Today we had a 4 hour bus journey to Brisbane, the highlight being a cheeky stop at KFC on the way! Things didn't start well when we arrived, walking the wrong way out of the bus station and by the time we got to the hostel we looked a bit worse for wear! I'm also not going to rant too much about the hostel, let's just say it wasn't the best! (See review on Trip Advisor of Woodduck Brisbane for our thoughts!)

On Friday we headed to Australia Zoo and spent the whole day which was not enough! We saw giant tortoises, some incredibly deadly snakes and some wombats (which Jess fell in love with) to start off. We then had a look round at the crocodiles, some very big and scary, some just looked like you could pick them up and give them a cuddle! Oh, we also stroked an echidna which felt like a 13 year old boy had too much gel in his hair. We also had a walk amongst the Kangaroos and were able to go up to them and pat them and take pictures, which was pretty cool.

At lunchtime there was a crocodile show, preceded by a singing performance by Bindi Irwin aimed at the kids, very cheesy and Jess was not impressed. The crocodile show started and was performed by the Irwin family and a crocodile expert. The main feature was Graham, he was huge and very angry and hungry! However, this didn't deter young Robert Irwin at 11 years old who fed him like he was a 6 month old baby, fearless and no doubt will turn out much like his dad!

After a spot of lunch we queued for about half an hour for a picture with a koala. This was Jess' highlight and there was no way I was getting my hands on him for the picture, and it took some persuasion for Jess to give him back. We then saw a koala demonstration and then another crocodile show (during which I split my shorts!) before we headed to "Africa".

On the way we saw some other animals, including camels and e ones I was most looking forward to... Tigers! Suffice it to say they were very underwhelming and boring, they literally did not move! So we carried on to Africa and saw giraffes, zebras and rhinos. On the way back through we patted some more kangaroos and saw some more wombats before getting picked up by the coach. This was a definite highlight for both of us!

The next day we headed into the Brisbane CBD, particularly as I needed some new shorts! We stopped for some lunch at the Bavaria Bier Cafe where I could again sample my favourite beer so far, Lowenbrau! We took a river ride in a free shuttle boat service and then did a little shopping. In the evening we headed to the cinema to watch the Penguins of Madagascar which prompted much laughter and snorting from Jess!

Brisbane was ok though not a favourite place so far, though I think the hostel had a lot to do with it!