Sept 30 - Zoo, Koalas and Kangaroos!

Today we had to get up early to catch a shuttle to the bus to the Australia Zoo, home of the Crocodile Hunter; Steve Irwin (now run by his family). It was an hour and a bit on the bus and then the best day ever. This zoo is what a zoo is meant to be. The whole thing is developed to look like each animal's natural habitat, with the architecture to give the vibe of the country where the animals reside and a wild array of animals of all sorts. Among the animals showcased were: wombats, alligators, crocodiles, cassowaries, emus, tigers, elephants, exotic birds, birds of prey, tasmanian devils (which we couldn't see in the enclosure), kangaroos, koalas, snakes, turtles, and komodo dragons, among others.

After touring through about half the park, we went and saw a really weird performance by Bindi (Steve's daughter) in the Crocoseum (big stadium with a stage and a croc pit) where she sang and danced with her "jungle girls" about animals and conservation. Like Raffi meets Hannah Montana. Anyways, after that there was a show by Steve's wife, daughter, and son, along with other zoo staff. They got dozens of bright and large birds to swoop around the stands. That was super cool, and was followed by a feeding of Monty the huge saltwater crocodile. Croc jumping for chunks of raw meat = awesome. Ironically, after the show with a strong conservation message, we filtered out of the stadium with the rest of the crowd for some burgers and pizza from the food court that made Sask place food stands look tiny.

We spent lots of time after lunch around koalas and kangaroos. I had seen lots of pictures of koalas around; they love them here, but they always look evil in the photos - those beady little eyes look like they're up to no good. But in real life they are hands down the most interesting, cute, odd little creatures ever. Got to pat a couple and get up close to them in little trees and take photos. Just when it couldn't get any cooler, we came to the big kangaroo area. We had passed through the small area earlier, which was sweet, but this was huge and had loads of roos. We bought a bag of feed from a vending machine (which dumped the unsealed bag all over the inside of the machine, and we then had to scoop up and put back in the bag) and then went and hand fed kangaroos. Quite possibly the happiest moment of my life. They are so cool up close. Usually they're on all fours like a dog and it's only when they want to go a ways that they hop. Finally getting to see some hop was also fantastic. Their fur is super soft, like velvet and these ones were so docile. It was great to feed them in the morning, but by the afternoon, they had been fed by so many people that they didn't take the food anymore and just sat around. Another zoo highlight was seeing the deadliest snakes in the world based on venom toxicity (behind thick glass) in the snake cave. It's amazing that the most mediocre looking little snakes can pack such a mean punch and some huge ones (also shown there, like the python) are virtually harmless. After a long while more hanging out with the kangaroos and koalas, we took the bus back to Noosa.

When we got back we figured it was time to book the trips to Fraser Island and the Whitsundays, so we went to Peterpan's Travel (where we had gotten a quote yesterday that was the best in town) and booked the trip. The French girl working there was so stunning she probably could have sold me anything, but we got the trip we wanted, with 3 days/2 nights on Fraser Island, 3 nights on Rainbow beach (2 before Fraser and 1 after) and 2 days/2 nights sailing the Whitsunday Islands. Meals and everything (except booze) included. So we leave for Rainbow Beach on Sunday, get a safety training lesson on Monday, then go Tues-Thurs on Fraser on a guided 4WD tour. Super excited. Can't wait. Tomorrow I'll get to skimboard at the main beach in Noosa. Life is good.