CRIKEY! CROCS RULE

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After a great time on Fraser Island, we made our way down to Brisbane (Monday morning). We had 2 days in Brisbane and had decided to go to the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin’s Zoo) on one of those days. Because the zoo is about 70km north of Brisbane we decided to go there straight from Hervey Bay, which meant an early start, as it was about a 3 hour drive! But that wasn’t hard to do (getting up early) as the rain came down hard that night and into the morning. I must say that we have got putting up and taking down the tent, in the rain, down to a fine art. But this is getting beyond a joke. Ha ha!!!

We got to the zoo shortly after it opened (Billy’s driving throughout this trip has been brilliant) and thankfully the rain seemed to be holding up - the odd shower but we were happy with that.
Firstly, I must say that we did not know what to expect from this zoo. We are not really the type of people who enjoy going to see animals kept in cages however; we thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt quite a bit as well. I would definitely recommend going to this zoo.

After a brief tour of the zoo by a shuttle bus we were on our own. Firstly we got accosted by some lizards - dragon lizards (I think). They freely roam the zoo and DO NOT get out of your way. Then we fed some Asian elephants (they used to be circus elephants). At 11am there was a show in the Crocoseum, where they do demonstrations with snakes, birds and most importantly crocs (a large one named Graham). It is mainly to make people aware of the animals and how to co-habit with them. This was Steve Irwin’s dream.
All these animals are in fairly large enclosures which are clean and you could see that the people who worked there thoroughly enjoyed their job; they were always smiling and helpful. We got to pet kangaroos and wallabies as we walked in their enclosure, absolutely brilliant. Two of them had joeys - too cute. But my favourite was the koala bear; they are so cuddly and feel just like a teddy bear. They are very docile animals that feed on Eucalyptus leaves and sleep most of the day. We saw dingoes; many crocodiles, tigers; wombats; otters; Tasmanian devil; echidna’s (similar to a porcupine); as well as kookaburras (I think kingfishers are prettier) and a bird called a cassowary - a flightless bird found in a few areas in Queensland (best to see the picture) And a few snakes - scary pythons!
We saw many animals which we had heard of but never seen before. It was fascinating and I felt like a small child again. I kept on going back to the koalas - to have one last look. I did come away feeling a bit sad though - you could feel Steve Irwin’s presence was still quite strong, and the staff are planning to follow through with his dreams.

We spent most of the day in the zoo, time just flew. But we still had another hours drive to Brisbane.
There are not many nice things I can say about our campsite in Brisbane, except that it was close to the city centre! It was pricey, overcrowded and just horrible.

After setting up our tent - with our new hammer and tent pegs (Billy is much happier now!!); we decided to take a drive into the city to see it at night.

The following day we bought a day travel card (best thing we could have done) and caught a bus into town. The sun was out, which just seemed to brighten everything up (me included). The travel card allowed us access on busses, trains and the ferries. So we spent most of the morning on the ferry up and down the Brisbane River seeing the sights and relaxing (in the sun!) We stopped off at the Queensland University, walked around for a while, had lunch and then relaxed in a park. We then made our way back to the city centre and explored the shops. Brisbane was a lot bigger than I expected, and has a youthful vibe about it.

We came back to town after supper and caught the ferry again. It was beautiful going along the river and seeing the city come to life. It made up for the awful campsite and this will be the lasting memory I have of Brisbane.

Next stop is Lamington National Park. I’m not too sure what to expect - I think I am supposed to be roughing it. Yikes!!!

Sorry there are no photos, we are having trouble with the upload facility on public computers. We will add later.

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Comments

[mom]

The koalas must have cute to see. You must be looking forward to Fiji. Hope you have good weather there.

[Carryn]

A large crocodile called Graham!! Love it =) Thanks for this update - I loved reading about all the animals!