17th November 2009

We left Brisbane this morning on the 10.15pm Greyhound destination Noosa Heads, we arrived in Noosa at around 13.00pm and were promptly picked up by the hostel. We got checked into the hostel and we got a nice surprise as we were booked to stay in a 4-8 bedded dorm but upon check in they'd put us in a twin room instead, so 3 very peaceful nights sleep ahead of us J. The hostel was really nice a little bit out of town but they a free shuttle bus every hour until 6 o'clock so that made up for it.

Once we had got sorted we walked to the supermarket about 10 minutes walk away from the hostel. We had lunch here at a local café and then got bits for tea at Woolworths. Once back at the hostel we decided to go to the beach for a couple of hours we only had 5 minutes before the free shuttle bus left so in a bit of rush we grabbed our stuff and headed to the beach. Typically as soon as we arrived at the beach the sun went in so we read our books for a bit and since we had nearly an hour to wait for the shuttle bus back to the hostel we did a typical Hewitt thing and went for a pint at the surf club. We felt like we were in Home and Away!!!

Tonight we cooked beef satay with rice which was really nice and watched a film in the common area accompanied with a few drinks. We also had a bit of rain tonight with some very impressive lightening.

18th November 2009

This morning it was a really overcast day still very hot but not really beach weather so we decided we would do the walk around the national park today. So we got the shuttle bus to Noosa heads and first of all we walked to Noosa junction to pick up some toiletries about a 15 minute up hill walk we also got some lunch here before our walk. The walk back to Noosa Heads was easier as most of it was downhill and from here it was a 1.4km walk to the National park. Once at the National Park there was a choice between 4 walks but we decided to do the coastal walk as it had been recommended to us by the lady at the hostel.

The coastal track starts immediately out of the car park and follows the coastline. This provides wonderful views and passes by Tea Tree beach that provides good surfing. After about 15 minutes on the tracks we saw a wild koala I must admit the only reason we spotted it was due to the big group of people huddled around the tree it was in, we really are not very observant usually.

It was a really good walk with some really lovely scenery but surprise surprise we ended up on another nudist beach which was part of the walk called Alexandra bay. We thought we were safe this time as everyone on the beach seamed to have clothes on but as we got half way across the beach I turned to Suzie and said "Im sure that man hasn't got any clothes" and true to form he didn't so we had another uncomfortable moment of not knowing where to look. Once we got to the end of the beach we had to do a bit of guess work as the signs for the walk had stopped (they seem to do this here they'll be signs up to a certain point then they'll just stop which is really helpful!!!) but being the intelligent girls we are we got on the right path to finish the walk. We finished the walk at Sunshine beach the walk in total was around 8km.

We caught the bus back to Noosa junction from Sunshine beach to go to the supermarket to get our picnic lunch for tomorrow to take to Australia zoo with us. From here we walked back to Noosa heads to get the shuttle bus back to the hostel. For tea tonight we had pizza and a free drink at the hostel for $11 and then we spent the rest of night chatting to some people at the bar before using the internet and then going to bed.

19th November 2009

This morning we had an early start as we were going to Australia Zoo and we had to catch the free shuttle bus at 8.10am from the end of the road. So we were up at 7am showered and had breakfast before walking to the end of the road.

Australia Zoo is home to Steve Irwin the crocodile hunter for those of you who don't know who Steve Irwin is here is a little bit of information to help you out………….

Stephen Robert Irwin was born to Lyn and Bob Irwin on 22 February, 1962, in upper Fern Tree Gully, Victoria. He moved with his parents and two sisters to Beerwah, Queensland, where his folks opened the Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park in 1970.

Steve grew up loving all wildlife, especially reptiles. He caught his first venomous snake (a Common Brown) at the tender age of six and would often arrive late to school after convincing his mother to pull over so he could rescue a lizard off the road.

By the time he was nine-years-old, he was helping his dad catch small problem crocodiles hanging around boat ramps by jumping on them in the water and wrestling them back into the dinghy. He always had an uncanny sixth sense when it came to wildlife and he spent his life honing that skill.

In the 1980s Steve spent months on end living in the most remote areas of far North Queensland catching problem crocodiles before they ended up shot by a poacher's bullet. He worked with his little dog, Sui, and developed crocodile capture and management techniques that are now utilised with crocodilians around the world.

By 1980, the family wildlife park was called the 'Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park' and where Steve called home. Steve and his best mate, Wes Mannion, worked countless hours caring for the wildlife and maintaining the grounds.

In 1991 Steve took over managing the wildlife park and met Terri Rains, a visiting tourist, on 6 October. Steve and Terri were married in Eugene, Oregon, on 4 June 1992 at the Methodist church Terri's grandmother used to attend.

Instead of a honeymoon, the couple embarked on filming a wildlife documentary with John Stainton from the 'Best Picture Show' company. The show was so successful it turned into a series and the Crocodile Hunter was born.

After Steve's parents retired in the 1992 Steve worked tirelessly to improve and expand his wildlife park. Re-naming it Australia Zoo in 1998, Steve's vision for the world's best Zoo was coming to fruition. In July 2006 Steve set out his ten year business plan for his beloved zoo. He couldn't know he would be gone just two months later, but he believed his conservation work would go on. His two beautiful children will make sure it does. Steve was killed by a Sting Ray in 2006 when it stung him in the heart.

I hope that helps!!!

We arrived at the zoo about at 9.30am and thankfully somebody had told us that if we bought some Kellogg's cereal they had a voucher for buy one get one free for the zoo so we saved ourselves $55 which can't be grumbled at.

Once inside the zoo we took the zoo train around the grounds first so we could see what was there. By the time we were back at the start it was time for the elephant feeding so we stood in line and we both got to feed an elephant a banana which was nice. From here we walked to the Crocoseum ready for the 11 o'clock show, the show was more of an educational show telling you about the different animals they had at the zoo the show included:

·Snakes

·Various types of birds

·Elephants

·Croc's

After the show had finished we walked to Rooheven to hand feed the kangaroo's which was really good as we've seen lots of kangaroo's while being here in Australia but we've never been able to get close enough to stroke them or feed them. From here we went to stroke the koala's and got some really close up pictures as usually they are so high up in the tree the pictures are not great.

We decided by now it was definitely time for lunch, so we sat on the grass and had a picnic with a turkey for company who was very interested in the food a bit too interested for our liking. Another thing you have to watch out for while walking around the zoo is the water dragon's as there are hundreds of them just wondering about and if you're not careful you nearly stand on them.

After lunch we went to see the Tiger show which again was educational but we got to see how fast a tiger can climb up a tree (So note to self if ever being chased by a Tiger a tree is not a safe place to hide!!!!). While at the Zoo we also got to see our first Tasmanian devil which look very cute but have 5 x the jaw power of a pit bull so not really so cute but we got very excited when it ripped a Water Dragon to shreds (We really our sick girls).

This afternoon we were also very excited when we got to see both of Steve Irwin's kids they are like mini celebrities' here. Bindi even had her own security guard she's 11 for goodness sake!!! Bobby was being a typical 6 year old and zipping around the zoo on his scooter.

We caught the bus back to Noosa at 4pm, once back at the hostel we were both pretty tired so we layed on our beds for a bit reading our books. Tonight neither of us were very hungry so I just had cereal and Suzie had left over's of the beef satay. We then had a couple of glasses of wine at the bar and then went to bed ready to leave in the morning.