On to Brisbane, a few hours' drive away. At the suggestion of Sarah, the owner of the cottage, we made a stopover at Australia Zoo, a major attraction in Southern Queensland, near Beerwah. And rightly so; it's a huge zoo, a few times Burgers' Zoo. You can't get through it in an hour; there are dozens of hectares to explore!
The park was founded by Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter, the Australian version of Freek Vonk. He also had a TV series/documentary, but unlike Freek, who survived his shark bite, Steve died in his harness from a stingray sting while diving on the reef. Sadly, the park has been carried on in his legacy by his family. The park also provides extensive education and helps protect animal habitats.
Because of the park's size, we focused primarily on Australian animals, skipping the African and Asian sections. Tigers and otters stink, too. Koalas are also strange, by the way.
The crocodile show in the Crocoseum, a kind of colosseum for crocodiles, was very nice.
First, a snake and bird of prey show. Besides, nobody wants to sit in the sun...
Then the big boy swam in: croc time! The beast was lured out of the water with a chunk of meat. He wasn't easily tempted, but stomping on the ground worked; the animal was drawn to the vibrations, and snap! Just be sure to jump away in time! The Australian variant is the saltwater crocodile, 'Saltie', which can grow to 6-7 meters long.
In prehistoric times, crocodiles were actually larger. Compare this:
The kangaroo area, where the animals lie and hop around, was also fun. They were quite tame, as you could pet them and feed them special treats called "roo-food." There's the gray kangaroo, slightly smaller, and the red kangaroo, the largest, which can reach a height of 2 meters. They can jump 2 meters high and 12 meters long, even at full speed. Top speed: 60 km/h!
By the way, these are red kangaroos, slightly larger than the gray ones, they can grow to be as tall as a man):
We also saw some unusual Australian and Indonesian animals, such as koalas – with babies. Koalas are cute, but also dozy; they sleep practically all day.
Also: wombats ((kind of fat marmot), turtles, snakes, reptiles, Tasmanian devil, all kinds of crocodiles:
And very beautiful birds, the first is a Cassowary, a large flightless bird:
It was also fun to see lizards roaming wild throughout the park. We saw dozens of them, ranging in length from 20 to 50 cm. They're not shy and love to be photographed.
Outside the park, you could also visit the animal hospital, where thousands of wild animals are admitted and treated each year. It was set up by Steve's mother. Behind the glass walls, you could see the emergency room, the operating room, and the recovery cages. They now had a set of koalas, possums, and various birds on the patient list.
After the zoo, we drove to Brisbane. A lot of city traffic with traffic jams, 6- or 8-lane roads, etc. There's a kilometer-long tunnel under the river in Brisbane. It was a toll road; we still need to figure out how to pay for it. We arrived at the motel in the dark.