A free bus came to pick us up from Noosa Heads. You could tell it was going to be an awesome day because the bus said 'CRIKEY!!!' really big on the side. We got in and as the bus drove off they immediately began trying to make us cry by showing old Crocodile Hunter episodes. We quickly learned that attempting to make their patrons cry was a recurring theme of the zoo.
Everything in the zoo was very Steve Irwin centred, as he owned and operated the whole thing. There were tons of crocodile enclosures everywhere, and we got to see Aggro, one of the most famous crocs there.
The very first thing we did was feed the elephants! You stood in line and when you got to the front, there was a big Asian elephant. You picked up a piece of fruit from the bucket and held out your hand, and the elephant used its trunk to pick up the fruit directly out of your hand. Then they leave you a present of elephant snot. But it is very cool being up so close to them! I have a picture of myself doing this, but it was taken by the zoo and says PROOF in big letters over part of my face because I am too cheap to pay for a big picture. But you can see everything that's important, namely my faceless body feeding an elephant. All right!
There were also water dragons running around everywhere, and you could get pretty close to them. They were huge and very interested in people.
Water dragon posing for me!
There were also lots and lots of koala enclosures spread throughout the zoo. It seems as if they just fall asleep anywhere and slump into any position.
I wish I was a koala. Sleeping is their job.
D-dinosaur?
One of the highlights of the zoo was seeing the big Wildlife Warriors show, where they did a bunch of animal demonstrations with the main attraction being hand-feeding crocodiles. The guy who was doing the feeding was very cute and we were all glad he was not ingested. Before the show started, they had videos on the big screen of Steve Irwin, and some of Terri and his son and daughter with the various animals in the zoo. WHY, Australia Zoo?? Do you want to make us miserable??
The tigers were full of sleep, which was a little disappointing. We decided to come back later to see if they ever woke up.
Sometimes there were keepers walking our fellow countrymen American Alligators around on leashes. They would walk and walk and then just collapse onto the ground and not move (the alligators, not the keepers). This is when people (such as myself) would go over and pet them (the alligators, not the keepers). I have a picture, but it is a PROOF picture so you will have to wait to see it.
Oh man, can echidnas be ANY cuter??? I submit no! Look, this one is even waving! Aww, hello little echidna! How are you today? Are you enjoying being a monotreme? I embarrassed Ashley by saying these things to them when we reached their enclosure. In person, they waddle. Little waddling echidnas. I have the sincere hope that I see one in the wild, and I have a pretty good chance of seeing one on Kangaroo Island. I'm crossing my fingers!
There were plenty of walk-through kangaroo enclosures, and I never miss the opportunity to take ridiculous close-up pictures of Skippy. I can't help it; they're silly.
Little wombat, munching away. Actually, they're not that little, they're about the size of a beaver. But with a pouch. And that lives in subterranean tunnels.After the wombats we went back to the tigers, who were awake this time because they were being fed milk by their keepers. They would stand up on their hind legs to reach it, and were way taller than the people feeding them. I was pretty sure I was going to see someone get eaten, which would definitely have been the highlight of the trip, but alas, no such thing.
The zoo was almost closing by that point, so we ran back to the courtesy bus and watched a video of Steve Irwin getting attacked by komodo dragons until we got back to Noosa. Oh, Australia Zoo. You fill me with conflicting emotions.
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