Australian Adventure (Sunday, June 23, 2013)

40 Days Down Under (Day 10)

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Kris and I had blog posts/photos ready to post, so we started the day with going to McDonalds for wifi. I had my traditional granola bar in the car. Kris got himself a Maccas breakfast.

It wasn't long before we were in the town of Beerwah at the famed Steve Irwin Australia Zoo.


The Australia Zoo in Queensland is huge! Those banana benders know how to do it.

It was a beautiful day at the zoo, and we had a lot of ground to cover. First up, naturally, had to be some lizards, gators, and crocs for Kris.








They make sure to warn you not to swim with the crocs/gators.





The zoo has a really nice memorial area and museum set up as a tribute to Steve Irwin and family. They have a lot of skeletons and taxidermy animals in the case that have been donated or met with natural causes.

The zoo also had pathways that led to cassowaries, bearcats, and camels.








They also have a bunch of specialized zookeepers who really seem to have a bond with the animals they care for. I was very impressed with the giant tortoise. I have never seen a reptile seem to want human interaction before witnessing this zookeeper and the giant tortoise. She was scratching his head and under his neck, and this tortoise just kind of followed her around lifting his neck for a good pat.


We went to the big Australia show they have around noon showcasing the birds and the alligators and the crocodiles. I made Kris get on the statue near the entrance.


Before the show, they had a concert given by Bindi (Steve and Terri Irwin's daughter) and the Jungle Girls. Bindi can actually sing pretty well. I'm not sure about the choreography, but I'm not the target market either. The 14-year-old blonde boy behind us was certainly getting into the show. So was Terri Irwin who was singing along in the stands like a good mom should.





The birds were a rather impressive lot. They were swooping and flying right by us in the stands. They had a gigantic condor too (unfortunately the photo didn't turn out).


Then Robert (Steve and Terri's son) fed a small American alligator.


Terri gave a lot of really interesting information about crocodiles along with her zookeeper sidekick. An important thing to note is not to get near the water's edge in crocodile land. The water is their home and territory. They will defend it. Certainly don't get into the water.





Terri, Bindi, and their trusty brave zookeeper took turns feeding Murray, a big crocodile.

Murray seems fond of rats.

It was a worthwhile show to watch. I recommend it if you are at the zoo. They even try to give the croc the feeling like he got live bait, hook some meat to a big rope, then tug on the rope pulling on it a bunch to emulate a struggle. Murray, naturally, will be victorious. It was neat to see him do some barrel roles to try to throw his prey off balance.





The talks were also pretty entertaining. I enjoyed hearing about the otters and the elephants. The otters were chatterers - and one was a definite opportunist. He was funny. It was also nice to see how much the elephant caretaker obviously cares about Rosie, her elephant.

We were lucky enough to get to see the weekend premiere of the new baby rhino in the Africa section of the zoo.








We enjoyed the tigers, koalas, kangaroos, wombats, birds, and other animals too.


The echidna was super cute.


Great day at the zoo, but we couldn't leave until Kris got another peek at the reptiles.








We ended our night at the Rainbow Beach Holiday Village for a two night stay. Crowded park, but we eventually managed to do a load of laundry and see a nice sky after sunset.