From Brisbane, we headed over to THE Australia Zoo. We’ve been to a lot of zoos in our days, but the Australia Zoo is the brain child of Aussie icon, Steve Irwin. We grew up with Steve Irwin’s shows, watching while he conjured up ideas of adventure and Australia in our young imaginations. Ten years later, we were on our way to see where his magic began…
When we arrived at the zoo, the “Wildlife Warriors” show was about to begin in the Crocoseum. So of course we headed over to see the show and kick off our morning with a croc feeding. After a parade of elephants, a flutter of exotic birds, and a bit of snake wrangling, the crocs took center stage. Now this is what we remembered from childhood TV! As Stormin’ Norman entered the Crocoseum you could feel the adrenaline running through the crowd as the trainers captivated the audience by their daring brushes with the menacing croc.
After our croc encounter, we strolled the zoo to spend some time with the less daunting of the animal kingdom. We visited camels, dingoes, tortoises and skinks, but perhaps out most impressive sighting was Bindi Irwin herself, just wandering around the zoo with her friends too.
The day before was her 11th birthday, and she invited all kids to visit the zoo for free, hosted a Masquerade party, and even featured Jessica Mauboy on stage in the Crocoseum. Seems like a pretty good party! Clearly, today she was just unwinding with her animal friends after all the excitement.
To conclude our tour of the Australia Zoo, we met up with Michael in the kangaroo pen to feed a few of the friendly ‘roos and learn a bit more about how the Steve Irwin legacy lives on. Steve’s focus on conservation of wildlife and education of the public is still the priority of the Australia Zoo as evidenced by the many projects and programs they support. We visited the memorial to Steve Irwin on our way out, and it was easy to see that he is still the most prominent figure and influence at the zoo. The Crocodile Hunter lives on in the hearts of many, both man and beast.
Well, we're off again, tomorrow to Airlie Beach to check out the sailing scene and host a Van-Tastic Adventures launch party at Beaches Backpackers! See ya there!
