From Cooroy we headed south to a small town called called Beerwah which is home to Australia Zoo.

Australia Zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin on 3 June 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park. Their son Steve had helped his parents since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo. In 1982 the park was renamed the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and the area was doubled with the purchase of another 4 acres (1.6 ha).

Steve grew up and became quite famous for his personality and the TV series "The Cocodile Hunters". Him and his American wife Terri took over the park and changed the name of their now growing wildlife park to Australia Zoo. As filming generated extra funds, Steve and Terri put all money raised from filming and merchandise into conservation and building new enclosures.

Steve tragically died in 2006. His wife Terri and two children Bindi & Robert now own and run the zoo.

The zoo is very beautiful place and now is 100 acres in size. The kids really enjoyed all the animals but in particular the crocodile and bird show. There are not as many animals as I expected, however most are Australian. There is a lot of walking to do and the animals are sparce inbetween. The zoo's infrastructure is starting to show its age. With an average of 770,000 visitors a year at $99 an adult and $59 a child, it does make you wonder where the money is going.

Frustratingly there are gift shops everywhere. You have to pay to go into the animal hospital or ride a camel and they are asking for donations to save this or that animal all the time. I was left feeling Steve's message anout conservation and saving the animals has been lost. The whole thing seemed to be about maximusing profits.

I'm glad we visited, we all had a really good day. However I was just was left a bit dissapionted.