Days 86 and 87

We had a really early flight from Cairns to Brisbane and as we only had two days there we didn't have time to rest. We arrived around 8am and picked up our hire car before deciding to head to Australia zoo for the day as the weather was good. Mum and Helena were excited about seeing thier first Kangaroos and Koala Bears, and Jamie was looking forward to seeing Steve Irwin's legacy. Helena was also looking forward to seeing a Tasmanian Devil as until recently she believed them to be an entirely fictional animal! On arrival at the zoo we found it was very much a shrine to Steve Irwin with his picture plastered everywhere, and reptiles being the main attraction. We got the chance to get up close to kangaroos and koalas, ideal photo opportunities. We also got to see a show in the famous crocoseoum although we both preferred seeing the animals in the wild. The layout of the zoo was very similar to the one we had been to in Singapore, and the animals seemed to have enough space to roam around. Helena even got the chance to get a photo with a cuddly koala but she soon realised that they are not as cuddly as they look :p It was a great day out and definitely worth the hefty entry fee. "CROCS RULE!".

We then drove back towards Brisbane to find our accommodation for the night, and when we arrived it was decent enough although mum was not overly keen. However we were only staying for 2 nights so we ordered takeout pizza before getting an early night, after a long tiring day.

We headed into Brisbane early in the morning although it was a grey, miserable looking day. It didn't help that Brisbane seemed to be a fairly ordinary city lacking in things to do, other than shop and cruise down the river. We decided to have a walk along the river through the Botanical gardens, and we came across a local market selling souvenirs etc. We had a browse and then decided to have a long lunch. In the afternoon we drove out of the city a little to Mount Cookatah, which offered great views over the city and surrounding areas.