the world.  Since at this point we were just west of Tasmania, there was truly nothing but ocean between us and Antarctica.  Amidst all of this the Apostles stand there just off the coast, braving the elements.

  The wind began to pick up and darker clouds were moving in.  We were still about a 3 hour drive from our hotel in Melbourne so our Aussie family tour guides wisely decided it was time for us to go.

---

Map of Our World
12 Apostles

---

Post # 15