Australia Zoo

For those who don't know, the Australia Zoo was once run by the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. That was back when he was still alive of course. It was great to finally be able to visit his zoo. I'm still a big fan of his documentaries.

Travelling on public transport from Brisbane City, it took us more than 2 hours to reach this place called Beerwah, where a free shuttle bus (van?) ferried us to the zoo. By the way, I was lucky enough to visit the zoo on the annual Steve Irwin Day. The zoo celebrates this day every year in memory of the Crocodile Hunter. Visitors basically join the fun by strutting around in khakis.

Definitely a fan.

This was the free ride.

The large signboard that means you are at the right place.

Plus the large banner to remind you how special the day is.

So like I said, khakis. This was a choir by the way.

 Asian small-clawed otter. They're fast.

Of course, the Crocodile Hunter's zoo had a fair share of crocs.

Big ones too.

Steve Irwin was basically everywhere on that day.

 Snapped this photo by accident.

Steve's wife Terri, son Robert and daughter Bindi during the opening ceremony of the event.

They allowed the birds to fly around during the opening ceremony. See the pair of parrots?

Somehow they managed to train the parrots to fly around instead of away.

This is a condor. Largest flying bird on the planet.

I don't know what that is. But it got close enough for a good shot.

Tropical birds flying in circles.

After allowing the birds to make their rounds, the staff (some I remember seeing on TV) fed crocodiles in the same way Steve Irwin used to feed his crocs. That means they allowed the crocs to go crazy and splash and thrash.

Robert Irwin fed the tiniest crocodile =)

The big ones were left to the grown-ups.

There was a big splash 1 second later when the crocodile tried to eat this guy.

But apparently he's not afraid of big scary reptiles.

And there he goes again.

Crocodiles are capable of jumping straight up to eat you. Know that?

Okay enough of man-eating reptiles. I'm moving on to the tamer inhabitants of the zoo.

That's a wallaby. To me it's a tiny kangaroo.

Shy porcupine.

And we have the wombat. which is rumoured to be unusually stupid...

...and stubborn.

Red kangaroo: like a boss.

And of course, we can never omit the koalas.

This is a new section of the zoo. Work was still in progress here when we visited.

But we still went in anyway to see giraffes.

And this bored-looking rhino.

Last but not least there was the animal hospital, which deals with any and every injury regardless of whether the animal fell down a tree, got hit by a car, or whatever. Most of the patients we saw were koalas. Apparently they get into trouble a lot.

Treatment room.

And there we have an injured koala resting.

I'm sure the little guy's going to be all right.

And that is all for Australia Zoo. Now I'm going to stop staring at the computer screen. I've been staring at the laptop all day at work. Enough radiation for the day.