A Day Trip to Healesville Sanctuary

Pleased as punch!

Last weekend, Justin and I took our rental car to the Yarra Valley.  The main purpose of our trip was to visit Healesville Animal Sanctuary, but we also did a lot of driving around the countryside because it is oh-so-pretty in the valley with all the vineyards and mountain scenery around.  Luckily, we encountered no wild animals.  In particular, there were signs everywhere warning us of wombats crossing the road.  Wombats may be small in stature, but they are solidly built like tanks and will most definitely wreak havoc to your vehicle if hit.
In addition, there are signs everywhere with a number to call if you accidentally do hit an animal.  Should the unfortunate happen and the scene is safe, you are to wrap the animal in a blanket and wait for the authorities to arrive.  The animal is then brought to a place with veterinarians, like the Healesville Animal Sanctuary.
Next time we're out there, I'll take more photos.  However, here are some shots (mostly animals) to tide you over until then. xo

We were a driving advertisement for our car share company all day long.  There's Justin getting ready to take the wheel.  I am much less confident in regards to driving on the opposite side of the road... he's quite good at it.

Emus at rest.  The emu is one of the two animals on the Australian coat of arms (the other animal is the kangaroo.)  Interesting fact #1:  Both animals can only move forward and cannot move backward (symbolizing Australia's progress as a nation... I love this!)  Interesting fact #2: You can often find emus and kangaroos on the menu, particularly in nicer restaurants.  Are there any other countries in the world that eat their own national symbols?

Galah cockatoo.  You even see these birds in the wild around Melbourne.  A lot of them like to congregate along the bike path I use to go to into the city.

My favorite of all the Aussie animals!  He needs no introduction!

Kookaburra!

These bats are humongous and are found in our neighborhood.  They are the size of cats, I kid you not.

Common wombat

Roos at rest

One last visit to the koalas... We tried our best to take pictures of the koalas jumping from tree to tree.  They were so adorable and moved like Ewoks.