Last day in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and heading to Wellington, New Zealand bright and early tomorrow!
So the big news is that granddaughter Lucy is going to play goalie this weekend and Amy says the stick is taller than she is:

And yesterday - briefly - we visited a wonderful Featherdale Wildlife Park where the wallabies and all kinds of birds were roaming free and eating out of our hands and we both held a snake.  Australia is apparently known for its venomous snakes but this one was "fine".  We also did a Sydney Food Tour but that will be the next post.  I am trying to stay only one day behind!!!  And of course the stories are another whole story:)
So wallabies roam all over the place and this one was the cutest with her baby in the pouch.  The baby lives in the pouch until "fully developed" which seemed a long time.  It's kind of like the kids coming back home after college!

 The koala eats eucalyptus leaves.  I have developed a whole new appreciation for eucalyptus as I used a couple hard candy types for a cough and it was gone instantly - or was it the Australian wine???

 The are called blue penguins and they are quite small and very cute and I want to walk like a penguin.

 And a picture from 2004 of my mom and her sister Madrienne.  The both thought they looked like penguins!!!  I can definitely see the very white hair genes!!!

This huge bird is called a Cassowary and it was trying to outstare me and I did not put my finger inside the openings.  I did that once on a trip to Mexico with the kids and the bird chomped onto my finger and the waitress in the outdoor restaurant had to remove it.  Lesson:  Do not stick your finger out where parrots are flying around.

 The wallabies are just the sweetest things and I can't remember if they are eaten here or not - will have to do a little internet search of course.

 The Dingo - looks like a dog but not sure what they do or eat!!!

 A sweet little warm and soft snake - not the venomous kind!  Even Ross who hates snakes held this one.  He doesn't want to miss out on much of anything in life and I agree.  Make hay while the sun shines.

 Koalas sleep 19 hours a day or more so it's hared to find one with eyes open.  This one was the cutest I have seen so far and latched onto a branch and sound asleep.

So - next up - pictures of the Foodie Tour.  Today was a day on our own so 6 of us visited the Hyde Park Barracks Museum which housed many convicts that were sent here from Britain and other countries.....more on that.  Then another couple and I who are walkers did the entire Royal Botanical Garden across from our hotel and got back just in time to miss the rain and walk nearly 4 miles.  It was a "very fine" day.