Casso-what?

We had class Saturday morning so we did not arrive in Cairns until after 4. As usual, most of the store closed early, but there were a few still open. After addressing my most critical need (acquiring a pizza at Dominos) I wandered around and stumbled upon the Night Market. Perhaps the most lively venue within an 100-mile radius, but I wouldn't say it was bustling with activity. The store to customer ratio barely exceeded 1:1, not that I'm complaining about the lack of crowding. Many of the stores were clearly meant for tourists, but they also had numerous food stands and rows of massage booths. I had never seen so many consecutive massage booths in one place before, and was not really sure what the need was. I had never perceived Australians to be particularly stressed, but perhaps living in close proximity to so many dangerous creatures has made massage stands a necessity.

I browsed about the rest of the Night Market, acquiring souvenirs and taking in the culture. The shopkeepers were all quite nice and willing to help customers when asked. What I liked most about the shops, however, was that they allowed themselves to be confronted by the customers instead of vice versa. One of my biggest pet peeves is to not ask a shopper if they need help, especially if it is clear that they are just browsing. It makes it much more awkward when you don't buy anything, which for me is often the case. I did end up buying a few things this time, however, and I returned to the hostel content with my purchases.

Since it was St. Patrick's we partied hard that night. Some stayed at the hostel while a few of us hit up the bars. My pledge to speak in an Irish accent for the entirety of the day failed. Despite the fact that I am half Irish, there is really nothing Irish about me, except maybe alcohol tolerance (knock on wood for that). After a long night out, I got back to the hostel around 2:30 or 3:00, I can't remember when exactly.

The following day we ventured to the Cairns Tropical Zoo. I will take a moment now to vent my opinion of zoos. I am opposed to the idea of animals being kept behind bars under any circumstances unless there is no chance of them surviving in the wild (due to injury or the like). As for captive breeding, I am still undecided.  I figure if the animal was never exposed to the native habitat of its species then living in an enclosure with ample space and suitable living conditions would not be such a bad life. I still believe that a lot of zoos put profit over comfortableness of the animals, which is a problem. The ideal zoo for me would be one in which the natural settings of the animal's habitat are replicated as closely as possible, which includes how they are fed. Food should be positioned in such a way to create a challenge to the animal, to stimulate its natural instincts and prevent boredom. When such features are incorporated into zoos, the animals will not only be happier, but will act more like the wild animals they are made to represent.

The Cairns Tropical Zoo was not my ideal zoo, but it was worth going to nonetheless. It was here where I had the realization that the large animal I saw in the Daintree was in fact a Cassowary. The main reason I doubted this in the first place is because I was expecting the Cassowary to be much larger than it actually was. It was still impressively sized, but on a par with Emus, perhaps a little shorter. Perhaps my excitement of over my realization that I'd seen a wild Cassowary may have caused me to have a biased view of the zoo due to my elevated mood.

In addition to having a Cassowary practically right in front of the entrance, the zoo had a couple Dingoes (which were in separate pens since they seemed to be amidst a power struggle), an adorable Red Panda, Cotton-Top Tamarins, Sugar Gliders, Hairy-nosed Wombats, heaps of Koalas (one of which we got to hold), Kookaburras, Eclectus Parrots, some really cool-looking venomous snakes and the largest Crocodile I have ever seen.

A few of the interactive exhibits included a walk-in Kangaroo exhibit and Wallaby exhibit. It was here that we could walk right up to the herd of kangaroos and start petting them, which was quite an interesting experience. I came to Australia fully expecting to see kangaroos but had never thought I'd get the chance to be able to pet one. After all, they can be quite aggressive (you would NEVER want to challenge a kangaroo to a boxing match!).

 

One interactive exhibit featured animals not native to Australia, rather a well known species from a country on the East side of Africa: the Ring-tailed Lemur. At the start of the day we signed up to participate in the lemur tour. There were just enough spaces so that Nicole, Katie, Carly, Zoe, Bridget and I all got to go in as our own group. It was here that Nicole accomplished one of her dreams: to feed these amazing primates. It is too bad that SFS does not also have a program in Madagascar, since the wildlife there is also spectacular. There were four lemurs in all, and they all came down temporarily to grab the food from our hands and let us take pictures of them. They were incredibly gentle, though I'm sure that their bite is powerful when necessary. They are beautiful animals whose populations are unfortunately much more abundant in zoos than in their native wild habitat. Perhaps there is something to be said of zoos since they do in fact keep species alive so that generations from now people will still be able to watch them in awe.

 

Such was our day at the zoo. I saw a Cassowary up close and personal, Nicole got to feed her favorite animal and Katie was able to see Sugar Gliders. As we waited for our bus back, I thought about how other people's days had been. Another group of us had gone on the Passions Reef Cruise, though the weather was less than ideal (it was raining all day). Apparently the waves made it less enjoyable and there were a number of jellyfish in the water so the snorkeling was not so fun. I hope that next time they will have better weather so that they will have more fun experiencing what I consider to be one of the most diverse ecosystems of our planet. My next Cairns weekend I plan to tour the Frankland Islands, which are known for giving visitors a chance to see baby sea turtles hatching on shore and migrating to the ocean.

But that is getting ahead of myself, our next Cairn's weekend is not for awhile (though we will be returning to Cairns temporarily for spring break). After getting back from the zoo, we returned to the esplanade, and the interns and student affairs manager greeted us with Domino's Pizza (which further elevated my mood). We got back to Yungaburra fairly late and right away starting working on our field notebooks which were due the following morning (sleep was neglected that night).

The following week was our last week of classes. It started off with an exciting flash flood. Monday afternoon we experienced torrential rains that lasted for hours. The water in the classroom accumulated to nearly two inches in just a matter of minutes. Shoes left outside were being swept away. Trees were falling and the access road endured considerable damage that rendered it impassable for a few days afterwards. Despite how it may sound like I'm portraying it, the flood was incredibly fun. We went and played volleyball in the rain, sloshed about in gum boats and got completely soaked. The only annoying part of it was having to clean up the following morning. It was well worth it though, and I would love for it to happen again.

The following day we had our field trip to the Lumholtz Lodge, where we got to hold pademelons in our laps and pet a Lumholtz Tree-Kangaroo. The fearless woman who owned the place fed wild pademelons which she let run about in her house. When she saw the Tree-Kangaroo (Jeffrey) come up to the window pane, she went outside and let him jump on her back so she could carry it inside. She put him in a side room where she fed him and then allowed us to enter in small groups. Since he was so intent on its food, he did not mind us petting him. She told us a lot about her experiences dealing with Tree-Kangaroos and how aggressive they can be. She wouldn't dare try and remove Jeffrey from her shoulders for the risk that he would act defensively and sink his sharp teeth into her arms if she tried. Instead she must wait for him to get off at his own will. Though he comes into feed, he is still a wild animal. Seeing Tree-Kangaroo so closely, I can really see just how remarkable they are. They are able to hop and climb, a bonus to being able to escape predators. They are most distinctive for their impressively long tails, which they use for balance. Unrelated small world moment: I ran into the Lumholtz Lodge owner's sister at the Crystal Caves shop in Atherton. Australia never fails to surprise me.