crikey!

Sound familiar? Yes, I went to Australia Zoo on Sunday! The home of the late Steve Irwin... Australia Zoo is HUGE! And home to heaps of animals, crocodiles (of course), koalas, kangaroos, wombats, echidnas, snakes, lizards, heaps of birds, otters, dingoes foxes, camels, cheetahs, elephants, tigers, tasmanian devils, turtles, tortoises and lots lots more. It was amazing just how big this place is. I opened up the map when we walked in, and wondered how the heck we were going to get around the whole place before it closed! It required serious planning... And we managed to see it all. I was mainly interested in the exotic animals, like the elephants and the tigers, much more interesting than the Australian ones. Haha, that sounds bad, but its just normal to see kangaroos and everything, and its really NOT normal to see a tiger here.

So, my favourite exhibits were the tigers, and the elephants. And actually, the tasmanian devils and the wombats were pretty cute too. Hah, yeah, the tasmanian devils were cute. Mainly because there was one guy who was running around doing crazy laps of his enclosure.. haha. Provided much amusement for us all. And the wombats, we nicknamed athletic koalas... They are similar to koalas, because they sleep a lot, but they actually do get up and walk around... rather than the hundreds of koalas we saw sleeping.

Anyway, on to the elephants... They were so majestic. So gentle, which is surprising given their size. The keepers did say though, that they get really cheeky and try and break the electric fences and knock down other fences at night time. ;) Made me laugh... you can even feed them! Guess what they eat... sweet potato! haha.. so cute... Very slimey though, your hands are covered in slobber afterwards! Hehe... was hilarious, all these people walking around trying not to touch themselves because their hands are all wet with elephant spit! Hahaha!

The tigers were my absolute favourite. Did you know they are the biggest cats in the world? I always thought lions were, but it turns out that the tiger is the king of the cats. And, yes, they are HUGE! When we first went to the Tiger Temple, as it was called, they were all sleeping behind the bamboo. Bit disappointing. But we went back in the afternoon after the elephant feeding, and they were awake and jumping around and eating bones... The tiger enclosure is all glassed off, so you can stand right next to one, if it chooses to come up to the glass. Actually, I noticed quite a few scratch marks on the other side of those windows... *gulp* They were amazing, just amazing. Really really really big. And when they ran... far out, they were fast! Glad I wasn't what they were chasing! They had really beautiful eyes too... Yeah, you actually get to see them that close... it was amazing!

The Wildlife Warriors 101 show was really cool too... They actually have all these amazing birds flying around the stadium. Subsequently amazed that the birds didn't fly away... Brightly coloured macaws, and black cockatoos, doves, lorikeets, and other birds too. The black cockatoos were limelight stealers, they wanted the whole show to themselves. They were the last birds to come out, and they flew around the stadium landing on various little landing spots, and then at the end, when they were supposed to fly back to their keepers, they completely ignored them and kept flying around the stadium. So while the crocodile was doing his demonstration, there were two black cockatoos flying around trying to get everyone to look at them instead... hahah. Very funny!

Terri, Bindi and Robert are planning so much... The bus driver of the courtesy bus was saying that in five years they plan to be 500 hectares! (I think thats a lot...but I actually have no idea...) They will also have a Safari, where you can drive through, which makes me think that they will get lions eventually as well... (wow!) And, they will also have a train station, when the new Queensland Rail Sunshine Coast line is built. They are certainly putting a lot of effort into it! Very impressed also with the amount of conservation they promote. Everything... even in the fact that they have signs up advising against the consumption of native animals such as kangaroos and emus. Much to the dismay of Marcel... who practically spent the whole day walking around saying how he could really go with a kangaroo steak right now... hahaha... ;)

Anyway, I was very impressed with the whole place... Only problem was, the park closes at 4:30pm, and the train connection to Brisbane doesn't leave until 5:30pm, so you have to wait for an hour at Beerwah for the train. But again, Australia Zoo deliver, the bus driver points out the local RSL, local pub and local pizza place when you pull into the station. So, off we went to have a nice cold beer in Beerwah! ;)

Oh, in other news, my secret fairy society package was delivered... and its even been posted onto the main SOSF site. I'm a little embarrassed... heh... *blush* But very glad it got there safe and sound! Am checking the mailbox in anticipation for mine... :)