My Day On The Farm!

Alright, so I know I said I wouldn't be back until after my big trips...but this experience was just too much fun to not story-tell about!! I was fortunate enough to take a trip to the Oakdale Farm. The Oakdale Farm is a small, off-the-road petting zoo about 20 minutes outside of Newcastle that I had NO idea existed...otherwise I would have been there much sooner!! It is basically a playground of awesomeness for an animal lover such as myself. The farm had everything from kangaroos to koalas to cows to camels!!

Catherine, our mum, offered to take us all to the farm. No one really likes Catherine for a plethora of reasons, so most people in the group didn't want to spend a full day with her. Well...all those losers sure missed out! Only me and one other girl went and it was awesome.

We got to the farm and it looked like a dive with a bunch of small children running around. I'll admit, at first I regretted my decision. I thought it was going to be pretty lame. We went inside and paid $18 for our entry fee. Then, Sarah and I were heading for the back door to go out to the farm. A woman who was outside was trying to get inside the building when all of a sudden, a kangaroo jumped into the doorway trying to get inside! In that single moment, I knew it was totally worth it. It would have been a huge bummer to have missed this site! The kangaroo was suck in the door, frantically trying to get inside while the lady, who didn't really know what to do, tried to keep the door shut so it couldn't get in. I was practically on the floor laughing at this image. One of the workers came over and got the roo back outside, but it was hilarious.

So, Sarah and I ventured outside with our little brown paper bags of kibbles and bits to feed all the animals. Right outside the door, the crazy roo that tried to make an escape greeted us. He was soooo cute!! He definitely smelled out bags of goodies, so he stretched right up to our faces as if he was begging. So we caved and gave him a little bit. There were goats and sheep all around us too. One of the goats was even standing on top of a picnic table.

The farm is full of different birds. There are some cages that hold some cockatoos, parrots, and kookaburras. They also had a big old ostrich, a bunch of emus, and a a cassowary...the three largest, non-flying birds in the world. They were pretty cool. Sarah (my sister) and I learned up north that Cassowary birds are huge up in the rainforests. Since these birds are pretty fast and since the Cassowary is a dangerous bird, they were kept in cages. The ostrich was hanging out with some red australian deer, which was a little odd.

The farm also had a pen that had 4 dingos in it. ADORABLE! They were soooo cute!! I wanted to take one home with me...well I guess I can say that about pretty much all the animals...except the snakes. Ew. The dingos are Australia's wild dogs. You may have heard the phrase "The dingo stole my baby!" Well...of course there is a story behind that. Its pretty long and actually really sad, but I'll give the short version. A woman was camping out in the outback with her young baby and she woke up one morning and her baby was gone. The Australian police thought she murdered the baby and charged her with murder. She was in prison for like 5 years before the police discovered the remains of the baby and somehow were able to prove that dingos actually stole and killed it. The woman was released...like I said, sad story. But anyways, its only happened once in Australia.

The farm also had a pen that had some horses and camels in it. Camels...really?? They aren't even native to Australia haha. It was pretty funny though. While Sarah and I walked around from animal pen to animal pen, we were being bombarded by roos and wallabies!! It was pretty funny. They weren't cages up or anything. One of the roos even had a little joey in its pouch! They had Red and Grey Kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos. Wallabies are similar to kangaroos, but they are smaller with rounder ears and more delicate features. Wallaroos are a mix of kangaroos and wallabies. It doesn't matter what they were...they were all hungry! I kept my bag of food in my bag. I was petting the kangaroo with the joey when all of a sudden I felt something nibbling by my side. I look over and one of the kangaroos has his head inside my bag digging for the goods! I've come to learn that kangaroos are noisy little turds.

After we were done punching with the roos, we went over to the koala pen. They had 8 koalas that we got to go up to and touch and take pictures with. We couldn't hold them, which was a bummer, but it is illegal in the state of New South Wales to hold a koala unless you are a zoo keeper or something close to it. But it was fun to get some pictures with them.

Overall, my day on the farm was pretty fun. I'm really glad I went! It should be illegal to come to Australia and not hang out with some of the furry natives! Now, school is officially over and I'm getting ready to travel for the next couple weeks before coming home. So...you will be hearing from me soon!!

Mindy