Crikey!

Koala Bear, Australia Zoo, Queensland

Another gorgeous day welcomed me in Brisbane this morning. J and D had left for work at some ungodly hour. As quiet as mice, I didn't hear a thing and so I had a nice civilised start to the day, getting up at 8am. A wee cuppa and I was off on my travels once more. Christine had kindly gifted me a ticket to Australia Zoo before leaving for the other side of the country, so I kept the rental car for an extra day and headed north to visit the home of crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin.

It has been years since I visited a zoo and I arrived with no real expectations of staying all day, but that's exactly what I did. It was massive and full of quite a few animals I'd never seen in captivity before. I don't intend getting into the pros and cons here because I know they've been discussed elsewhere, but all I can say is that there is a great fear out here that some indiginous species could be lost for various reasons (mostly human related) and among them is the cuddly koala. It was the only animal I had hoped to see in the wild that I didn't and so when I finally got to see them it was a joy. But I'm getting ahead of myself. That was much later...

I arrived at 10:30. The car park was still quite empty so I found a place in the shade to park the car and wandered through the gates. First port of call was, of course, the crocs. It wasn't hard to find them. In a way, all roads lead to them. It was still early and there were a few empty enclosures, but there were a number of fine animals taking in the sun. Salties and freshwater crocs, along with a few American alligators. Unfortunately for the avid photographer, the protection around them is quite severe. Quite necessary I'm sure, but it doesn't really allow for a great angle. Fortunately, there were opportunities later to capture them at their best. Again, I'm jumping ahead though.

A little further on, I came across what I thought at first must have been an escapee. A wee lizard was just standing in front of me on the path. I decided that I'd take some shots before turning him in. He was quite happy for me to snap away. As I knelt down beside him a keeper passed and didn't say or do a thing so I figured the little guy must have been out on parole. As it turned out, either he followed me right round the place or there were a few of his friends wandering around too.

The centre piece of the zoo is a fairly large stadium, the Crocoseum, where the Wild Warriors show takes place at lunchtime. As the crowd gathered and took their places, we were joined in the stands by some keepers. All became clear as the show began and we were treated to the most wonderful aerial display from some of the most beautiful birds I've seen. Such colours! This was followed by a series of others, from sea birds to vultures. Following a volunteer's close encounter with a freshwater crocodile, the big salty was called out. Although not on the same par as anything Steve Irwin did, the keepers did get quite close during the feeding display. In addition to the obvious spectacle and entertainment provided by the display, there was a serious safety message given by the team too. By sharing some information and by letting people see what these animals are capable of, it is hoped that people will be more aware and cautious in areas that these magnificent creatures inhabit. As I mentioned before, there are a number of species endangered in Australia. Crocodiles are not one of them.

My afternoon stroll took in some wonderful and amazing creatures, from my old friend, the short-beaked Echidna that I was fortunate enough to come across in the wild during my visit to Manly, Brolga and Jabiru birds to more commonly associated elephants and tigers. Further out I was treated to a view of the lesser spotted dig-dig that was throwing dirt around while building a new enclosure, before I arrived at the Africa enclosure where giraffe, zebra and rhinoceros roamed together.

Time was fast approaching the afternoon feeding. Not just for me, but also for Casper, a saltwater crocodile that had been rescued in Western Australia in 2002. He was leucistic, which meant as a result of his body not producing coloured skin pigment, he appears yellow in colour. It was a more intimate display similar to the one seen earlier in the day, held in his own enclosure. Then it was time to go and see the koalas.

There were a few of them about, and all of them were in various stages of sleep. Not a surprise, since they sleep between 18 and 22 hours a day. What a life! They were as lovely and cuddly looking as all the pictures you see show and perfectly at ease with being shot. I'm sure they're all very used to the attention and as I slipped out of their open enclosure, one of the keepers was returning the latest star of the afternoon photographic opportunity that had just finished her shift with the crowds. Moving on, my next visit was to the Tasmanian devil enclosure. One animal I hadn't counted on seeing, but one that I was so glad to have caught. I'm not sure why, but Oscar spent most his time running around a tree in his enclosure. He only stopped when I called out his name at which point he started sniffing the air, presumably to try and detect where this strange sounding voice was coming from. Wombats, kangaroos, snakes and some more birds and koalas rounded off the day... almost! It was 4:30, just half an hour before closing. A wee trip to the gift shop to pick up some Roo Poo for the guys and I was off.

Thanks so much for the ticket, Christine. I had a fantastic time. I do hope that pair haven't scoffed your poo by the time you get back home! ;-)

I think I left it a little late to get to the Glass House Mountains, one of the other reasons that I kept the car. As a result, I could only manage a short time as the sun set. The last couple of nights had given us some wonderful colour in the sky but unfortunately this was absent as I looked over the range of volcanic plugs and cores. It was still another wonderful and special view from the lookout. A beautiful panorama indeed!

Back at the apartment, the worker bees had returned home and after a while we headed out to dinner. We went down to the Riverside and had a lovely meal at one of the pubs that line it. Afterwards I was taken on a night time tour of the city, heading up to Mount Coot-tha to take in the view of Brisbane by night, and since we hadn't had any pudding, some ice cream. Well, I'm still on holiday! I had decided not to burden the guys with having to deal with me, my camera and my tripod but I wish I had taken it up. The view was amazing.

Next time...