Day twenty two - July 28th, 2013
Australia Zoo
I apologise for the sheer volume of photos, but I felt the need to document every second of this day; that's how good it was.
Elly's alarm went off at 5.40am to go for an unreasonably early surf with Ben. I managed to fall back asleep but was up again at 7.30 to prepare for the zoo.
We left the campsite around 8.20, and had a little breakfast in the car of vegemite sandwiches and bananas. We made good time, and arrived around 9.30. Australia Zoo was bought and founded by the parents of Steve Iwrin, who later took it over, along with his wife Teri, and used it to realise his vision of wildlife conservation. There are photos of him, Teri, his daughter Bindi and son Bob everywhere. It truly is a lovely legacy to the crocodile hunter.
We paid the $59 each to get it (SO worth it, I can't begin to tell you!) and had a reasonably crowd free morning. The first thing we saw was a keeper holding a koala, and I had a quick stroke. I love these creatures! We saw all sorts of animals, mostly native to Australia, and of course plenty of crocs. I was hopping with excitement to hold a koala, so we paid for 2 photos ($25 each) at the 11.30 showing. Barely containing my excitement, we bought two bags of 'roo food' ($2 a bag) and headed to Kangaroo Haven. We fed roos and wallabies - all of which loved Elliot and insisting on holding his hand while he fed them. It seemed a good time to be in the enclosure as they were obviously hungry! Soon enough we were taking our place in the queue for the koala holding! The group in front of us were really annoying, holding everyone up and taking several pictures with the flash too close to the koala. The keepers were visibly annoyed, and repeated the rules several times. However, a lack of English and common sense stopped them from understanding. One of the girls even tried to turn around just so she could have her 'right side' in the photo. Eventually it was our turn! Elly had an extra long hold as the first photo came out too dark - jealousy ensued! I finally got to hold the cutie, and asked the keeper the name of the koala. Milo: 6 years old. Too precious! My jumper now smells deliciously like koala, and I intend never to wash it. I only washed my hands after supper!
After all the excitement, I could barely focus on the 'Totally Wild' show, but we learnt a great deal about birds and crocodiles, most importantly that it is a myth they are fast on land. We can run backwards faster than they can run forwards. Not such great news however if you stray too close to or into the water - these apex predictors will have you, quick as a flash. They're huge! We were told that from Rockhampton northwards is croc territory, so I shall be going nowhere near the water once we're there! However, you can see how much Steve, and all the trainers, loved and love and respect these beasts that have been around since the prehistoric ages. Their conservation work is fantastic, and I left feeling a lot more educated about the reptiles.
We had some lunch (rubbish food from a canteen, the only bad part of the day), as picked up our koala photos. Mine is awful! But Elly's is great - a good keepsake none the less. We explored the rest of the zoo, feeding Big Red kangaroos, and stroking a wombat that was being taken for a walk in her harness! We stumbled upon the koala walkabout, and I'm so glad we did! Not only could I stroke another koala, but we saw three mummy koalas with joeys, one of which just poked his head out the pouch! One of the naughty joeys almost fell out of the tree when he was exploring, and was caught by the keeper. The poor guy had his work cut out trying to monitor the whole enclosure by himself. There were so many people clamouring to get a photo, and some people even tried to touch the mothers which was of course an awful idea - so territorial with their young. That's one part I hate about zoos; people start taking advantage and stressing out the animals. But the koalas took it all in their stride, and we got some great photos and had an unforgettable experience. The Africa exhibit was awesome, and we felt there was a good amount of space for the animals. Unfortunately we only got to see the giant tortoise from quite far away, but we'd had such a hands on day it was quite alright.
We finished in the snake enclosure, and familiarised ourselves with the venomous ones, and where they live just in case we encounter one on our travels (please God NO!). Elly took photos of them all on his phone; at least if we only have 3 minutes to live we'll know about it. I was extremely comforted to find out that majority of deaths come from people who are deliberately trying to find the snakes or to kill them. If you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone. So snakes, we've got a pact right?
We came home and decided to pack up most of the car as we are leaving Noosa tomorrow. Elly has worked his magic and now everything fits inside the car including the bikes! He is a packing pro. We nipped to Woolys for some food, and made salmon, rice and veggies in the camp kitchen. There was quite a noisy group enjoying a big get together; they've all been coming here for years and enjoy a good gossip! The atmosphere was fun. A guy in his 60s (I would say) sat at our bench and we got chatting. He (Jim) told us after his wife had died around a year ago, his friends had taken him out fishing, and he'd decided he needed a new car to get him down the dirt road to the campsite. Since then, he's done a fair bit of travelling, and told us about his GPS device which sends an email to his two sons to let them know where he is each day at the push of a button. If he gets into trouble, he has the emergency services, and the army at his disposal! With a certain distress signal, a helicopter will be sent straight to his coordinates. He said he's felt a lot braver since using the device, and even showed us the website. I think we may be getting one! Very useful just to let people know you're OK when you're out of phone service.
Some last minute packing, a shower and we're settling in for our last night in Noosa. I'm really going to miss it, and was sad to say goodbye to Sophie and Dorian, as well as a few other campers who we have got to know over our extended stay here.