Australia Zoo - Roo Beauts

There were two types of Kangaroo in Australia Zoo, Red Roos and Grey Roos. The red ones are bigger (and better) than the grey ones…but they both bounce. The first area we walked through was the Grey Kangaroo zone, where we had our first chance to get up close and personal with Australia’s most iconic animal. Admittedly, at first we couldn’t see any and felt really short changed (well, we saw one but it was being hogged by a selfish family) and as we were walking towards the exit of the area we came upon around 10 roos just chilling in the shade, rolling in mud, and calmly tolerating little children (and us) stroking their super soft fur (imagine patting a koala…but way softer). Nicola said it was even softer than a cat…I’d agree, it was surprisingly soft. We even saw a kangaroo bouncing (you may think it obvious to see one bounce, but trust us, due to the he of the day most of them were sat around or they moved in a slow crawl type shuffle).

     

 

 

In a separate area of the zoo, we walked through the Red Roo pen and (much like the above) discovered a large number chilling in the shade, and rolling in the dirt. One became so comfy around us/oblivious to us, that he stood up and spent an age scratching himself not even a metre from us…

  

Australia Zoo - Cuddly Koala

The main attraction for us was the cute and cuddly koalas, everyone’s favourite sleepy bears…but they’re NOT actually bears!! They’re marsupials - animals with pouch bones that carry young in pouches – a blog and a school lesson for you, all rolled in one. There were a few koala pens dotted around the zoo, including a koala walk, where you could pat some koalas. There were loads more than I imagined, not all were visible because they were so far up trees, but then on some trees there were so many you could barely see the branches. Nicola and I also managed to have a photo hugging a koala, but that was taken on an official Australia Zoo camera and we had to buy the photo, so when we access a scanner we can update you all with that photo – we became the koala’s tree…proper emotional. Word of warning, if you are planning on hugging a koala, wear something old, especially if you’re hugging a male koala as they have scent glands on their front…and you end up stinking…we washed a few times but still smelt like pot-pourri.

If you’re wondering how they feel, imagine something soft and fluffy, with springy fur (and sharp claws) and you’re about right…except, you haven’t really hugged anything until you’ve hugged a koala; life changing (slight exaggeration). Definitely the highlight of Australia Zoo.

Australia Zoo – The Crocoseum

A trip to Australia Zoo would not be complete without a visit to the Crocoseum, the arena in which Steve Irwin used to display his croc handling skills whilst also using the opportunity to educate the visitors about the myths and misunderstandings we have over crocodiles. The show now is run by the various zoo handlers, and we went to the 12:00 midday Wildlife Warriors show (the main event at the Crocoseum). It started off well, we had an intro involving dozens of tropical birds including parrots and macaws. They had been trained (I think) to fly around the arena really quickly and really low, flying at what felt like a few feet above our heads. 

One of the birds had been trained to fly into the audience and onto a volunteer’s arm. The handler told the volunteer to hold out a bank note (the guy pulled out a $20 note) and as instructed, this black and red bird flew into the crowd and onto the volunteer’s arm and removed the $20 note from his hand and flew back to the handler…who pocketed the cash, genius.

                           

The next thing we knew this huge condor flew out from the backstage area and onto the arena green where it gobbled up food that had been left for it amongst dead animal models…the handler explained that condors eat carrion. This bird was massive, Nicola managed to get a shot in context, showing the condor next to the handler which really demonstrates the size of the thing.

Next, a water snake came swimming into the arena, followed by its handler, who was gingerly swimming alongside this snake…not much to say about the snake, other than a man was swimming with it.

Then came the star attractions…the crocs! At first, only a little baby came out, but then after a little joke session with the little fella, the real croc came out. The croc we saw was called “Munga”, he was pretty big and was a saltie (salt water crocodile, generally bigger than the fresh water crocs). The two handlers demonstrated a few do’s and don’t with crocs…don’t stick your head in its mouth…try and get on land as in water they can swim up to 28kph whereas on land, contrary to popular belief, they are slow. Only the first jump/lunge out of the water are they quick, and that’s because they are propelled by their tails. Also, don’t hang on any low branches near a swamp, as it turns out they can jump vertically…crikey!

Crikey! Australia Zoo

Just a short train ride south of Nambour, in Beerwah, is Australia Zoo, famous for being Steve Irwin’s zoo. We caught an early-morning train to Beerwah and were pleased to discover that there was a free courtesy bus (very brightly decorated) from Beerwah station to Australia Zoo. The fee to get in was $59 per person, but we were informed that the money goes solely towards running the zoo and towards conservation work – which makes it easier to fork out the cash. As you pay and head through the entrance turnstiles you walk under a huge banner proclaiming that November 15 is Steve Irwin Day (did I mention that the zoo is located on Steve Irwin Way?). All around you see zoo workers dressed in Steve Irwin’s signature khaki ensemble and references to the late “Crocodile Hunters” excited sound bites, a lot of “Crikey!” and “Isn’t she gorgeous” (reference being to crocs). It’s hard not to be reminded of the late Steve Irwin, but it is all positive as it reminded us how much we used to enjoy his show, and how nice it used to be to see someone get so passionate about something they love. The Zoo itself is set in 100 acres and has a whole host of animals and shows, it was a fantastic day out, we enjoyed ourselves so much and was easily one of our highlights of our trip so far. Nicola took over 300 pictures, so we thought the best way to showcase our day in Australia Zoo would be to divide into sections…