Well, we made it to the Zoo last week and
it was amazing. The animals were well looked after, as you can see by some of
the photos below, and the ethos of the zoo was really impressive and a fitting
legacy to Steve Irwin.
The zoo focused on practical conservation of the animals
and for a balance to be struck between human and animal needs when it came to
natural habitats. All of the keepers had a passion for their chosen species and
were keen to show them off……even the tigers! At various points in the day, the
keepers would take their animals for a walk…..think..koala’s, wombats, parrots
not crocs!. We watched the crocodile “demonstration”, you couldn’t call it a show
as it was more informative than pure entertainment and showed that crocodiles
are not man-eating predator’s but if you stray into their kingdom, then you
have put yourself on the menu. In fact, they tried to show off the crocodile’s
ability to take food from above the water….but the crocodile decided he wasn’t
going to perform like some “circus” dummy, rock the croc!
Another nice surprise at the Zoo was the
ability to walk through the kangaroo and wallaby enclosure and actually touch them,
they were all very relaxed.
Nina’s favourite animal was the tiger but
mine was the Koala’s…..they sleep for 20 hours a day and then wake to eat
leaves for the other 4.....seems my kind of life. Although in the wild, they do
have to look out for domestic predators and more importantly cars!
However, if an animal is injured it can be
taken to the Wildlife Zoo Hospital which was setup by Steve Irwin’s mum in the
grounds of the zoo, with the mission to allow people to bring injured animals without
facing a large vet bill. For example, one koala was admitted because he had
fallen down a chimney…..this might not have been too bad in itself, if only someone
had not lit the fire! So the poor chap needed treatment for burnt hands and
feet.
.
To the Gabba!
After the sights of the zoo, I managed to
convince Nina that there would be plenty of action to view at the world famous
Brisbane Cricket Ground – a.k.a. The Gabba.
So on Sunday, we ventured off to see the
Brisbane Lions v the Adelaide Crows in the Australian Rules football.
Apart from the score line, Brisbane lost by
their largest ever defeat to the Crows by 105 points, it was an entertaining
afternoon in the sunshine of the Gabba. In fact Nina was spotted cheering on
the Lions with her “noise sticks”….although I’m not sure if she was cheering
the team or No.23 in particular!
The game was attended by nearly 20,000 and
was a real family occasion with both sets of fans, a diverse mix of ages, all sat
together around the stadium, sharing food, drinks and laughter without any sign
of trouble or aggression.
Moving on to this week our plan is to
visit the EKKA – which is Queensland’s largest agricultural show….I think it
will be like the New Forest Show on steroids!
Breaking News:
On Monday, we went to Ipswich just to see
what was there….and to be honest….Paul Daniels springs to mind….”not a lot”. But
on the train home, we were diverted to another line due to a bomb scare at one
of the stations…..a school science project was left on the platform and
resulted in disrupted train services for 4 hours – and meant we were late home
but in true Aussie style, the Police response was “no worries, better safe than
sorry and good practice for when the G20 comes to Brisbane!”. Tell it as it is.
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