I've now properly arrived in Brisbane following my Australian "Safari".

After meeting Bundy Bear at the Distillery, I went turtle watching on Mon Repos beach in the evening. It is well organised, but does involve a lot of waiting around hoping for the turtles to join the show. It is still quite early in the season, but after several hours, we were fortunate to find one turtle make an appearance. The females pull themselves up the beach, dig a hole and lay their eggs. However, the one we saw didn't seem to like the neighbourhood, and left without making a nest. Still, it is not often you get a chance to be this close to some genuinely wild creatures.

The next day I doubled back on myself to "Town of 1770" and did a day trip to Lady Musgrave Island, the southern most island on the Great Barrier Reef. The boat was a 20 meter catamaran capable of doing 23 knots, which in a sea with 2 meter swells made for a bumpiest sailing I've ever had - but a lot of fun. At the island you moor up against a pontoon in the shelter of the surrounding reef. You can only go on to the island itself as part of a guided walk that takes you through and then back around the beach. The island was full of birds and reminded me strongly of the Alfred Hitchcock film "The Birds"; we were surrounded by birds screaming at us to go away from their nests. The pontoon included an underwater viewing area, which allowed you to see some of the huge fish swimming around. I swear that one was at least 1 meter long - honest! Of course, the best part was being able to get in an snorkel with them. I've been to reefs before, but I am always amazed at how colourful they are, and this was no exception. Also, to dazzling fish, while not tame, had no fear and would swim right up to you. I only got out because I'd been swimming for a couple of hours and was beginning to get cramps in my legs. Otherwise I would have happily remained there all day.

Unfortunately, I arrived back at the mainland to find that the camper-van wouldn't start. An engineer was called out, who managed to start it, but not really fix it. Instead, I had to drive to Brisbane the next day so that Wicked could change the starter motor (Grrr). This messed up half a day, so in the afternoon I hung around Maroochydore and went to the cinema to see the film "Red Dog" (still trying to keep with an animal film). Good film and a real tear jerker.

I finally got to the Australia Zoo the next day and it is amazing. It is not like any other zoo I have ever been to. They focus on the spectacular, but also on getting you up close and personal with the animals.

• I feed the elephants - in case you are wondering, an elephants trunk is rough, though very delicate, but also slimy;

• I watched a "Wildlife Warriors" show in an arena somewhat like number 1 court at Wimbledon;

• I got to hold a Koala - corny I know, but exceedingly cute;

• Watched the feeding of various animals including Otters, Tortoises, Kangaroos and Salt Water Crocodiles;

• I visited the Wildlife Hospital next door. For CareFusion folk, I got to see the good old Gemini's being put to good use.

Of course, Australia Zoo is probably most well known for its work with crocodiles and, while standing ~6 feet away dangling some steak, they provide lots of information about their habits and habitat. Strangely though, most folks attention is on whether the keeper is about to loose his hand or not. Excellent fun.

So that's:

• Bundy Bear

• Nesting Turtles

• Barrier Reef birds and fishes

• "Red Dog" Film

• Australia Zoo

Maybe the only wildlife that I've not had much of an encounter with so far has been the famous Australian creepy-crawlies, but I'm quite happy about that. In the meantime, I hope to enjoy a few days in Brisbane before continuing my journey to Sydney to fly out next week.

Oh, one last note - I'm half way through my holiday! I'm going to get the "end of holiday" blues soon ! Mind you, I'm glad that I've been doing this blog because I'm already beginning to struggle to remember what happened where.