Hey Folks,

I thought I'd add some interesting photos about the strange wildlife we see on the road.

Currently we're traipsing around Australia. As we all know itis one of the only places in the world where marsupials flourish. Plus, the environmental conditions here range from tropical jungle to desert to an amazing display of reef life!

In fact, the area we visited at Cape Tribulation in northern Queensland has the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest in the world. It is unique also in that it has limited wildlife, including a lack of monkeys. This lack has contributed to the lack of interesting edible fruits because there wasn't really any animals to naturally select for sweet, tasty fruits. All they had to spread seeds were fruit bats really. In fact, the only native, commercially available fruit/nut in OZ is the macadamia nut. And they're good here too!

Anyways, here are a few pics. Check back as I'll be posting a few more as I get them.

This is a picture of green carpenter/leaf cutter ants if I remember correctly. We saw them build a nest by essentially gluing several leaves in a tree together. They then farm aphids for food!! Amanda ate one of these on our nightwalk at The Farmstay. Apparently they have tons of vitamin C in those big butts!!
Green Ants
Green Ants2

Here's a picture of A cassowary. The pictures I took were all blurry. One just like this cameout of the woods to try and eat my beloved PBJ sandwich I had in my bicycle basket. These birds are HUGE! At least as big as I am with razor sharp claws. We took off!
Cassowary

Here are a few pics from the Steve Irwin Zoo and our trip to the Outback in Koroit:

These buggers sleep 23 hours of the day!! Lucky to see one awake!
Koalas!
More Koalas!

These guys lay around all day sunning themselves:
A Skink's Life

This guy's got a nice look to him eh?
Rhino Iguana
This little beauty was collected by Darwin himself on his trip around the world getting evidence for The Origin of Species! She was only the size of a dinner plate back then!
Harriet
Amanda gets to pet a kangaroo:
Amanda Roo