We're going to the zoo!

When I came to Australia as a child one of my best most vivid memories was walking through the wallaby enclosure at a zoo with them all jumping around and being able to feed them. I want Nick to experience it as well so visiting a zoo has always been on our list to do and it made sense that if you're going to go anywhere it has to be the zoo which is involved with Steve Irwin's family. We chose to stay in Mooloolaba because it's the closest town but even then it's about a 45 minute bus ride away. Annoyingly as well the last bus leaves the zoo at 3:50pm so we have to be ready to leave by then. After some breakfast we were on our way to the bus stop. I've strapped up my toe so it wasn't hurting too much so far on this walk. After spending most of the time on the bus reading we made it and instantly you are hit with Australia enthusiasm. Everything's so over the top and "exciting" but the kids seemed to be loving it. Our first taste of Australia's own animals were the crocodiles. Steve had a passion for the crocodiles here and would "rescue" any that were causing a problem somewhere. He also tried an experiment once to see if you can move a crocodile to another area but 3 months and 15000km later the crocodile was back where it was taken from. I guess putting them in the zoo would be better than being killed by the public. You did get this sad sense that people believe it's their right to be able to swim in all manner of seas and lakes and that crocodiles and sharks are invading what belongs to them, when it's the other way around. We also saw dingos which are just wild dogs but usually have the most gorgeous ginger fur. They have wild ones on Fraser Island that we visited but we weren't lucky enough to spot one. Feeding the kangaroos and wallabies was a little bit sad to start with because two boys were being allowed by their parents to run around chasing them all like crazy. Luckily they left so the animals could have some peace and we approached ones that looked like they needed food after that. The wallaby I fed could of eaten forever! In the end I gave some of our food to a couple who were watching so they could take over. Nick seemed to really enjoy the experience. The zoo has a whole host of other animals you'd expect such as tigers, zebras, giraffes and rhinos and we were able to walk around it all even with our time limit. One of the main highlights was a baby koala had emerged from the pouch of it's mum recently and after looking and waiting to see which koala had the baby he suddenly popped out, this cute little face with a big black nose and such fluffy ears. He was adorable. A family approached with young girls looking for the babies so we pointed it out to them. It was sweet really because the mum then said "isn't he delicious" to which one of the girls replied "no mum, you can't eat him". It was super cute and said in such strong Australian accents. We also stopped at the animal hospital where they had many patients in but mainly koalas hit by cars. It's so sad that as a result of humans building roads through their habitat they are now suffering the consequences so badly. Our bus driver on the way back happened to be from Dursley so knew all about Bristol and the south west which was a bit surreal. It was pasta again tonight to end a great day out. The only downside to the zoo is they offer experiences such as walking a leopard or tiger which doesn't fit into their conservation message but apart from that it seems to be helping a lot of species and animals thrive.Weiterlesen