Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
God it's good to be back in the swing of things again!!
The weather today has been perfect, and we've been out all day at one of the best locations in the country. We've only ever been to Australia Zoo once before, approximately 6 years ago, and we were lucky enough to meet Steve Irwin with his son Robert, as they rode around the zoo on a motorbike. That was about three months before he died... We fell in love with the zoo then, and when we started planning this trip, it went straight on the list of 'must see's' when we got to the Sunshine Coast. I'm very happy to report that the zoo has gone ahead in leaps and bounds, and is still, far and away, the best zoo in the country (in my opinion). It has lost none of it's splendour or impact, with the loss of Steve, and the passion for it has obviously been maintained by his wife and kids. It's a beautiful place, as much a botanic garden as it is a zoo, and it's very easy to spend the day there just walking around appreciating the surroundings. There's new areas that have just opened up, including an entire Africa enclosure, where the zebras, giraffes and rhinos share a single, big, open space. The Tiger Temple (under construction six years ago) is a magnificent area, and the attention to detail in their enclosure is astounding. The beauty of this zoo is that all the animals are easy to see, and nice and close, but they all have massive enclosures with heaps of space to move around. There are viewing areas all around the enclosure, so you just move around until you find them. Also, the keepers bring lots of the animals out into the zoo, where you can have your photos taken holding or patting them, and get right up close and personal with them. Their philosophy is conservation through education, and they firmly believe that interaction with the animals is the key to education.
We went to the main show in the Crocoseum at midday, and were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was going to be done by the Irwin family. And they were excellent! Terri is open and warm and funny, and obviously loves telling stories about her life with Steve, and making jokes at his expense. Bindi is her fathers daughter, and the animals and their conservation are her purpose in life, just as they were his. She's learning to feed the big crocs, as you'll see in the photos, and she shows no signs of fear in this, and I don't think they could stop her if they wanted to. She's not as outgoing or energetic or 'hypo' as her dad, but every bit as compelling, and very confident at what she does. Robert was there also, and he's still only young, but he was involved in the show from the start. He's funny, and has some good lines (obviously rehearsed), but he'll probably learn to relax a little in time. It was good to see them all taking a visible role in the zoo, it bodes well for the future.
The start of the show was a free flying bird display around the arena, and it was awesome. On cue, different birds would fly into the arena and display their aerobatic abilities, to different music clips. Colourful Macaws flew from handler to handler around the stadium. A gorgeous Peregrine Falcon showed how it plucked food out of the air and ate it in mid flight, and never missed. A Black Headed Stork soared in from above, landed in the pool of water, retrieved it's food from there, and then walked out the exit gate just like it was a member of the audience. And a small flock of Rainbow Lorikeets buzzed through the stadium, over and around and through the audience, like a swarm of bees. It was incredibly entertaining, and a wonderful way to start the show... But the stars of the show were the Irwins and the big crocs. That's why we went. 'Digger' was the superstar today, and he performed brilliantly. We saw him strike from the waters edge. We saw him jump most of his body length from the water, and we watched him 'stalk' the handlers from underwater, without even a ripple on the surface. Best of all, we watched him do the death roll with a leg of feral pig, attached to a rope, a total of three times before he was allowed to have it. Totally awesome.
It's been another one of those totally memorable days, which you'd have to call perfect. The sun was bright and warm, and where we spent the day is just amazing. We could easily go back again tomorrow, but on the way home, the boys spotted the Big Kart Track, and it looks like that'll be tomorrow's choice. Either way, it doesn't matter. We're back on the tourist trail, and out enjoying whatever we discover along the way.
As it was meant to be...
- comments