We are at Australia Zoo today! It is the one thing we could not possibly have left Australia without doing! The girls have talked about Steve O and Bindi for weeks and have speculated for days about which day we will arrive here and whether we catch a glimpse of anyone they have seen on TV. So we are here in Beerwah - and the girls are almost emotional when we enter and immediately see the bronze memorial statue to Steve and his family located just inside the admission gate.
Initially a small family business, the expansion of Australia Zoo has seen the Irwin family employing hundreds of energetic people with a variety of skills and they do an amazing job- just enough staff to ensure smooth running - but not so many that it becomes an impersonal experience. The keepers are friendly and have time to talk and spend with everyone. They also seem to be involved in more than one area which means that we encounter familiar faces throughout the day. Jeremy in particular was a big hit with the girls and we saw him with his baby alligator wandering around the park, in the crocoseum for the croc show and as we left - saying goodbye to each and every visitor as they left the zoo - complete with cockatoo!
The exhibits and enclosures not only allow us to see and experience the animals up close, but also seem to be luxurious, spacious, stimulating and fun for the animals to live and play in. The public areas are beautifully landscaped with wide sweeping paths, spotlessly clean and well maintained and everything is beautifully presented. Even the sand is raked and picture perfect. It is an amazing place.
The latest exhibit at the Zoo is the Africa section - It was, we learn, a dream of Steve's to open a safari type park and this latest edition is a great addition. The girls listen to the elephant keeper talk, which like all the others we hear today has atleast 50% conservation and environmental messages. At the end they queue up and feed the elephants - which they have always loved doing when we visit Colchester Zoo at home with Granny Chicken - and there is much fond talk of our days there together as we move to the next enclosure. The Crocoseum!
The Crocoseum is the fulfillment of another of Steve Irwin's lifelong dreams. Steve wanted to provide the visitors to Australia Zoo with the opportunity to see crocodiles in clear water ponds. This idea was to help educate the public by showing them how crocodiles live and behave in the wild.
Crocodiles use the murkiness of the water in their territory to camouflage from their prey. By using clear water, the dangers lurking just below the surface of a seemingly serene billabong can be clearly shown.
Steve's dream was to be able to use an intricate system of channels and gates to allow him to house several male Saltwater Crocodiles alongside each other in private enclosures, and bring them individually out into the centre of the Crocoseum for our crocodile shows.
It has given Australia Zoo the perfect arena to display some of the most beautiful animals not just crocs, but animals such as our snakes and one of the most amazing free-flight bird shows. Today we are in for a surprise because the latest TV advert is being filmed and so Wes is here! I appreciate this will mean nothing to most of the readers of this blog - but if you are an Australia Zoo fanatic then it is a big deal! Lots of excitement! It also means that we see a lot more of the crocs and a lot more action. Interesting to note that the camera man had a keeper attached to his back pocket at all times to pull and push him out of the way as Wes tries to get the best shots for the TV campaign!
We also see echidnas in the flesh - Echidnas have slender snouts and long, flicking tongues and one of only 2 egg laying mammals (the other is a platypus). They also has distinctive sharp quills along their back and sides for protection against predators. When threatened, the echidna will curl inwards, leaving only their sharp spines exposed - they also flatten themselves to become a spiny pancake if picked up and the girls enjoyed a quick stroke before moving on to Kangaroo Heaven!
We enter the Roo enclosure, which is a wide open area of parkland and suddenly spots hundreds of kangaroos - just doing their thing. We buy our food from a vending machine - how bizarre and then we hand-feed gorgeous Red Kangaroos and Grey Kangaroos as they roam their open-range enclosure.
If you look closely there is a joey hanging out of the pouch - only one back leg and a bit of tail visible - and it was quite a big baby to fit in the pouch - but she was a very relaxed Mummy with a very stretchy pouch - and baby joey disappeared into it so fast we didnt see it happen!
Kangaroos are the largest marsupial surviving on earth today. They are well known for their style of movement; hopping on their hind legs whilst using their large, muscular tail for balance. Kangaroos use their tail like an extra leg when they are manoeuvring around, or standing still. Kangaroos are one of the only animals that are not able to move backwards easily, and this is why they are used on the Australian national emblem. And my goodness they can move fast when they are spooked!
We could have spent hours here in the peaceful surroundings and at times we were felt almost like we had our little section of open area to ourselves. Another great day was had by all and having been almost at the front of the queue at opening time we are almost the last to leave.
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