Day 267 - Sydney, Australia

REPTILE WORLD SYDNEY (25/09/09)

Back in Sydney the weather once more became what we expect from Australia rather than a bad day in England in the winter. Our friend Alice had taken the day off work and decided to take us to Reptile World, knowing how much Liz loves reptiles. Adam reluctantly came along too.

We (Adam) were delighted to find that as well as lots of reptiles they also had several Funnel Web Spiders, probably the most dangerous of all the World's spider species. This male (five times more deadly than the female) was aggressively running around an empty glass tank having just been milked for his venom, which will be used to produce antivenom which, in turn, will be distibuted to hospitals.

Believe it or not this is not a Muppet but a real animal- a Tawny Frogmouth. We saw a wild one of this small owl species on the south coast but obviously not at such close quarters.

Alice with a free roaming Emu. If Adam was his Dad he would quip that the Emu is the one on the right but unfortunately he does not possess that kind of rapier-like wit.

The highly endangered Tasmanian Devil. Sadly a highly contagious facial tumour disease is wiping them out in the wild not, as one might think, confused fundamentalist Christians.

The park's enormous resident Saltwater Crocodile. The largest species in the world this male is about 7m (20ft) in length and represents probably the most dangerous animal in Australia. He is called Elvis, must be the curled lip.

Green Tree Frog.

This Tiger Snake ranks about 5th on the list of the World's most venomous snakes, of which Australia has the entire top 10, although Adam's best efforts still have not managed to seek out a wild one.

Liz was initially worried at the prospect of visiting Reptile World for the day. However her fears were soon forgotten when she realised she could hug a live Kangaroo.