Australia: Day 17 - The Australia Zoo!

Oct. 2nd

We woke up, showered, and hit the road as early as we could again. We drove about 3.5 hours south to the Australia Zoo, one of the most anticipated sites on this trip. I remember when I was studying abroad in Perth in 1998, my friend Jeanine would ask me if I’d seen this zoo or met the Crocodile Hunter. At the time, I had no idea what she was talking about, but now I more than knew. I’m not much affected by the deaths of any celebrity, but when Steve Irwin died, it really seemed to bother me. I mean, honestly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner considering the risks he would take, but at some point he almost became super human. As a biologist, he held a certain fascination for me, and now, being back in Australia, we’d have to go see the zoo that he made famous.

Once we parked, we quickly grabbed our Garmin and headed a few hundred feet down the road and across the street to snag a geocache in the woods. While there, we picked up a travel bug in the form of a stuffed koala that came from the US and wanted to ultimately wind up at the Australia Zoo! We took it in and made sure to get lots of pictures of it with its koala brethren inside before taking it back with us to the States to see more zoos.

The Australia Zoo itself was an interesting place. It was a moderately-sized zoo, and I have to say I expected more of it. There were a lot of aspects that could have used work – better exhibits, more updating, better signage, etc. It just didn’t seem as spectacular as you might expect, but it was still quite an enjoyable and solid zoo. Of course, the main feature was native Australian animals. They had plenty of the obvious creatures: kangaroos, koalas, emus, cassowaries, tassie devils, wombats, crocs, and the like, but one aspect of the Australian fauna that you rarely if ever see is the vast array of nocturnal animals. Again, we were disappointed. Creatures like possums, bilbies, quolls, numbats, and all manner of lesser known or night-dwelling marsupials were overlooked, and that was a shame. Considering Steve Irwin’s passion for reptiles, their reptile house wasn’t really all that impressive, either. Beyond Australian animals, they also had an Asian and an African exhibit, though they were almost one trick ponies. Not to say they weren’t impressive, they just weren’t the focus of this zoo.

Wandering around, we came across a number of native animals that I had hoped to see in the wild but didn’t. Because of this, I broke my rule of not taking pictures of animals in zoos because I feel like it’s cheating. In this case, I just wanted to have documentation of some of the animals on which we’d missed out. I snapped a perentie lizard, Australia’s largest, a cassowary, a wombat, an echidna, and a tassie devil, amongst others. Crocs, however, were on prominent display. While they do have freshwater crocs and American alligators, their main feature are the infamous saltwater crocs. They have 15 residing at the zoo, each one a rescue from a populated area where they may have come into conflict with people. Each day, they have a feeding show in which keepers enter the enclosures and feed the crocs by hand. In some ways, it feels exploitative, but if you consider the fact that these animals are rescues, they are now able to help educate the public about their species. We watched the heart-stopping show, and it was quite interesting. My main concern was the small pools in which they now reside. After having had freedom all their lives, I’m sure their small pools are a bit confining. Still, it’s better than the alternative, and you can tell they’re well cared-for.

Hungry, we decided to grab a bite to eat at the food court. Interestingly, the food court didn’t offer the typical American foods like hamburgers and hot dogs. Rather, they had barramundi fish and chips, meat pies, and dim sum. Nate had a feta and spinach roll, and I had the barramundi, both of which were pretty tasty. While dining, we were visited by Australia’s answer to squirrels. In the States, it’s commonplace that you’ll be approached by squirrels and chipmunks at zoos, as they beg for any food you may be willing to share. Well, Australia doesn’t have native squirrels, but that doesn’t mean that other animals won’t take over these niches. Instead, we were followed around by water dragons and bush turkeys. Our first water dragon hung out right under our table, just waiting to see what treats we may produce. The bush turkeys, on the other hand, were spotted everywhere throughout the zoo, foraging and pecking around. It was fascinating!!

