Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat

So, it’s official – we can now tick off being world record holders from the bucket list – woot, woot!!  What am I on about?  Well, on the 4th of October the kids and I and the cousies, took part in the world record breaking Queensland Instameet at the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas.  What the heck is an ‘instameet’ you ask?  Well, you can read this post on the official Queensland travel blog, but basically, “an Instameet is where people gather in a pre-determined place, at a set time, to take photos then upload them to Instagram. That’s it really”.

We had a really good time, but before I share the story of our day – here’s a few stats for you.

QLD Tourism are still developing the final report but in a nutshell, on October 4, 2014:

–          1,085 Instagrammers turned up

–          At 88 Instameets

–          7,767 photos tagged with #thisisqueensland on Instagram.

Check out this post and this post for some of the fantastic photos from the day.  Or this you tube video has a pretty good wrap up too!

Although I’m no professional instagrammer or photographer, it was still fun to take part and even more awesome was the fact that Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat gave myself and the kids and their cousies, free entry into the Habitat for the morning to be involved with the Instameet!  We arrived at the Wildlife Habitat at 9.30am and promptly met Narelle our host who got us registered and gave us all the details we needed.

First off the Wildlife Habitat had organised a small tour of some very special animals for us!  The kids LOVED it and I still can’t believe how lucky they were to be able to see a very shy quoll, cuddle a crocodile, stroke a snake, get up close to a koala, and say hello to a black cockatoo!  I’ll let the photos do the talking!

After the official instameet business was finished, we were free to explore the Wildlife Habitat on our own.  Look at what else we found ……….

My little assistant made taking photos a little difficult but we managed with the help of Aunty Bel!

It did get quite hot as we got later into the morning, but as there were lots of different habitats to explore, there was a good mix of nice cool shady walks to have a break from the hot sunny spaces!  The kids loved trying to spot all the different animals, reading the signs and information about the habitats which were written in a lovely, basic/casual way, making it easy for kids to understand, as well as checking out some of the interactive displays around the grounds.  As you can see from the photos, there were more than enough opportunities to get ‘up close and personal’ with a variety of animals!

We only got to spend a few hours at the Wildlife Habitat as we then had to head to the airport to drop the Brissy cousins off for their flight home, but it was a fantastic way to end the school holidays!  Thank you Wildlife Habitat!  We would definitely like to go back and take Matt with us and give the ‘Breakfast with the Birds’ or ‘Lunch with the Lorikeets’ a try!

The other great part about our day, was the drive from Port Douglas back to Cairns along the Captain Cook Highway – this is the ‘Great Ocean Road’ of Far North Queensland and it is truly spectacular!  We made a quick stop at the Rex Lookout for one more group ‘cousins’ shot to end the school holidays – not a bad shot for the photo album!

Beautiful Drive!

The Rex Lookout is a popular spot for hangliding!

One last photo of the cousins together before they fly home!

This is Queensland – Madi style!

Taking part in the Instameet only heightened what we already knew, that Queensland is an amazing place to live and visit!  A huge thank you to the Wildlife Habitat for having us – we will go back for sure!

For more information on the Wildlife Habitat which is located in Port Douglas, about a 40 minute drive from Cairns, you can go here to visit their website!

Have you ever taken part in an Instameet before??   I’d love to do another one now!

NB.  We received complimentary entry into the Wildlife Habitat but all views expressed in this post are our own.