This is pretty unusual as each states in Australia has its own rules in protecting this special and cute marsupials. It used to be rule in Victoria state that public is not allowed to pat or to handle koala. Guess the rules has been changing slowly whereby public is allowed to pat the koala with their keeper around and also the koala did not show any sign of stress.
It was a great experince for me today at the wildlife park to get so close, realllyyyy close to the koala, Milton. He was so cute! I have been to Melbourne Zoo and Koala Conservation Park before early this year whereby they do have koalas in the park. However none of them allowed public to get close to it. Thus, anyone that wish to have a gentle feel on this cute animal, you can visit the Ballarat Wildlife Park. Koala show starts at 2pm daily where the keeper will bring the koala for public to pat and explain some of the bio-details.
The park have few sections of the Australian animal exhibits such as the reptiles, wombats, tasmanian devils, koala and open enclosure of kangaroos whereby visitors can puchase some of the kangaroo's food to feed them. Although the park is not too big, but it is definitely worth to visit especially you can get close and pat the animals!
Entrance fee: AUD 24
http://www.wildlifepark.com.au/
The cafe name was "Kanteen" which reminds me the Malay word "Kantin". Hehe. Initially we wanted to try their big breakfast and lastly we opted for other food in the menu after considering the serving size (often served in huge size).
Besides carvinal rides, there is also the well known "Grand Ribbon" livestock championships for cows and rams. This is the first time i came across the cows judging session during the Royal Melbourne Show and was overwhelmed with the size of the australian cows. It was HUGE! =) It is indeed a good exposure for us as there are different kind of breeds that participated in the show. Beside competitions, there are also cows for sale by the exhibitors at the fairground.
The half boiled egg was perfectly prepared too. The only complain is the tonkatsu slice / char siu in which is still a little beyond my expectations. There is still room to improve the char siu. Tasted in Tokyo during my trip, the char siu was really nice with a special fragnant from the meat which is hardly describe in words.
