Fruit Bats and Hot Springs

One of the girls from the Healesville trip knows and has worked with a woman who fosters flying foxes/fruit bats on her property and was kind enough to arrange an appointment for me to meet some of the bats currently in her care! I was ecstatic to hear I’d be able to have a one-on-one, up-close encounter with one of my favorite animals, ever.  It was a very memorable afternoon; had a cozy lunch (vegemite & cheese sandwich) and chatted about our experiences abroad, and then we were off to see the bats. The bats the woman cares for are Grey-Headed Flying Foxes, which have made it on Australia’s list of native endangered species. They have a terrible reputation for spreading disease (which can only be contracted by a scratch or a bite…highly unlikely) and haven’t gained much public sympathy. So sad to see such beautiful creatures overlooked and misunderstood.  After hanging out with the bats, we went back for a final tour of her backyard.  She grows at least 25 different kinds of fruits, veggies, and herbs. Such an impressive use of space for what you would think is a limited backyard.

THAT FACE

            As if my day couldn’t get any better, one of my roommates had a 6 person voucher to the Mornington Penninsula Hot Springs and decided they would take us all as a sort-of last roommate bonding session.  It was the perfect night for it too- cold, with clear skies. The spa is situated on a hill, with about 20 small pools all leading up to the one at the top (the hottest one with the best view).  We stayed until they closed at 10, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Stopped at a Macca’s (McDonald’s haha) for a late snack and made it back to Melbourne by around midnight. One of the best days I’ve spent in Australia.

Healesville Sanctuary

Last week, a few girls from the enviro club who are in my Wildlife Ecology class decided to take me to see Healesville Sanctuary, which only keeps native Australian wildlife. One of the girls lives about 45 mins out of Melbourne, out by the Yarra Valley. We spent the night at her house and the next morning we went off to Healesville. She has a beautiful 10 acre property, looking out onto rolling hills as far as the eye can see. It's all farmland out there and everyone either raises animals or grows crops, or both. Her family grows some fruit and owns two sheep and some chickens. She actually goes out in the morning and collects their eggs. Everything they eat is so fresh and natural. Such a different lifestyle than what I'm used to! Her family was very welcoming and it was a pleasure staying at her house.  That night we stayed up until 1:30am chatting and giggling, it was so nice to be in that kind of home environment again. The next morning the girls made it a point to serve me a typical aussie brekky of Weetbix, which are just big chunks of plain wheat cereal. I had it with milk, banana, and honey- 'twas yum. Before making it to Healesville we stopped at a bakery and picked up a "vanilla slice"- a trademark of australian pastries, also appetizingly known as a "snot block" (I kid you not). Basically a custard Napoleon (Mille-feuille).  We made it to Healesville by 10:30 and stayed until 4. It was so nice to be able to take our time- we're all conservation students so we were in absolutely NO rush. We saw a great birds of prey show and booked a "private encounter" with the rare and endangered Tree Kangaroo named Tapini. 

 Quolls

Lyrebird - an incredible creature, have a look at this video: Lyrebird, BBC- David Atteneborough
The lyrebird can imitate any sound, natural or man-made

Tapini the Tree Kangaroo

such a beauty!

Flying Foxes/ Fruit Bats (my babies)

 Grey Cockatiels!

Feeding a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

We stopped in the Yarra Valley chocolaterie on our way back and I picked up some chocolate goodies for family and friends. It was a much needed 24 hours filled with genuine bonding. The girls are all going to be in Canada for their fall semesters and some are going to be passing through NY, so we've been trying to plan out where and when to meet up, we'll definitely be keeping in touch.