Amazing Australian Animals!

Australia truly is a biology nerd's paradise--specifically an animal lover's paradise!  

We saw SO many different animals--many of which are found only in Australia.  Either in a zoo or in the wild, we saw every Australian animal that we had really wanted to with one exception--the elusive blue-ringed octopus (the only venomous cephalopod)! 

In captivity, we saw all the "biggies"--kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, dingoes, ...and...

wombats

echidnas

platypus

tasmanian devils

cassowaries

Of course, we saw other cool things in captivity too--the Sydney Aquarium was AMAZING and we saw loads of cool animals there.  In addition, we saw beautiful birds, gorgeous butterflies, and some crazy venomous snakes at the Australia Zoo and Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary!  

And, while I LOVED holding koalas, feeding kangaroos, and patting wombats, it was SO amazing to see animals in the wild...

The most exciting and largest of which were salt-water crocodiles!  We saw 6 in total--from a little 3 month old hatchling, to the BIG 15-foot male that is "in-charge" in that area.

We saw 4 snakes--two amethystine pythons (like the one below) and two common tree snakes.

TONS of kookaburras (even got to hear the infamous laugh a few times) and many other cool birds like rainbow lorikeets, tawny frog-mouths, azure king-fishers, magpies, AND...

COCKATOOS!

There were lots of spiders--BIG spiders like Huntsmen and Golden Orb-Weavers (like the one below--she was HUGE!!!)...

and this lichen spider--amazing camouflage!

My two favorite insects were these gorgeous Ulysses butterflies AND...

these funny (yet apparently rather aggressive as you can see from the posturing one on the left) green tree ants--who I affectionately deemed, "green-rumped" ants.
Obviously, a huge part of the trip was all about wildlife--from the hikes, to the tours, to the road-signs, and even the food!  Yes, we enjoyed (on more than one occasion) some yummy crocodile and kangaroo.  (the croc burger's on the left). Mmmm!

The trip truly was amazing--definitely a trip of a lifetime!  We are so glad that we we were able to take advantage of an opportunity to visit with family & good friends--a trip that wouldn't have been possible right now without the support of both of our families.  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

And while we had such an incredible time, it was definitely good to come home to life here and see our baby--we missed him everyday!