I had the perfect South Australian day! I woke up in a typical SA home- complete with a Hill’s hoist and all!  My feet were a pretty cold so my friend’s mom let me wear her Ugg boots.  I now understand why they are so loved!  My friend Amanda made me some toast then spread the butter and vegemite on the proper way.  The first time I tried Vegemite, I spread it on thick as if it was peanut butter- big mistake, but a moment I won’t forget.  But in the appropriate amount, I actually liked the salty/tangy flavor, and I liked that I get my B vitamins with it too. 

After enjoying brekkie, we drove into the hills outside Adelaide, and we went to Gorge Wildlife Park. We each got a ticket to hold a koala which was included with the price of admission.  It was a dream.  The employee just set him right into my arms.  His fur was so soft and warm.  The koala seemed so happy and content to be held by me while the park employee continued to feed him eucalyptus leaves.  The scent of eucalyptus filled the air as he chewed with his little teeth.  It was a perfect, blissful moment.  I felt overjoyed by the simple pleasure of connecting with this animal.  I would have been happy to hold him in my arms the rest of the day, but apparently koalas like alone time too.

Fortunately for us, there was a whole host of kangaroos that were happy to spend some time with us too.  We purchased two bags of kangaroo food for $5AUD.  There had to be at least a dozen.  Most of them were the typical grey kangaroo, but quite a few of them were albino.  It’s very rare for albino kangaroos to survive in the wild- they stand out just a tad too much.  The kangaroos seemed extremely comfortable with humans.  Even a mama kangaroo with a joey in her pouch was perfectly content with me approaching her.  It

looked like the joey dove head first into the pouch because one of his rear legs was sticking straight out of the pouch! I think his days of living in the warm pouch were coming near the end because I think it would have been a tad snug if he brought that leg in all the way!

I was feeding the mum then I cautiously used my free hand to pet the joey while still inside the pouch.  I was trying to see if I could coax him to peek his head out and it worked baby!! He squirmed his way around in the pouch then popped his head up to say hello! He took a couple nibbles of food from me before diving back down into the pouch.  The belly rub didn’t work a second time to coax him out.

Amanda told me that kangaroos have really soft fur- and I agree that they do.  But we

were only finding it on their chest and belly.  It had been raining off and on since the night before, and you could tell by the sight of them.  I thought their fur would be a little more water repellent, but it got quite matted.  I wonder if they have to help clean each other to sort that mess out.

Then we got to the wallabys.  They were quite cute, but I didn’t get to feed them very much because a black swan was keen to get the food instead of the wallaby.  I don’t know what I was thinking but I kicked my leg out towards the swan.  It got a little agitated and started coming at me and the wallaby.  So Ii just decided to get the hell out of there before I made it more pissed.

We continued to the camels.  Camels may not be native to Australia but they thrive in its desert.  We didn’t have much food left, but I held a little in my outstretched hand.  The camel put his mouth around my hand up to my wrist then used his lips to pull back every tiny morsel of food into its mouth.  It was quite slobbery to say the least….. There may have been some shrieking and laughing on my part.

We pet a dingo through a fence.  I looked like it was craving affection, I swear.  Amanda scratched him behind his ear and he looked like he was in heaven.  As we walked away, we saw a sign saying not to pet the dingos because mating season tends to make them more aggressive.  Then Amanda told me about this movie called Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark outside Australia and New  Zealand).  In the movie, a dingo takes a baby out of a tent and the mother is charged with murder.  I told her it was a ridiculous movie plot to which she replied, “It’s a true story!” So, perhaps if you come to Australia, don’t pet the dingos.

We meandered a little farther and Amanda yelled out and said, “Oh look at the black cockies!!”  There was a cage of black cockatoos.  I think its great that Aussies love shortening words, but “cockies” definitely caught me a little off guard.

We had pretty much seen all the animals we wanted, and it started to rain.  We headed off to eat at Inglewood Inn.  We had a beautiful view of a forest with a creek rushing through it as the rain storm continued.  I ordered a meat pie which was stellar.  Any time I’ve seen a meat pie in the states, there’s definitely some veggies happening.  Not here!  Just a lovely crust with heaps of meat in a savory sauce.  Loved it!

When we made it home, we warmed up with some tea and coffee.  Her mom brought out some biscuits called Tim Tams, and they taught me how to do a Tim Tam Slammer.  You have to take a teeny bite off of opposite corners of the rectangular cookie.  Then you put one corner of it into the coffee.  Then you put your mouth around the other corner that’s bitten off, and you suck as hard as you can to pull the coffee all the way through the cookie to your lips.  Then you slam the cookie into hour mouth before it disintegrates.  It took me a couple goes to get it just right.  But I have to admit, it’s both delicious and fun.  Who says you can’t play with your food?

Then of course, I had to see the movie Evil Angels.  It starred Meryl Streep and Sam Neill as the parents.  I can’t say that the acting is the best I’ve ever seen, but after seeing a few video clips of the actual mother, maybe Meryl Streep was just doing a really good impression of how off the mom actually seemed to be.  I thought it was definitely worth a watch, such a bizarre story.

Shortly after that, I drifted into dreamland.  I’m pretty sure I was dreaming of snuggling a koala all night.  Thanks for the epic day in Adelaide, Amanda!