1) Transportation to the Moonlit Sanctuary
2) Entry to the sanctuary along with a tour
3) Barbecue lunch
4) Transportation to Sorrento front beach and Sorrento back beach
Additionally, the trip included a beach and surf safety orientation as well as several beach activities throughout the afternoon. This part of the trip was partially subsidized by the Swinburne Abroad Office while the rest was paid for by the Rootvij Kadakia Foundation. The foundation also organized all of the beach activities.
The Rootvij Kadakia Foundation was founded by a family after losing one of its members to dangerous conditions at Lake Tyers in Victoria. Since then, the foundation teaches Australians, but especially international students or visitors of the unique dangers in Australian waters. Between dangerous wildlife (including sharks prevalent enough to warrant look-out helicopters monitoring the beaches) and harsher water conditions than most are used to, the information was actually very useful. In fact, dangerous water conditions are the second most common cause of international student injury or fatality. (Sorry, I forget what she said the first is!)
More information on the foundation can be read here:
www.readthebeach.com
Anyway, the day started at 7:45 am. And yes, after a beach themed party at a club called Cheers the previous night, his was uncomfortably early. But I got up and joined the crowd of other international students, most of which had also been at Cheers the night before. We checked in and waited a bit to board the bus, thankful that the trip to the Moonlit Sanctuary was 45 minutes away giving enough time for a nap on the bus.
Once we finally boarded, we started the trip south east to the sanctuary.
As soon as we arrived we immediately went into the sanctuary and sat down for a presentation on snakes. Given the fact that over 65% of the worlds most venomous snakes are found in Australia, the presentation was definitely interesting. The presenter, who would also be our tour guide, took a python from its enclosure and walked around for any student that wanted to to hold or touch it.
Before heading out we were also offered an opportunity to purchase a ticket to pet a Koala for A$10. Of course I jumped on board and got my ticket.
Afterwards, we headed out into the 25 acre sanctuary. The sanctuary had several very large enclosures for animals such as the dingo or the barking owl, but many were walking openly. This included strange looking geese of some sort, wallabies, apparently some snaked (I didn't see any), and of course kangaroos. But the tour started with several Australian bird species.
Above: Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo
Above: Barking Owl. And yes, it makes a noise that sounds like "woof."
From there, our tour guide brought us over to the tasmanian devil enclosure. Considering that they are nocturnal and I didn't get to see one at the Melbourne zoo for that reason, it was cool to see one at the sanctuary. The species has also recently become extremely threatened by a new disease that researchers still do not know how to cure.
Above: Tasmanian devil
Above: Tasmanian devil
Next, we headed to the area we were all excited for!
But as we continued onto a wooded area filled with trails and scattered bird enclosures we were told the wallabies and kangaroos would be found ahead. Our tour guide supplied us with food to hand feed them and set us free to find them on our own.
As soon as we started on the trail this is what we found.
Above: Three wallabies
We spent about an hour walking along the trail and I have a ton of pictures, but here are a few with the wallabies. They were not shy at all - you could get as close as you want, pet them, feed them from your hand or whatever you wanted. I am not sure how they'd react to being picked up though, I didn't try that!
After spending plenty of time with the wallabies we be can the hunt for some kangaroos. After a short search we spotted a group of them lounging in the trees. I spent even more time with the kangaroos, probably around 20 or 30 minutes sitting with them, feeding them and petting them. Just like the wallabies they were not shy at all, were completely friendly and even curious. If you held out your hand they were quick to come over and see if you had food!
Timing worked out perfectly and after spending some quality bonding time with this group of Kangaroos I was called to come pet the koala! I made my way to the enclosure and found that the koala bear was already brought over to the enclosure it can be pet in and was eating a fresh serving of eucalyptus leaves.
Several other students had turns with the koala bear, petting and taking pictures with it. Finally it was Wilfrido and my turn: here are a few pictures of the dozens I have.
Afterwards it was time to eat lunch! We were cooked sausages, burgers to eat along with a salad and there was plenty of food to go around. Soon after students were done eating it was time to return to the bus and head to Sorrento.
Sorrento has two well-frequented beaches: Sorrento Front Beach and Sorrento Back Beach. The back beach faces the ocean and is popular for surfing. Of course, the beach and water is much harsher while the front beach has calmer, warmer waters. We visited the back beach first.
The back beach was nestled in a very nice looking cove, with a driveway leading down to a very excluded-feeling area, completed surrounded by green hills.
This beach isn't much for just going in for fun, there were a lot of rocks along the shore, leaving a pretty small area that you could swim in. But experienced surfers were able to go out significantly further, where rocks were less prevalent and surf waves. The waves were very large and very consistent, definitely a location that a very experienced surfer could be challenged at.
Regardless we headed down to the beach to get our feet wet.
After some time by the beach we headed back up to the surf club building. Here members from the Rootvij Kadakia Foundation gave their presentation on beach safety and threats at the beach unique to Australia.
The presentation started off by going over things familiar to me like rip tides, but then continued onto the Australian unique parts. Here's some random interesting facts I remember:
1) The life saves have a helicopter that patrols the surf beach while they are on duty, looking not only for distressed surfers, but also sharks
2) Northern Australian beaches are much more dangerous than southern ones
3) Many beaches have nets around them to keep dangerous wildlife out, such as sharks and the animals listed below
4) Box jellyfish can be encountered in the water in northern beaches. In case you're unaware, they are very large and very poisonous.
5) The blue ringed octopus, usually located in rocky crevices in northern Australian beaches, are only 6 inches long and are listed among the most venomous aquatic animals in the world. They are lethal.
From the sound of the presentation, when I go to the beaches in Cairns over mid-semester break, or scuba diving, I'll have to find out more about these things! Maybe it is true...
Once the safety presentation was over we jumped back on the bus for a five minute ride north to Sorrento Front Beach on the bay side of the strip. This beach was much more similar to what I was accustomed to, but the water was much clearer than it is in New Jersey! The water was also warmer in the bay, and of course calmer.
Here, there were several life savers waiting with different activities to do throughout the day. Some of them were more technical, such as learning different life vest classifications, safety procedures for if a boat ever capsizes at night, or how to use a life guard flotation tube to tow somebody that's drowning back onto shore. But most of them were fun, such as practicing paddling surf boards, or games where we lined up boogie boards on the water and tried to run across them. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures since we spent the entire time in the water!
But after the activities were over, as usual once the end of the day comes around, we were exhausted. We helped clean up the equipment, got changed into dry clothes and hopped back on the bus for the one hour ride home. Just like the ride to the sanctuary in the morning, the entire bus was quiet while everybody slept until we got back onto campus to end our trip.
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