Day 86 – Alice Springs Desert Park

This morning Chris dropped the car off early for a service and for the mechanic to finally have a look at the latest CV boot issue. So we pottered around the campsite for the morning catching up on work, I had a number of meetings and the girls did some homework with Chris.

The mini playground at the campsite came in handy for distractions and burning energy. It was also nice to be able to perch up in the sun to catch a breath from the cold. We’re really missing the warmer weather, as it’s been getting down to the zero mark at night and with zero insulation in the van, we really feel the cold!

In the afternoon we headed out to Alice Springs desert park, a firm favourite from our previous visit to Alice Springs. We even recreated a photo from 4 years ago at the little playground there. Last time Jazzy was fast asleep in the pram when we took this one of Izzy but this time we got the whole gang in there.

We saw the dingo show and learnt a few new things about them. I actually didn’t know that dingoes have extra ribs compared to domestic dogs.

Then it was time for the bird show! The birds would arrive on cue and it was incredible having the kites, owls, buzzard and other birds fly overhead as they showed off their hunting skills and unique personalities.

We were all particularly impressed by the buzzard breaking into an imitation emu egg with a rock. It used its beak to pick it up and would throw the rock over the middle of the egg to try and crack it. Apparently it’s not a learnt, but an innate behaviour for them – so smart! The caretaker said it’s actually more closely related to a parrot than an eagle, hence the brains.

At the end of the show, the girls got a chance to hold Illara, the barn owl, and to get their photo taken with her. Turns out it’s the same cutie that Izzy got to hold 4 years ago, as the owl is now 11 years old.

Jazzy said that she felt very heavy, but really enjoyed the experience. Poor Scarly couldn’t understand why a 2 year old isn’t allowed to hold the owl, but we promised her we would come back…

After that we explored the many aviaries and the Nocturnal house. It was fun seeing all the bilbies and other native creatures roaming around in their element under the red lights. The girls also loved seeing real thorny devils after the playground and couldn’t believe how small they are in real life. However the snakes always creep me out, especially when you read just how venomous most of them are.