Day 6 (by Ellie and Sarah V.)

Day 6  

Chirp, plop, zip, peck, just a few things we heard this morning waking up early from sleeping out with the birds. There was one bird that when it talked, it sounded like screeching. One bird even made a chuckle sound that made us want to laugh along with it.  This is what happens when you sleep amongst the animals at a Wildlife Sanctuary on picnic tables with sleeping bags.

 Before going to bed, the guide brought out some pythons for us to hold, took us behind the scenes to see the owl enclosure, and showed us the bright tree frogs.

We rose bright and early at 5 in the morning. We rushed to get ready to head towards the reef only to find out that we could not go. We were all bummed but it is what it is and we took the day by storm! (no pun intended). With the approaching weather, the tour companies made the decision that it would be too choppy. We ended up having an pretty awesome and relaxing day while also giving back to the animal refuge center.

We had a pretty scenic view and we stopped to get coffee, tea, smoothies, breakfast, etc. before heading back on the bus and heading back to the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas.  Where we meet Sebastian, our animal expert guide who showed us behind the scenes. We also worked hard spreading mulch around the different areas around the center. We were sweating, but it felt good to give back to the community and help the animals.

One cool thing we want to mention about the center is that the habitat is not like a zoo. Here you can really interact with the animals. This leads us into lunch, where we got to eat back with the birds that slept around us. It was weird to be back. The birds tried to eat our food, so we feed them an apple. After we were done eating, Kate got up and walked near the birds. Birds are one of Kate's fears and she got the courage to hold the bird. We are so proud of her that she faced her fear. We then had time to roam around the grounds where we got to see the wallabies and kangaroos again. We also saw crocs, tree kangaroos, pelicans, and an emu. We then had the opportunity if you  wanted to hold Sampson the Koala. He was a very cuddly fella. He pooped on Bryan when he held him! When everyone was done getting there pictures, we were so excited to show everyone our own picture of the Koala. After the habitat we were back on the bus towards the same route we were on this morning. We arrived back at Cairns and had free time to shop, swim, nap, whatever we wanted.

Even though we did not get to go to the Reef we still made it a eventful day. We still stayed positive throughout the day.