We slowly worked our way over to Roo Heaven, a many acres-huge attraction featuring 9 species of macropods, or kangaroos and their kin. A petting zoo of sorts, we were able to get up close and personal with a lot of these animals, and actually pet some. It was really neat to walk around with them at close range, and although this seems to be common in Australia, it’s next to unheard of in the States. The roos have plenty of room in which to bound about, and they also have private areas where they can retreat to escape the grabby hands of people. It was a really neat area to experience.

We also visited the ornate Asian area featuring white tigers and Asian elephants, as well as the new African section featuring cheetahs, rhinos, zebras, and giraffes. Africa reminded me a bit of a smaller version of the San Diego Wild Animal Park, since the animals had a large area in which to roam. Asia was full of ruins and fountains and felt more unnatural. Still, they were both impressive. Oh, and an interesting feature they offered was the ability to, for an added charge, meet some of the larger animals up close! People could pet cheetahs and Tasmanian devils and all manner of other critters. What a neat added feature!

Of course, the one thing that the Australia Zoo made sure never to forget was the legacy of Steve Irwin. Everywhere you go, his memory persists. Be it sculptures and statues, to cutouts and an entire museum documenting all he’s done from birth to death, his memory will never be forgotten. While there, I offhandedly thought it’d be interesting if his family might be on site. I blew off the thought, however, figuring they’d have better things to do, despite still running the place. Well, wasn’t I in for a surprise? Nate and I were perusing one of the gift shops, and I noticed an awfully long line near where I was browsing. I figured they were all in line for checkout and didn’t really pay much attention to it. Once we left, Nate was all, “Did you see who was in there?” I looked back through the window, and there, signing autographs, were Terri, Bindi, and Bob – Steve’s wife and kids! What do ya know?! I half considered getting one myself, but I figured, as a biologist, perhaps I’ll meet them on professional terms one day. Still pretty cool, though!

After spending several hours and seeing as much of the Australia Zoo as we could have (and petting a wombat and koala!), we hit the road again, bound for places south. Leaving the Sunshine Coast just to Brisbane’s north, we looped around the city and made our way into the Gold Coast, specifically Surfer’s Paradise, within 2.5 hours. The sudden surge in traffic wasn’t very pleasant, and we were faced with the stress of figuring out what to do about a toll we ran (a pass is required and there are no booths), though we were able to go online and get that worked out. Finally, after much traffic stress, we made it to the hotel we’d reserved in Surfer’s. We chose the place both due to price, internet access, and the fact that it shared a building with the New Mexico Restaurant! How could we resist?? Well, the price was accurate, but the internet was a bust…but how about the restaurant? We decided to give it a go and determined…it was salty. Of course it was nothing like New Mexican cuisine, not that we expected that, but the food, despite the salt, was decent. I’d always wondered about Australian Mexican, and it wasn’t too bad. The margaritas didn’t hurt, either!

After dinner, we decided to walk around Surfer’s Paradise. Back in 1998 while studying in Perth, my friend Leah and I decided to travel to Surfer’s over our spring break holiday. It was so cool to be back there again! Really, not much had changed. It seemed mostly the same, from the beach to the shops. Nathan and I walked along the dark beach, enjoying the stars, writing our names in the sand, listening to the surf, and avoiding the occasional other person or two we’d encounter along the way. We took pictures when we could, and eventually found our way back to the Baskin Robbins at which Leah and I used to eat back in the day. It was still there!! For old time’s sake, I got my chocolate mousse royalle, and we sat there enjoying our ice cream. Dying of thirst, we stopped at the Hungry Jack’s (Burger King) at which Leah and I later switched to for their 30 cent ice creams and got a soda. We explored the area, visiting the local arcade that I’d remembered from before, and gawking at the weird guillotine game they had. We also got a laugh out of their Route 66 bowling game that had pictures posted of things like Mt. Rushmore, the Seattle Space Needle, and Devil’s Tower that are not actually anywhere near Rt. 66. We people-watched outside the local hotspot, talking about how the last thing we’d want to do is go clubbing, and marveling at all the well-dressed women going in with slovenly guys. We wandered some more – it really is a madhouse at times, but fascinating, too. It’s a total tourist town, and often times that’s where we feel most at home! Once we’d had our fill of exploring, we stopped at a bar for a beer before heading back to the motel and calling it a night.