Saturday, November 26, 2005
Crikey!
Today was our only day in Brisbane, so we'd arranged to go to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. Originally we were going to go by train, but from what we could gather, it involved getting up too early, so instead we decided to get on the Croc Express coach, which would pick us up from our hotel at a civilised hour. We even got to watch a video about Steve & Terri Irwin on the way, which we wouldn't have got on the train. We also got some pretty close views of the Glasshouse Mountains, volcanic plugs which apparently reminded Captain Cook of the glasshouses used for cooling pottery back in England, hence the name.
Rain had been forecast again, so we left our sun hats behind and packed waterproofs. Of course, when we got off the coach it was hot & sunny.
We headed straight for the Crocoseum and the first animal shows of the day. The tigers were entertaining, but the snakes were, well, snakes, which aren't that exciting from a distance. The free-flying birds were much more fun. We were dive-bombed by red-tailed black cockatoos and rose cockatoos with their beautiful colouring. There was a beautiful display of formation flying by rainbow lorikeets, which the Red Arrows would have been proud of.
Finally, of course, there was the monster croc who, of course, wandered round the arena trying to take the keeper's arm off. I blame the keeper for walking round the edge of the water holding pieces of raw meat in his hand. You wouldn't catch me doing it.
We spent the rest of the day just wandering around the zoo, having our photo taken with a beautiful white python on our shoulders, or cuddling a koala; marvelling at Harriet, the 175 year old tortoise; laughing at the ridiculous places where koalas get to sleep; feeding carrots to the elephants; or feeling very relieved that the world's top 10 poisonous snakes were all securely behind glass.
We were the last people back on the coach at the end of the day, and we had a fantastic time. I'd recommend it to anyone. Though it undoubtedly capitalises on the commercial success of the Steve Irwin brand, it's a great zoo to visit. You can't help feeling that the animals are well housed and well treated, as are the spectators. Where else have you been that has water sprays along sections of the path for you to walk under to cool off? And the whole place was just about spotless. It's not the cheapest day out, but it's pretty good value for money. And you can always go & have a laugh at Steve Irwin's clothing brand...
Rain had been forecast again, so we left our sun hats behind and packed waterproofs. Of course, when we got off the coach it was hot & sunny.
We headed straight for the Crocoseum and the first animal shows of the day. The tigers were entertaining, but the snakes were, well, snakes, which aren't that exciting from a distance. The free-flying birds were much more fun. We were dive-bombed by red-tailed black cockatoos and rose cockatoos with their beautiful colouring. There was a beautiful display of formation flying by rainbow lorikeets, which the Red Arrows would have been proud of.
Finally, of course, there was the monster croc who, of course, wandered round the arena trying to take the keeper's arm off. I blame the keeper for walking round the edge of the water holding pieces of raw meat in his hand. You wouldn't catch me doing it.
We spent the rest of the day just wandering around the zoo, having our photo taken with a beautiful white python on our shoulders, or cuddling a koala; marvelling at Harriet, the 175 year old tortoise; laughing at the ridiculous places where koalas get to sleep; feeding carrots to the elephants; or feeling very relieved that the world's top 10 poisonous snakes were all securely behind glass.
We were the last people back on the coach at the end of the day, and we had a fantastic time. I'd recommend it to anyone. Though it undoubtedly capitalises on the commercial success of the Steve Irwin brand, it's a great zoo to visit. You can't help feeling that the animals are well housed and well treated, as are the spectators. Where else have you been that has water sprays along sections of the path for you to walk under to cool off? And the whole place was just about spotless. It's not the cheapest day out, but it's pretty good value for money. And you can always go & have a laugh at Steve Irwin's clothing brand...
// posted by Chrisl @ 9:02 PM 
