Crikey!: A Trip to Brisbane and the Australia Zoo
Trip Start
Oct 12, 2004
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23
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Trip End
Mar 15, 2005
Coolangatta, Australia
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
Hi everyone. Croft and I are in Coolangatta at the moment updating from his Uncle's place but this update will be mostly about Brisbane and the Australian Zoo (home of the Croc hunter).
Brisbane is a pretty big city that has some nice heritage buildings along with lovely botanic gardens. The main downtown area is crazy regarding how many stores are concentrated in all one spot. Crofton was not very happy about that as he does not like following me around to shops while I check everything out but as it was my b-day recently he didn't have much choice in the matter, which suited me just fine!
One day we went over to the south bank and checked out the fake lagoon that was made for an expo exhibition. We also ate this amazing ice cream, which we feel should be ripped off in Canada. You get to select two types of ice cream and one tiny candy bar and the ice cream is mixed all up with the candy bar and it really does taste quite wonderful. I won't go into too much detail because certain people are making fun of me regarding my blatant and vocal love for baked goods and sweets in general, in the travel log.
The highlight of Brisbane for me was going to the Australian zoo which is about an hour and a half away from Brisbane. It rained most of the day but we had a lot of fun wandering around and checking everything out. I am personally in love with Wombats. As Crofton put it they are "amazingly adorable" and he couldn't be more right. The zoo was neat as it is really hands on and had an open concept to it. We finally got to see a Cassowary, it was chasing a iguana that happened to wander from his home to the Cassowary's territory. It was the iguanas lucky day as he managed to escape unscathed.
A lot of the animals stories were quite sad though. They take in many animals that have been hurt and a number of the birds can no longer fly from being hit by drivers during the evening. The saddest story was Tina's the peregrine falcon. A family found her hurt and took her to their home to keep as a pet(which is illegal by the way). Anyway she was put in a cage that was much to small and she could not expand her wings fully for 18 months. They also didn't feed her properly so her bones became soft. Due to all of this she can no longer fly, which must be terrible for her as falcons like to be up high. But at the zoo they made a ladder for her so she can still get high up.
We also got to see tigers, Tasmanian devils (also really cute but can crush bone with their teeth),elephants, kangaroos and many others. I also saw a little kid get beat up by a kangaroo which I found to be quite funny. I know I am a mean person but seriously there were four adults and not one was watching him!!
Anyhow that is pretty much it for me. I will turn the good old pc over to Crofton for his take.
Bye for now,
Jess
Croft's Take:
Hey everyone! Once again, sorry for the update delays. We are currently in Coolagatta and have lots of new info to share. We met up with my Uncle Lyndsay who generously gave us the use of his PC to update some photos. Unfortunately Cooly will have to wait until next time as we need to take some time to talk about Queensland's capital, Brisbane. We stayed in a great hostel in Brisbane the set the bar for all future ones. I even negotiated the price. I felt like I was back in Mexico again. The district we stayed in was known as Fortitude Valley, or simply "the Valley". For a couple of days Jessie was a Valley Girl. It was a really cool area of town to be based in and we saw everything from street performers to giant markets. We did however get around the town, especially the central district. I have never seen such insane shopping as can be found on Brisbane's Queen Street. We went to see the second Bridget Jones movie for Jessie's birthday and it was a big hit with lots of laughs.
We also went to the Brisbane Museum where we learnt a bit about the area. It is interesting how it is known as "the 200km city" and is essentially an exercise in urban sprawl. It goes from Noosa in the north to Cooly in the south. The Gold Coast south of Brisbane is fascinating in itself. We will go into that with our next update.
We crossed over the river to the South Bank where the giant swimming lagoon is. It is also the cultural centre of town where the museum, theatre, university and library are. There were many neat sculptures on display including this marvelous flowered walkway. I got some shots of Jess walking through it but it goes on for over a kilometer.
Last but not least, we went to the home of television's the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, the Australia Zoo. This used to be a small reptile zoo owned by Steve's father until he made it big on television. Now, it is under constant expansion. The focus is currently on Australian animals but they are planning on changing it up in the future. We enjoyed the Aussie focus because it gave us a chance to see animals we had not seen (Tasmanian Devil, Dingo, Wombat) and get closer to the ones we did (Koala, kangaroo). We even finally saw a cassowary. It was pouring rain all morning but we had our ponchos and umbrellas and the zoo is designed so there were many sheltered locations. It let up later on but the zoo wasn't too crowded. I quite enjoyed the series of shows that they had in the Crocoseum, a giant amphitheater in the zoo's centre. From the opening tiger show (tigers are not Australian animals but were on loan) to the bird show and finally the croc and reptile one. Steve Irwin sometimes does the reptile part but seeing it was a Sunday and raining, I guess he decided to stay home and bathe in his millions. Feeling this was completely unacceptable I demand to get his address from reception. I then stormed over to his house in a fit of rage, kicked open the door and demanded that he get up, let go of the baby croc he had in his hands, and come to the zoo. He explained to me how busy he was but then offered to make it up to me with his professional analysis of his own zoo. So without further ado:
Steve "The Croc Hunter" Irwin's Take:
"CRIKEY! I was minding me own business watching the World Championship Snake Wrestling Final Four Tournament (WCSWFFT) when Keroftin burst into me room! He is slow to anger but when he doesn't receive the proper diet and you get between him and his cub or girl, he can blow into a rage! WHAT A BEAUT! Anyway, the zoo is me and Terri's pride and joy and crikey but if it isn't the most exciting wonderful place in the world! From the 'roo petting pen to the cute koalas and wombats, she's GORGEOUS! My favorite exhibit is the poisonous snake house. Australia has all of the ten most venemous snakes IN THE WORLD!! CRIKEY! From the deadly Death Adder to the harmless but giant Carpet Snake, we have them all and they are all BEAUTIFUL! Look at their smooth skin! I am just going to take this one, the Fierce Snake (Ocyuranus microlepidotus) and dangle him dangerously over me head! CRIKEY! WHAT A LITTLE RIPPER! HE ALMOST GOT ME THERE! One bite from him and I would be finished! He has enough venom to kill 250 000 mice or 100 grown men! CRIKEY! To learn more about him and all his gorgeous friends, visit httP://www.crocodilehunter.com/ and follow the links to the Australia Zoo page and then..."
Crofton here folks, I just had to interrupt his shameless publicity ploy. Needless to say, the Australia Zoo was fantastic. Jess and I had a hard time deciding on five pictures to post. We will show you guys the rest when we get back.
Ta-tah for now,
Crofton
