Currumbin had several enclosures of Koala, so you could absorb as much koala cuteness as you like. Personally I dont think koalas are particularly cute, and when you see the size of their claws, you understand why!
But the tourists like them, so I understand that they hold a certain appeal. They were mostly sleeping as we walked past, cleverly wedged into a crook of a tree and asleep with the claws dug into the trunk. One area did have some awake and feeding and looking the most alert I have seen a koala. In my experience they are slow moving creatures so idea photography subjects.
An awake Koala
It was nice at Currumbin, due to the fairly even canopy that was quite high up, the light was nicely filtered and the background was usually well filtered, so it was easier to expose for the subject. I did use popup fill flash in some areas where it was particularly dark or was a fast moving critter like a bird.
A particularly large and plump koala
Round at the Dingo section, there were a couple of these lovely animals, but they were very camera shy, moved very quickly in a low light area, and kept dodging behind the plants, somewhat wary. So I didn’t get as nice a shot of them as I would like, but these are my two best from Currumbin.
Dingo Portrait
And the last critter in this post is one thats most unusual, and I didn’t know they existed til I saw them at Melbourne Zoo, but they were further away and partly hidden so I didn’t get a good shot. Its the Tree Kangaroo, and a lovely beastie it is, with the coat of two tones of orange and a long long tail.
Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo
It was very dark in this area, so I did use fill flash, hence the red eye. I was a bit concerned about scaring the kangaroo, but except for turning his head away (understandable) was not bothered.
In hindsight I think I got a better technical experience and better quality of shots at Currumbin than I would if I had gone a year ago. It was useful information to know about compensating for different lighting conditions, and how to capture shots of fast moving subjects in dodgy light. I didnt get the most perfect shots, but I got many that I am happy with, added many new animals to my photography collection. I even taught my Dad about changing your ISO speed up in lower light situations, which he didn’t know about 🙂
I specifically went to Currumbin for the birds, and got LOTS of bird shots, so they will cover off probably a couple of posts just on birds. Stay Tuned!
Learning to See Light 
I think tree kangaroos are fascinating. I wanted to see them so much that I hired someone to take us out to find Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroos in Yungaburra. If you ever visit that part of Australia, I highly recommend Alan Gillanders as a wildlife guide.
Did you find them – are they the same or diff to the one I got a shot of? I need to read up more about them
After a few adventures involving catching small kittens that had been dumped in the woods, we did find three of them. Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroos are the smallest tree kangaroo. They’re dark grayish/brownish rather than reddish like the one you photographed. You can see a picture and read more about them here http://rainforest-australia.com/lumholtz_tree_kangaroo.htm . Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take any pictures of the ones we saw.