Mooloolaba

I arrived in Mooloolaba at around 12 noon. I got dropped off at the side of the road (which is a first, as usually the Greyhound buses have a big bus stop area with tourist information and shuttle buses to the hostels) and was a little confused as to what to do without the extra help. However there was a hostel across the road, so I thought I'd try there, either it would be that one or they could help me find the one I had pre-booked.

Turns out it was that one, so I checked in, made myself a Chicken Mayo,  lettuce, sweetcorn, cucumber sandwich and then went to explore Mooloolaba for a while, as well as to try and find the library for some free internet access.

The weather wasn't at it's best, with greyish skies and short bursts of rain, so I used my raincoat for the first time since coming to Australia and walked along the rocky beach feeling impressed by the moody scenes in front of me.

I walked from the beach near the hostel for about 1 hour along the coast line until I got to the library, with bursts of sunshine and bursts of rain, it was a pretty sweet walk. At the library, I created a temporary account and booked myself an hours internet access, during which I managed to update my blog about Byron Bay. (http://lucyslocations.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/byron-bay.html).

Sea-salt Skating 

The next day, I got up early again to go to Australia Zoo, home of the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin, via the big yellow Australia Zoo bus, at 9.20 am from around the corner from the hostel.

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006), nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian wildlife expert,^[1][2] television personality, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted with his wife Terri. Together, the couple also owned and operated Australia Zoo, founded by Irwin's parents in Beerwah, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of theQueensland state capital city of Brisbane. Irwin died on 4 September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary film titled Ocean's Deadliest.

I arrived at the zoo around 10 am and headed straight for the kangaroos, which I had heard you could feed and stroke. Before that though, I came across a lizard just sunning itself and wondered for a couple of minutes whether it was a wild animal or an escaped one... I also got to hold a little alligator on my way over to the Kangaroos, the underbelly was so super soft!

Big old turtle

Escaped?

I bought some "Roo Food" for $2 and then went into "Roo Haven". At first I couldn't see any at all, then I saw a very small one lying on the ground in the shade of a tree. I went up to it slowly, a little nervous and amazed that I was allowed to do this unsupervised. It got up and hopped over to me, very interested in what I had in my little brown pouch and not at all bothered when I started stroking it. So cute!

After a while, I got back up off of the floor and walked around, over a little stream and suddenly there were about 30 kangaroos all lying there in the sun. I was one of the only people in the area so it really was something quiet magical. I fed a couple more Kangaroos and then decided to head over to the Koala Walk.

A Wild Turkey and Captive Kangaroo friendship

Koala's are also really soft. They don't do much but sleep and eat either as apparently the food that they eat, doesn't give them a lot of energy. I think they have really strange eyes while Kangaroos have really weird mouths!

After the Koalas, I wasn't really sure what to do, so I just had a wonder around the park, saw some elephants, two red pandas, was impressed by the tigers and then headed over to "Africa".

For Abigail, no big pandas, so this will have to do!

The tigers made me think of James Welch, how are you doing Lion Boy? Unfortunately there were no lions in this zoo, but I hope you like the photos of the tigers just as much! And carrying on the animal dedications, Becky Lewis, this place does have Giraffes but unfortunately they were not out in their field because they were constructing a new area for the Rhino Babies, so I don't have any Giraffe photos for you. :( but here's a Zebra instead...

Casually grooming a Rhino

Taking a Cheetah for a walk

On the way to the Crocoseum for the 12.30 Wild Warriors show, I saw some pretty birds and some red Kangaroos.

The show started with at least 15 birds flying around our heads, from big vultures to tiny little green parrots.

Then the snakes came out, including a little demonstration on what to do when you get bitten by a snake.

Then this little bird stole a $5 note from a lady in the audience and then flew back to give it back. Pretty sweet trick!

 But then the real show started and the crocodiles came out! Baaaaboom Baaaboom Baaaboom...
They fed them live in front of us and told us a little bit about their hunting habits, like how they can move through water without causing ripples, so there's no way you can know that they are there. Eep!

 After that excitement, I went for another little walk through the park and saw an Emu and then went to the 15 minute Elephant talk. Including a look at an elephants tongue - weeeiiiiiirrrddd.

After that, it was getting pretty late so I walked back through the park, had a quick lye down with another Kangaroo, saw some tropical birds, a wombat, some cute otters and then headed over to the Animal Hospital.

Angry little bird.

Access to the Animal Hospital was just an extra $2, and you got a little view of the rescue operation area, how they help wild Koalas who get hit by cars etc. and some information on how you can help protect the "Steve Irwin Dream".

I had a pretty good day at the zoo, although I think it would have been a lot better if I hadn't been on my own. Zoo's are definitively a multi-person activity!
Lucy xxo