Australia Zoo and more........... CRIKEY!! We've actually made it. Another big tick in our holiday calendar. We left Brisbane early to get to the zoo before the hoards of kids descend on us ! As it happened we left so early we were able to detour to take in the sights of the Glass House Mountain range en-route. Stunning views over a Jurassic Park-esque collection of peaks. Back on the Bruce Highway we soon enter Steve Irwin Drive towards the zoo. Any fan of the Crocodile Hunter will know this is quite a privilege to finally get to see his wildlife empire. As we enter the park gates you're faced with a fifty foot hoarding with Steve Irwin smiling down on you and you get that giddy feeling inside. Although the car park was filling nicely when we arrived there was a sense of calm as we went through the gates into the zoo. None of the pushing and shoving, anyone who has been to Alton Towers would expect !! The natural path round the zoo takes you past the alligators into the main drag where we made a b-line for the Crocoseum as we wanted to get good seats for the show. By chance it happened to be Steve Irwin's son, Robert's birthday so we got to see the whole family together and wish him a happy birthday as he blew out his candles on a huge dinosaur cake. The croc show is good and because it was Roberts birthday Terri was doing the honours and feeding the crocs with her children in the arena watching. It was very sad not seeing Steve there but Bindi, his daughter is a little star. We passed her in the park chatting to the other kids ( with 2 security guards by her of course ), she is very grown up asking everyone if they 'd had a good day.. The zoo is well laid out with petting areas for kangaroos and other furry friends plus you get wild birds etc just visiting. The Tiger enclosure is a must as you see them with their handlers play fighting in a huge pool. Yes, Tigers are very good swimmers ! We left the zoo towards Noosa but decided to stop at Dicky Beach Holiday park up the road as it was getting late. Not a Big4 site and it showed. It was a bit run down and there was a huge rat in the kitchen area ! Still, we did have a tasty steak and salad for dinner and got some sleep. The next morning we drove approx an hour to Noosa, home to yet another gorgeous beach . We arrived at about 10ish (wanted to get out of the rat infested camp site ASAP!) This time we were back at a Big 4!! This one had got a mention in the lonely planet for it's cleanliness, so no more rats then!! As we arrived early we decided to do some housekeeping. Each site has laundry services at them so for $3 you can wash a whole load which is great. So once the washing was done we decided to take it easy and have a dip in the pool (it's getting very hot out here!) So much for the people in NSW saying it was going to busy up here we are the only ones in the pool!! So after a long sunbathing session and swimming we hit the showers and head off into town. We went to a little restaurant called Le Monde, this was another recommendation from the Lonely Planet and again they weren't wrong. We shared a seafood platter which was superb! Whole crab, prawns, salmon, fried local fish, calamari, scallops, Morton bay bugs and cuttlefish, all for $75 dollars (about £35 for the two of us, delicious! So after a long walk through Noosa back to our camp site we nestled in for the night. Today we sit in Hervey Bay (pronounced Harvey, the locals hate it if you get it wrong !!) we arrived this morning, gorgeous town, the sea is a turquoise colour, the temperature here in the winter is 26 and in the summer 36, so no surprise that the sea is warmer than a heated pool! We have just booked up for a 2 day trip to Fraser Island (the biggest sand island in the world) We are going on this tomorrow so today is another day for relaxing and sunbathing (may go and snorkel in the sea!). Lou and Pete