G'day from Oz!

New Zealand was a tough act to follow, but so far Oz has been just as amazing!

Checked into a hostel close to where all trips are run from which is handy & we've been on 3 trips already!

First day here we strolled around Brisbane, it has some really cool buildings & Queen Street is great for shopping! The river that runs through it is gorgeous & the weather has been superb! We walked accross Queen Street bridge & followed the river past Brisbane's version of the London Eye! On to the man made beach, which is really cool in the middle of a built up city & right next to the river!

On our second day we took a trip to Austrailia Zoo, we're sure anyone who has been would agree it is the best zoo in the world! We watched the Wildlife Warriors show in the Crocoseum which Steve Irwin had built for around $8m! This included parading elephants, wild birds, snakes & of course feeding a crocodile! The croc's name was 'Storming Norman'!

After that we checked out the rest of the croc's - they have loads! Including the very first small croc's Steve Irwin caught & Aggro - who was the hardest catch he made - we watched a dvd on the way to the zoo & Aggro has a nasty temper! Our driver, CC, was a friend of Steve, his wife Terri & the kids Bindi & Bobby so he was able to give us some cool stories about Steve & we watched his life story on the way - legend!

We watched a Koala demo, which included a talk on their habbits, population & why they sleep all the time - because they have complex digestive systems which means breaking down the eucalyptus leaves they eat uses up lots of their energy & hence they sleep for more than 20 hours a day! After the demo we got to stroke the koala, the males have corse fur & later going through the Koala walkway we got to stroke a female, the females are fluffier & softer. Hannah had a really nice photo taken hugging a Koala named Lenno - he even smiled at the camera for her!

While walking round the zoo, staff bring round some of the animals for you to touch & ask questions about, we saw, dingos, lemurs, snakes & wombats who are the closest relatives to Koalas, being walked through the zoo! There are also lots of quite large lizards & flightless birds who freeely roam the zoo!

After lunch in a koala hut we headed for the elephant reserve, which looks amazing, waterfalls & statues surround them & they all look really at home. We got to feed the elephants fruit - which was really cool - bit like a drooling vacuum cleaner when they take it out of your hand with their trunks!

Next we saw a tiger demonstration, there were around ten tigers in the pen & the keeper was playing with them in the pool & kicking balls around with them - cool job! They were playfull though & just licked him to death! There is about 2 inches from you & the tigers between the glass - it's unbelievable how close we got to them!

We walked through Kangaroo Heaven & stroked red Kangaroos & Wombats - they are all really tame!

After making sure we saw every animal on the map by leaving time CC dropped us back to the hostel & on the way out we saw Terri - Steve's wife & she gave us a wave! It was Steve & Terris dream to get the zoo upto 300 hectars but Terri has huge plans to go way beyond that & get it as big as 100 hectars! There is lots of work going on at the moment to expand the zoo including Cheeter & gorrilla enclosures as well as a brand new animal hospital - so gotta go back in ten years time! What an awesome day!

Next morning we were up early for our Great Barrier Reef trip. We were taken to the town of 1770 which is the first place Captain Cook stopped on the East coast of Australia. Our hotel was really nice lots of luxuries we haven't had in our hostels!

The first day of our trip was spent getting there & then we went to a really nice beach, the tide was low & there were sting rays basking in the shallow water & we saw a dolphin swimming really close by! We watched the sunset on the mountains & got some gorgeous views as the sky was so clear. We had a nice dinner cooked by the hotel & drinks with the rest of our group - there were only 7 of us so that was nice.

Next morning we took a small ferry over to Lady Musgrave island, which is at the bottom of the barrier reef. The weather was perfect, the island is made of fast growing white coral & it is surrounded by clear blue water. We anchored by the pontoon & were taken to the island on a glass bottomed boat, we got really close to some small green back turtles on the way & were taken on a guided tour of the island. The island is covered with nesting birds & is home to around 50 species. The views from it are beautiful & we found some huge heavy shells!

After being taken back to the boat we had an hour snorkelling the reef, we have never seen so many fish! The crew feed them to attract them & they swim around you! The reef was really pretty & after an hour we got lunch on the boat - all you can eat buffet of meat, prawns etc!

After lunch we got another snorkelling session in & swam closer to the island, we saw a huge green back turtle sat in a reef, which acts as a cleaning station for turtles, they sit & have all the fish take parasites off their skin & shells that they can't reach. We swam right by him & watched the fish groom him - unbelievable experience!

Next we were taken out on a semi-submersible boat to have a good look at the reef & marine life, the coral is really colourful & home to thousands of fish & we saw another green back turtle!

We got our last snorkel session in & saw 3 turtles, there was a baby green turtle swimming by the large one we saw earlier - who was still sat in the same place 3 hours later! Another turtle got himself stuck under the metal chain of the boat's anchor & a diver had to rescue him!

We headed back to the town of 1770 & got our second round of tea & cakes in - ate like kings! Our driver picked us up & took us to find some kangaroos - we saw to bouncing by the road - they are really quick - lucky really as they just managed to avoid being hit by a car coming the other way!

We had dinner & drinks at the hotel & our driver walked us to the beach in the dark to check out the stars - awe inspiring there were millions of stars above the glowing waves & cryll on shore which glow a blue/green colour in the dark - Gaz accidentally burst one & sprayed the glow stuff all over the sand - ooops!

On the way down to the beach there was a python resting on the bottom step! Our driver (Carl) very wisely decided to pick it up by the tail! Once the snake settled down Carl grabbed it by the neck & we got some photos! But the snake coiled itself around his arm really tight & Gaz had to untie it!

On our last day we spent the morning at the beach, topped up the tans & Gaz attempted to surf! More practice required! Then we headed back to Brisbane.

After a night at our hostel we took a trip to Morton Island, we were ferried accross & then got a 4 wheel drive safari through the island & along the shore - bumpy but cool! We got to sand board down a huge sand dune they call the desert, its really steep & you fly down & then carry on for some distance at the bottom - trick is to keep your mouth & eyes closed!

We went for a swim in the blue lagoon to wash the sand off, its a really nice oasis on the island, not many fish in it :( but clear waters & very refreshing. After a swim we headed for the campsite for lunch.

We took a walk along the beach & got picked up in the jeep to go to the lighthouse look out on the end of the island. We walked to the top - around 100m above sea level & got some awesome views of the ocean, we saw a whale & it's calf, which was jumping out of the water, turtles & manta-rays.

After our last jeep safari of the day we caught the ferry next to the tongalooma ship wrecks, which are surrounded by torquise waters. After a walk around Brisbane at night we got back to our hostel & had a nice lie in this morning!

We have today & tomorrow in Brisbane & then we start travelling south, so we will catch up again in Sydney!

Take care all

Love Gaz & Hannah xxx