bubbanoble: Reptile Park with the Family

One thing that I had been wanting to do for ages is to go to the Reptile Park with all of us and get an animal photo with all 5 of us in it. We hadn't done one with all 5 of us there before. We decided on the 6th Jan that we would head to the Reptile Park. On their way home from the Reptile Park, Oscar told the Howies that he wanted to go to the Reptile Park so we decided to take him too - the bonus of having a 7 seater car.

When we arrived we first headed to the Tasmanian devils exhibition. Oscar wanted to look at them. It took a little bit of finding time but eventually we found them both playing and running around with some food.

Next we went to look at the lace monitors. There were so many in there. I think we counted 7. The bonus of having your big cousin there is that he is happy to pick you up to see the animals when you can't easily see them over the barrier.

Next up the kids wanted to see Hugo but on our way we got to pat a Tawny Frogmouth. They are such a cool bird!

There were also baby emus running around that were so cute! Alexander was keen to pat them, he is more game than me. I'm not a big fan of emus up close.

We did make it to Hugo to say hi while he had a meal. Oscar was the one person who was organised for any rain. It bucketed down! He popped on his raincoat and happily walked around in the rain. We bunched up under James' umbrella that just happened to be in his bag. Next time, don't trust BOM saying that it shouldn't rain because it sure did rain!

Alexander was keen for us to go and say hi to Elvis so he was our next stop. He was happily lying on the grass, something that I don't think I have seen before. Normally he is in the water.

Emu escorts on our way to Elvis

We then went into the Reptiles section and saw Leonardo up close. He is one of my favourites! It was also cool to see that one of the pythons had recently been fed too because it had a big bulge in it's stomach which we guessed was a chicken or something. Again, never seen that before!

Next up we walked past the alligators and tried to spot as many as we could. There were a few swimming around in the water. Oscar was still holding Alexander's hand.

We then went down to get our photos taken. We decided to hold an alligator as the family. I love that everyone looked and smiled at the camera! First Reptile Park photo with everyone smiling!! The kids were then keen to get a photo with the Tasmanian devil. So so cute! I love that it licked Oscar's hand.

We then went over to the Komodo dragon to see Kracken go for a walk (Oscar was keen to see this). On the way we saw some kangaroos and had a nice pat with them. Then Kracken came by which meant we had to move out of the way.

Next up we went to the new Turtle Ark to look at the baby turtles and the older ones. Such a cool area. The kids loved spotting the turtles sitting on the log. Again, the benefit of an older cousin is that he can hold you up to help you see them better. I loved seeing the baby turtles that are so little.

Looking at the baby turtles

We headed on the bush walk, stopping at the giant koala for a photo, as you do.

Then Daniel was keen to go to the Nocturnal house so we headed up there. Because of Covid there was a long line for people waiting to go in (I think only 6 people could be in there at once). But the kids were keen to wait. They did a pretty good job at being patient - playing arm wrestling and Simon Says. I loved that Oscar even joined in the games. He might be in high school but he wasn't too cool to join in with his younger cousins. They had a blast with many giggles.

After spotting some of the animals running around in the dark we went down to see their waterfall - not quite as spectacular as Somersby Falls.

Then we went to look at the Tawny Frogmouth. The kids loved that you could get so close to them, although Alexander didn't want to get too close.

Alexander then wanted to go and see the koalas (the real ones, not the big one). Oscar then decided that he would use some of his money to buy a photo with a koala. What a cool choice to spend his money on. The person taking the photo was happy for Daniel, Eliza and Alexander to go in and pat the koala too which was lovely. The kids were very excited to pat one.