Happy to have survived the night, and even happier with our morning view across a harbour full of fancy boats, we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves when we woke up. We had little time to enjoy the moment though as there were a few hours of driving ahead of us in order to make it to the famous Australia Zoo - just north of Brisbane.

After a quick pit stop in McDonalds to freshen up (classy) we made some packed lunches (hot crossed buns) and sped up the Pacific Highway towards Steve Irwin Way - the road to the zoo.

We are not afraid to admit that we like to travel on the cheap so we couldn't resisit saving a few dollars by blagging student discount again at the entrance to the zoo. We are also not afraid to admit that we were ridiclously excited once we were inside what seemed like Disneyland for animals...

First, we went to meet the otters. A suitably cheesy handler gave a talk about the cute little animals, and we learned all about their greedy behaviour while she fed them. The otters made a very loud and high pitched squeal while they pretended to be hungry, although the keeper assured us that they get fed six times a day. Nat reckons that reminds her of a certain curly-haired ice cream addict she knows…

Bret then queued among schoolchildren (sigh) to have his photo taken with a small croc before we made our way around the various enclosures for Australian wildlife including giant turtles, komodo dragons, a strange looking Aussie bird called the cassowary, and Nat's favourite… the super cute koalas. As koalas aren't natural residents in Queensland state it is possible to pay to have your photo taken whilst cuddling one. The trouble is, we'd spent too long in New South Wales (where it's banned), hearing how it's not recommended so we decided to save our money. We know it seems a bit daft, as they are in a zoo afterall, but it's hard to do something after someone's told you not to - at least on this occassion! Anyway, it was possible to pet a few of them as they lazed around in trees above us which we did…

At 12pm it was showtime. The whole zoo descended upon the huge arena in the middle of the complex for the crocodile show. As we all know crocs were Steve Irwin's passion and here at his zoo they take centre stage. We sat among families, each of us munching hot crossed buns, and watched as various birds swooped into the arena to the commentary of the informative presenters. And then the crocs were brought in. These animals were ridiculously huge and many of them had been rescued by Steve himself - crazy guy that he was.

Anyway, after the show we went into the massive kangaroo enclosure clutching a bag of 'tasty' roo treats ready to hand feed them. We also stumbled across a tiger show. The rescue tigers here are trained every day in order to keep them entertained and challenged, so none of them are pacing in circles like in many zoos. They often take part in promotional filming, and some have even starred in movies. It was pretty strange to see people playing with them as though they were domestic pets. Afterwards we hung around to speak to the handlers about the tiger attraction we'd heard of back in Chiang Mai. There it was possible for paying public to go inside a tiger enclosure and have photos taken with the big cats. We'd heard that the tigers were drugged in order to keep them under control and we were keen to know if this was true. The handlers here knew all about it, explaining that many of them are not drugged but are victims of what is called 'killing the spirit'. Basically, the tigers are kept on a short leash all their lives until they basically give up fighting. It made us feel pretty pleased we hadn't been sucked in to visit the place, but it was worrying how many people saw it as a must-see attraction in Thailand…

The rest of the day was jam packed with other animals, including elephants, giraffes, zebras and rhinos. It's hard to describe just how beautifully presented the whole zoo is, and how refreshingly large the enclosures are. It's clear that conservation is the most important factor here - not visitor numbers. It was also amusing to watch the large local lizards gate crashing the zoo - back home they'd be in an enclosure, but here there are loads just wandering around. The zoo even has its own onsite animal hospital which visitors can enter, but unfortunately we ran out of time so it was back down Steve Irwin Way to find a place to sleep for the night.

It's mostly forest here so we wondered how successful we'd be finding a campsite, but then we stumbled across a strawberry farm that had some unpowered sites. After we drove in we were greeted the owner - a middle-aged drunk woman who said we could park where we liked and leave when we liked in the morning. 'I'm having a Good Friday, so you should too..' she slurred at us with a big grin on her face. It was all a bit creepy really, but with no other options as it started to rain we drove in and parked up. The place was swarming with bugs and mosquitos so we took refuge in the van. So now we're preparing to bed down for the last time in the van before we return it in Brisbane tomorrow. It's time to pack our bags up and get ready to haul them around with us again. Can't wait. In the mean time, we're hoping the weird caravan park owner doesn't bother us again...

Anyway, Happy Easter everyone!!