Hanoi, Vietnam has never seen tears the like as a group of 12 of us--somehow all of the cool kids that I really got along with all had flights around the same time that I did and somehow Hanoi International Airport only has one international terminal--departed one by one, with rounds of hugs and kisses and tears at each boarding gate until it was only Tam and me. Luckily we were on the same flight, as we were both headed to Australia! It was an overnight flight and I slept terribly, but boy did I perk up when I deplaned! Everything was in English! The airport staff were polite and helpful! And the best part? Samantha was there waiting for me! I had a sudden rush of homecoming and welcome and it was wonderful.
Samantha, my favorite from the huge European adventure, lives in Adelaide. We really get along, so it was amazing. It is funny how, when you meet someone in such a life-changing experience like travelling Europe and Egypt for the better part of two months, seeing them at home and in normal situations like grocery shopping and running errands can seem so fascinating! We did a lot of super fun touristy things, too! And I met a bunch of her friends, like Pickle, whose terrible childhood nickname stuck, and her family and her beloved dog, Athos (yes, like the Three Musketeers--we were meant to be friends for sure!). Picture time!
We met up for dinner with Tiarna, who was also on our European adventure. She lives outside of Adelaide.
We went to Cleland Wildlife Park. Highly recommended. You can feed the adorable animals! Like this wallaby! So. Cute!
Samantha is terrified of Emus. Of all of the deadly, poisonous, dangerous animals in Australia, she is afraid of the Emu. And I am starting to get convinced. She has this theory that the Emu evolved from or is somehow a descendant of the velociraptor. Warning: Explicit language is on the video...
They let you pet this Koala. For free! They are sooo soooooooffffffttttt! And just look at how good looking we are.
We had a delicious lunch break and the soup in their cafeteria was amazing. So yumm. They we set out again to see them feed the dingos. Really fascinating stuff. Their packs are matriarchs, and depending on where you live in Australila, you either think dingos are a menace (if they eat your sheep) or that the apex predator in Australia should be protected (if you do not own sheep). Other fun fact: The world's longest fence? That would be Australia's Dingo fence, built in the 1900s to keep dingos out of the southern Australian states where sheep are raised. It is a whopping 3,500 miles long. Dingos are not technically native to Australia, but they have been on the continent for over 4,000 years.Bonus material: If you didn't know where Adelaide is before, you can locate it on this map!
So after I learned all about that, we went to see the waterfowl feeding. Holy shit, you guys! their birds are huge. I knew that there were some differences, like black swans instead of white and different types of ducks, but hold the phone. No one warned me about pelicans. They are massive and they have freaky puppet eyes. Not a fan.
But I fed a red kangaroo, so that was pretty awesome.
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Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia. In a lot of ways it is better. In a lot of ways, I prefer Melbourne. In a lot of ways, I prefer Sydney. But I have friends in Melbourne, so there I went! Ash took me around quite a bit, and we met up with Joanna to go to Phillip Island. Plus! My new friend, Olivia, who I met on tour in China, lives in Melbourne, so we met up for dinner and drinks and dancing. Melbourne has some great attractions and the downtown area is lovely. They actually have a legit public transit system. I particularly liked the Aquarium (penguins!), the variety of great restaurants, the National Museum (which had a great Monet exhibit) and the Ned Kelly Museum.
At the aquarium, they have an AMAZING glass tunnel area where you can walk among sharks and manta rays. so. cool! Of course, even Ash's awesome selfie skills couldn't quite get the ray.
Ash and I dressed up as the infamous Ned Kelly.
On Phillip Island--were we eventually watched the penguin parade--it was a day full of awesome Australian animal encounters. There was a boardwalk along the wombat enclosure. Because, you know, they are super aggressive. BUT if you are tricksy like us and feed them along the edge of the boardwalk, they will come up and be so distracted by om noms and then you can reach through the protective wires and PET THEM!!!!! But gently, gingerly, because there are signs all over the place warning about how they will eat your hands. Still have 10 fingers. #winning
And then we fed the kangaroos again. Except these guys were aggressive. And they would rip at your hand and the black swans were just angry and mean. And I was complaining about the false advertising, because in all of the pictures and plush toys and postcards there is a mother kangaroo with a joey adorably hanging out of her pouch--but in real life, you see a foot or a tale poking out. Lame. I was soooooo excited when, after two afternoons of feeding kangaroos, THERE WAS A JOEY POKING HIS HEAD OUT OF THE POUCH!!!!!!!! Even my Aussie friends, who were all "Oh, kangaroos, whatever, silly American tourist" were excited and demanded that I take their picture with the mother and joey. But the other animals around us were so demanding and plentiful that it was beyond difficult to feed her. So we each took a turn distracting the others while someone fed the mother kangaroo while the third took the picture. Epic, but totes worth it.Oz was fun and I can't wait to get back! Also, if any of you want to go, let me know! I can give you some good tips...and maybe help you do some of your own local-ing.
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