Gold Coast

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Next stop, the Gold Coast. I stayed in the renowned Surfers Paradise. I had always wanted to go, so I made sure it was on the agenda. In the end I was very disappointed. This area is very different from the rest of Queensland, and the areas I had already visited. It is a lot flashier - the coastline is riddled with highrise complexes and the tourist attractions are theme parks such as Movie World (WB), Wet n’ Wild and SeaWorld. It has a great nightlife and attracts the young backpackers in droves, but in the end wasn’t really want I wanted to experience. I spent a lot of time at the beach, including walking the miles along the coast. I made the decision to go to SeaWorld on my last day. I had a really good time! It wasn’t the San Diego SeaWorld with Shamu, but the shows were entertaining and I even rode all the rides with the kids. It would have been more enjoyable with a friend, but I still enjoyed myself.

Last stop on the tour of Queensland was Brisbane. On my first day there, I took a trip to the Australia Zoo, former home of the Crocodile Hunter. I went up on a bus driven by a guy that used to work at the zoo and was friends with the Irwins. We got a lot of insight into Steve Irwin and his life - he would have been an interesting guy to meet. It’s a shame he passed so young, but at least he was doing what he loved. The zoo was great - but then I really love zoos. The first 2 hours was spent in the Crocoseum watching the shows, including the crocodile show. The zoo mainly has Australian wildlife, including koalas, kangaroos, wombats, birds, echidnas, dingos, lizards and Tasmanian Devils. However they are currently growing the zoo, and have brought in elephants and tigers. My only rant, if I am allowed one, is what is happening to wildlife and how close many animals are to extinction. Did you know there are only 5000 tigers left in the world? I found this really disturbing. I guess you can only do what you can, so I gave $5, which saves 1 tiger for 1 day.

I spent my last day in Brisbane walking through the city and taking in the sights. The city is inland and not right on the coast. On the south bank of the river running through the city is a small area with a makeshift beach and markets. I spent some time there and did a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. Then I was making my way back to Sydney for the holidays.

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Photos

Koalas
Momma and her baby. These are such lazy creatures!

Crocoseum
At Australia Zoo

Cassowaries
The females lay eggs and leave them for the male to care for (up to 2 years) as she moves onto another male to lay more eggs!

Tasmanian Devils
They look like big rats!

Wombats
Minibus (her name) was being taken for a walk, but we couldn't scare her as she can run up to 40 km an hour!

Elephants
These guys cracked me up. Bimbo, the one on the left, kept getting her tail in the other's mouth as they ate.

SeaWorld - Penguins
These were feral smelling little guys!

The Arbour
In Southbank, downtown Brisbane