At 3:30am on a Friday morning the Thomas Family headed to the airport to catch a 6:30am flight to Brisbane. This is what happens when you live an hour or so away from the nearest airport. Needless to say we only had a few hours of sleep because we were up until midnight packing (IMAGINE THAT!). As we were waiting for our rental car, which took way too long because as Gary has found out just because you were a President Circle member of Hertz in the States does not mean you are one in Australia. He was informed he is just a normal, average, everyday Joe Blow. We did however find out that the Australia Zoo Home of the Crocodile Hunter the late Steve Irwin was on our way to Noosa Heads our destination for the weekend. So after finding the address and plugging it in to our handy, dandy, lifesaving GPS we were on our way.
Too say that this zoo is amazing does not do it justice. This zoo was by far the most hands on, interactive experience with animals we have every seen. We walked in to find a Blue Tongued Lizard being held by an employee and available for petting. There were Alpacas on display for petting too. We made our way over to the Koala Experience. Here we were able to hold and "cuddle" a koala. Only one person could hold the koala, but all of us could pet and cuddle it. We chose Gab to hold the koala. At first she was not too keen on the idea. She was afraid that it would poo on her. After much reassuring that this would not happen, she finally decided to hold the koala. As we were walking away from our koala experience, she noticed a brown stripe on her forearm. Low and behold the koala had just pooed prior to Gab holding it and it left a nice little souvenir on her arm. I got a big, "I TOLD YOU SO!"
Next we were off to the Crocoseum to see Bindi, Sandy and Robert Irwin put on a show with reptiles, free flying birds and of course crocodiles. All through out the show, reptiles were being walked through the aisles while beautiful parrots, lorikeets and cockatoos were flying about. Some were landing literally right in front of us. The show ended with the Irwin Family feeding the crocodiles.
Next we ventured over to Roo Heaven. This is an area where kangaroos, wallabies, lizards, birds, etc. are able to roam free. You are allowed to pet, cuddle and feed the animals.
What zoo would not be complete without the tigers and elephants, but we have never been to a zoo that had dingos, casowarries, and tasmanian devils (or as Jake would call them, "the things that spin" you know from the cartoons).
We ended our day at the Animal Hospital that the late Steve Irwin built in honor of his mother. This is were they take animals that have been injured or abandoned by their mothers and nurse them back to health so they can return to their regular environment. We got to see several koalas being nursed back to health. A lorikeet and duck were also brought in to receive treatment. Unfortunately, this hospital was still under construction when Steve Irwin met his demise so he was never able to see it fully constructed and operating. It is a truly remarkable facility.
I will end this post with a quote from Gab, "Today has been the best day of my life so far!"
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