Cleland Wildlife Park, Mt. Lofty, and Victor Harbor

This trip was offered through the ISSU or International Student Services Unit. In this trip we were placed on a charter bus and shipped off to the top of Mt. Lofty. Mt. Lofty overlooks the entire city and it's surroundings. Before we left for our trip at 11:00 AM we decided to check what the weather forecast was for the day. When we found out it was going to be 37 degrees Fahrenheit on top of the summit we decided to bundle up a little more than what we had previously planned. I packed my backpack with an extra coat and started piling on the layers. The ride to Mt. Lofty took about half of an hour followed by a very short walk to an over look spot. In the pictures it is very hard to pick out Adelaide, but I assure you the city is in fact in the picture. After taking a few pictures with a very overcast sky we loaded back onto the bus where we headed for a very short drive to Cleland Wildlife Park. When signing up for the trip we were offered an additional option of getting a picture with a Koala bear and everyone in our group decided to pay the extra $15 for the opportunity. As we left the bus we were asked to separate ourselves into groups that paid for the picture and the others were to head into the park. After entering the park we immediately saw a kangaroo hopping through the open area and a Tasmanian Devil in a cage. We saw both of these as we were escorted to the Koala house where we were to get out pictures taken with the BEAR. As we were waiting in line is started to rain then progressed to a sleet. Luckily we were under protection and did not get sleeted on. I was the first in the group to get my picture taken with Abby (that was the Koala's name). I was told let Abby do all the work. We were instructed to stay still and let Abby climb onto our chest and then we were to hold her with our one hand on her back and the other under her bum. Abby was very soft and weighed about 15 lbs. It was almost like holding onto a sheep that moved very slow. They got Abby to look at the camera by using Eucalyptus leaves, which she ate the entire time. After the picture opportunity we traveled about the park where we Hop Hop Hopped all day long (well 2 hours) with the Kangaroos. We saw some gray ones, red ones, and brown ones. The red ones were the largest but because of the cold temperatures the kangaroos were more interested in laying in the little amount of sun there was and trying to keep warm by eating. We tried getting a few pictures with the kangaroos such as a "boxing" picture but they weren't too receptive about that idea. After a lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich and chicken nuggets we toured the other parts of the park were we saw some dingoes, snakes, and lizards. Once our time was up it was back to the bus for an hour and a half ride to Victor Harbor. Since it is winter here it gets dark much like it would at home, extremely early. At Victor Harbor we were to see penguins that were coming home from a long day at sea. These penguins were on their way home to feed their young and take shelter from the cold and dangerous waters. We were privileged to see a feeding of a baby penguin. There is not much difference in size of a young penguin and an older one the only noticeable difference was the color of the bird and the type of feathers. During the walk to the island we received a little rain and it held off for the entire tour of the penguins. We then headed back to Victor Harbor's main area were we had dinner at Nino's pizza. We were hurried to eat because we again needed to be back on the bus to head back to the Uni (short for University). Somehow our seats were taken upon the shuffle of getting back onto the bus, but not to worry we just split up and found some new seatmates. The majority of the bus was from either India or of some Asian culture. Luckily with my Asian speaking skills was placed among a group of them in an open seat. I immediately decided this would be a great time to catch a few Z's and be put to sleep by a foreign language. It was a very enjoyable trip except for the cold weather and rain, but what do you expect when you go on a trip in the winter which is also their rainy season. I will add the pictures of this trip at a later date (there are not too many).