Wednesday, Sept 23rd, we drove from Noosa to Brisbane & visited the Australia Zoo along the way. Unfortunately, that was the day the huge red dust storm was covering Brisbane so we spent most of the day covered in a fine red dust. It was the first time in over 70 years that this much dust had been carried from the center of Australia to the east coast. It made everything look very hazy, like a thick, red fog. Didn't really help my cough...yes, I got a very bad cold/cough as soon as we left Dunedin. It lasted until...well, I still have a cough now actually but things are getting better.
Back to the Zoo. This was the Zoo that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, started. It features mostly Australian natives like these koalas.
And this Tasmanian Devil.
There were a lot of crocodiles at the zoo. This is a model of how big the salt-water crocodiles can grow in the wild. Crickey!
This lady won a wombat at the raffle. Okay, really it's a zoo worker moving a wombat but doesn't it look crazy? You think there would be a better way to move these guys.
They were laying sod in the wombat exhibit. The guy said the wombats didn't like to eat it, but this little guy seemed to enjoy it. They actually aren't that little. And trivia question: What is the koala's closest relative? The wombat! Not the bear, because koalas are not bears.
This was a young koala who spent a lot of time tearing apart this eucalyptus tree. They spend most of their day eating eucalyptus.
And we got to pet this little koala. Dan pushed some school kids out of the way to get to this guy. The week we were on holiday was the same week as the local schools had holidays so lots of kids at the zoo despite the dust storm. You'll notice these pictures get more and more reddish as the day went on.
Dan petting a baby alligator. They had some American alligators to compare with the crocodiles.
And lots of kangaroos! The kangaroos were getting irritated with all the kids trying to hug them. This one little kid (maybe 8 years old?) kept hugging this kangaroo while his dad took pictures. Then the kangaroo stood up and you knew he was getting annoyed. And of course then the kangaroo "hugged" the boy on his cheeks with his claws. No blood, lots of tears but the boy then just ran after the next kangaroo. The dad just kept taking pictures. It was weird.
Look how red the air was getting!
The main event is the crocodile feeding in the Crocoseum. They show how fast the crocodile will jump out of the water to snap up some food. In the water, they are much, much faster than the fastest human swimmer. On land, they are pretty slow. Of course, they usually get you when you are in or very near water.
They are just plain scary looking. Very impressive.
It was so dusty we could easily look at the sun without hurting our eyes. Other than the dust, the day at the Zoo was a lot of fun. From there we drove to Brisbane and had dinner with friends from Denver who are living there now.
Back to the Zoo. This was the Zoo that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, started. It features mostly Australian natives like these koalas.
And this Tasmanian Devil.
There were a lot of crocodiles at the zoo. This is a model of how big the salt-water crocodiles can grow in the wild. Crickey!
This lady won a wombat at the raffle. Okay, really it's a zoo worker moving a wombat but doesn't it look crazy? You think there would be a better way to move these guys.
They were laying sod in the wombat exhibit. The guy said the wombats didn't like to eat it, but this little guy seemed to enjoy it. They actually aren't that little. And trivia question: What is the koala's closest relative? The wombat! Not the bear, because koalas are not bears.
This was a young koala who spent a lot of time tearing apart this eucalyptus tree. They spend most of their day eating eucalyptus.
And we got to pet this little koala. Dan pushed some school kids out of the way to get to this guy. The week we were on holiday was the same week as the local schools had holidays so lots of kids at the zoo despite the dust storm. You'll notice these pictures get more and more reddish as the day went on.
Dan petting a baby alligator. They had some American alligators to compare with the crocodiles.
And lots of kangaroos! The kangaroos were getting irritated with all the kids trying to hug them. This one little kid (maybe 8 years old?) kept hugging this kangaroo while his dad took pictures. Then the kangaroo stood up and you knew he was getting annoyed. And of course then the kangaroo "hugged" the boy on his cheeks with his claws. No blood, lots of tears but the boy then just ran after the next kangaroo. The dad just kept taking pictures. It was weird.
Look how red the air was getting!
The main event is the crocodile feeding in the Crocoseum. They show how fast the crocodile will jump out of the water to snap up some food. In the water, they are much, much faster than the fastest human swimmer. On land, they are pretty slow. Of course, they usually get you when you are in or very near water. 
They are just plain scary looking. Very impressive.
It was so dusty we could easily look at the sun without hurting our eyes. Other than the dust, the day at the Zoo was a lot of fun. From there we drove to Brisbane and had dinner with friends from Denver who are living there now. 
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