Crikey!

So my big thing for today was my tour to the Australia Zoo. I went over to the Brisbane Transit Centre and got on the bus. The driver informed us all about the zoo and Steve Irwin (the Australia Zoo was initially the Queensland Reptile Park, owned by Steve Irwin's parents, and there are pictures of Steve EVERYWHERE). He also told us that when the time came around for him to pick us up we needed to be ready ASAP or he'd leave us behind. He wasn't kidding: he actually did leave one guy behind. The zoo had tons and tons of animals, many of which I snapped pictures of. Because it's the Crocodile Hunter's zoo, you can bet there were tons of Australian crocodiles all over the place (And each one is given their own pond with their name on it, too). It was also a very hands-on zoo: there were a lot of zoo staff walking around holding animals. When I first came in there was a staffwoman holding a koala, which I got to pet. Not only are koalas adorable, their fur is ridiculously soft. About a half hour after I got there, they had a oppurtunity to feed their elephants. I took it, and it was weird: the elephant's trunk snatched the carrot I was holding out of my hand, leaving behind a little bit of snot. According to a staffwoman who was commenting as we fed the elephants, the snot is a good anti-aging cream; I'm not sure if she was joking.

I saw a lot of Australian animals. Besides the ubuquitous crocodiles, there were koalas, kangaroos (in big open enclosures where you can walk up to them, pet them, and feed them), wombats (the most adorable animals ever--basically koalas on the ground--a lot bigger than I was expecting), lots of poisonous snakes, goanas, echidnas (which were both cute and cool to look at), emus, cassowaries, Tasmanian Devils, and dingos. Part of what I was wantingto do in Australia was to see some native animals, and I definitely accomplished that.

But they also had plenty of nonnative animals. Two of their newer exhibits were Elephantasia (not so sure about that name), where they had elephants, and the Tiger temple, where there were tigers (although I didn't see any there). There was also plans for a cheetah run, but it hasn't been built yet.

I also caught an animal show at the "Crocoseum" (again, not so sure at that name), where they demonstrated the many talents of the saltwater crocodile, had macaws flying all around, and showed off some snakes. It was nice, and I'm glad I caught at least one show.

I actually managed to get all around the zoo 2 hours before the pickup time, so I just sat down near the entrace and watched the Crocodile Hunter feature film, which was on a loop on a monitor right at the front of the zoo. Once the bus came we took off. We stopped briefly at a fruitstand to get some fresh fruit (I decided to conserve my money and didn't get any), and then we watched a film about Steve Irwin's life as we drove back to Brisbane. He really was a fascinating guy, and it was fun to get to know more about him. I also didn't know that his wife was an Oregonian, although apparently everyone else does.

Tomorrow I plan to meander about town and see if I can find some cool things to see and do in central Brisbane. Wish me luck!