In 6th grade, I went on a family trip to Australia. I spent the first 15-hour flight in a middle seat squished in between my dad, who was trying to sleep, and my 7-year-old brother, who was annoyingly loud and constantly asking how much time we had left. It was a bad combination. Throughout the entire flight, they quarreled about random little things while I just wanted to peacefully watch a movie. Right after we arrived, we had to take yet another long flight from the main airport in Sydney to a smaller one closer to our destination. When thought I would finally get a break from traveling for the day, my mom announced that we would be taking a taxi. A normal taxi ride would have been fine, but this was different. First of all, it only had four open seats, meaning that three of us would have to fit into the back seat. Even worse, we had an excessive amount of luggage. Whether we were going on a big trip or a smaller trip, my dad always overpacked. Over a month before the departure for our trip, he would lay out 5 open suitcases that filled up our living room floor. He spent the next few weeks gathering random things that he thought we might need on our trip (which we didn’t usually end up using), including three different types of sunscreen, flares, life jackets, and extra blankets. We had to stuff two big pieces of luggage in the backseat, filling up all of the already cramped leg space.

We finally arrived at our destination in the evening: a small resort made up of a few cottage-like cabins. When we entered our cabin, I immediately noticed the huge windows making up most of the back wall. Behind them was a small fence and a clearing surrounded by trees. Although it was hard to tell what was in the area, the soft glow of the sunset cast an orange hue on a few small animals in front. They looked a little bit like kangaroos, but it was hard to tell.

When I woke up the next morning, I immediately got out of bed look outside the windows. There were wallabies right outside our cabin! Before we got there, I had no idea that there would be wallabies living in our “backyard”! For the next few days of our trip, we went on amazing adventures like snorkeling, kayaking, and zip lining. Every day when we got back, I saw the Wallabies, anticipating the day we would finally get to meet them.

Three days later, it was finally the day we were waiting for. My brother and I woke up bright and early (when we usually woke up after 9) and tried to get our parents to wake up. It was finally time to meet the Wallabies! My dad was already awake, but my mom was still huddled in the bed with the covers over her head, not wanting to talk to any of us. “Go back to bed,” she yelled at my brother in Chinese, “you have to sleep!” My brother ran away and started to make a Nutella sandwich for breakfast, as I followed him and started to make mine. This was a rare occurrence for him. On vacations, he would usually wake up early but stay in bed, constantly begging my mom to let him have some iPad time. But instead, he quickly got ready to leave.

We walked over to the gathering point for the tour of the animal sanctuary. Our guide lead us to a tall metal fence (meant to keep humans out, not to trap the animals. The animals had the whole forest and beyond to roam around in.) He gave us each a few carrot sticks. As soon as he opened the gate, my brother eagerly ran in first. He made his way into the clearing as I followed behind and my parents were still in the back. The area was filled with dirt and bits of dry grass, and small shrubs were scattered throughout. The surrounding trees towered over us with smaller fern trees and palm trees in between them. The bright morning sun shined through the leaves, with small wispy clouds in the sky. As we continued walking, a small wallaby popped out from behind a shrub. It was about the height of my knee and had short, creamy brown fur. Its two ears stuck straight up from its head and it had a long fuzzy tail. It stood up on its hind legs with its tiny paw-like hands out in front, looking like a little T-Rex. It started to hop towards us, pushing off its back legs like they were springs. It paused near me looking up at me with its big brown eyes. It slowly approached me as I walked towards it. I kneeled down and held out a carrot in my palm, and the wallaby started nibbling on it. Once it finished, I reached out to pet it and it came in closer for a head scratch, and then it cheerfully hopped away looking for more carrots.

By then, there were about a dozen other wallabies around us. My family and the other visitors were feeding and playing with the Wallabies. My brother sat on the ground with three wallabies around him, holding both his carrots and my mom’s carrots. My mom stood a few feet away from him, excitedly trying to take pictures of him and “record the moment,” as she always said. It was almost like she was trying to be paparazzi. “Look at me!” she said, as she snapped a few photos. My brother was not into the idea of being photographed. He attempted to glare at her but it looked more like he was weirded out and trying to make a funny face. “This is a once in forever thing, Mommy. Can you just let me be?” he said whined quietly, trying not to disturb the eating wallabies. “Ok, fine...” she answered, “But please just one more, okay?”

On the other side of the clearing was my dad, staring at a tree through his binoculars. He didn’t have much of an interest in interacting with wallabies, but he did like observing animals from a distance. “Isa! Come here right now! I want to show you something!” he yelled. I walked over and he passed the binoculars to me. He pointed at a small shrub far away that looked just like any other random shrub. But when I looked through the binoculars, I saw something extraordinary: it was a mom kangaroo with a baby kangaroo in her pouch! The kangaroos in the sanctuary were shyer than the Wallabies and liked to stay away from humans, especially when they had little joeys, so I was so lucky to be able to see one! By the end of our tour, everyone's mood had been lifted. We walked out of the sanctuary feeling relaxed and eager to meet more cute Australian animals.