December 24, 2014
What a unique way of spending time on Christmas Eve. We spent a few hours hanging out with the Australian animals at Urimbirra Wildlife Park. Arriving early, we were the first guests of the day through the door. It was delightful to have to park to ourselves for about 15 minutes.
A walk through the aviary allowed us to get some great pictures of the rainbow lorikeets. Then a quick stop to see the bunnies and guinea pigs before viewing the lace monitor. We were surprised by the active echidna! Then it was over to check out the koalas and dingoes (not in the same area of course). A walk through the mobs of kangaroos and wallabies and a few opportunities to hand feed the marsupials. A view of salt water and fresh water crocodiles (also in separate pens) and a quick stop at the nocturnal house before sitting down to watch the Koala demonstration. After the crowds cleared off a bit, we got a chance to pet and pose for pictures with the koalas. Another round of the park to feed some more kangaroos and our visit was concluded.
A relaxed drive back through the hills had us stop off for Christmas dinner items in Stirling before heading back home.
Once things were put away, Sean and Carolyn splashed around in the pool. Then it was time to prepare our feast and welcome our guest, Reiko, an exchange teacher from Japan who works at the same school as Carolyn.
We enjoyed roast pork, fresh garden beans and zucchini, potatoes, salad, local cheese and wine and a treat of pickled octopus. Our dessert was a strawberry rhubarb crumble and vanilla ice cream.
We introduced Reiko to the card game Ratuki and played a couple rounds. Then we opened a few presents and listened to Esther recite the Aussie version of the Night Before Christmas. Carolyn also read the story “Santa Comes to South Australia” and we sang a couple verses of “We wish you a merry Christmas!”
What an exceptional way to spend Christmas Eve 2014!
Rainbow Lorikeets, December 24, 2014
Emu, December 24, 2014
Lace Monitor, December 24, 2014
Sean feeding the kangaroos and duck, December 24, 2014
Kanga-selfie, December 24, 2014
Echidna, December 24, 2014
Alert Koala, December 24, 2014
Dingo, December 24, 2014
Doug feeds the little kangaroo, December 24, 2014
Freshwater crocodile chin rest, December 24, 2014
Peacock, December 24, 2014
Doug and Koala, December 24, 2014
Kookaburra, December 24, 2014
Tawny Frogmouth, December 24, 2014
Christmas Eve Dinner, December 24, 2014
Australia 2014 - 2015 
Wow!!! Super nice photos in this one! I especially like the “cheers” gang:-). More posts soon please:-)
Glad to hear you like the pics. Trying my best to keep the blog up-to-date! Thanks for commenting! Cheers! 🙂
Great photos. Thanks for all the latest postings – it’s great to be able to keep up with you guys. Love to all
Thanks Jan! Great to hear that you are enjoying the updates. We are having a great time! See you soon! 🙂
Score!!! Finally, a whole lot of Aussie animals up close! Great pictures of the humans too! As I look at these pictures, I know that it is cold & snowy here. Ho hum! Continue to enjoy the Aussie adventures & I’ll keep following.
So glad you enjoyed the Aussie Animals and their human on-lookers. The local male koala in the gully entertains us each evening and morning with his lion-like grunts. And we have also seen Mo the blue tongued pool lizard out enjoying our pool patio. Lots of creatures to enjoy!