Around and about Brisbane

Slightly out of order I know but thats life!

The day before we headed up to Fraser Island we took a trip up to Australia Zoo. We got there just in time for the run of shows that they do in the Crocoseum around lunch time. First up was the snake show. We missed the start so we had no idea what any of the snakes were that were being shown but we did get to see the entertaining little skit they did about how to treat snake bites involving a larrikin trying to beat up the 'snake' with a bat and getting bitten. The first aid guy came on and treated the 'snake' first before throwing the larrikin into the pool.

The next show was the tiger show. They brought on two of their Sumatran tigers who were about two years old. They were pretty much full grown and were very impressive although very playful. They did a few tricks to show how far they can jump and their ability to stand on their hind legs. They even managed to get one of them to go for a swim.

Next up was the free flight bird show and they brought out several different birds. We got to see Black Cockatoos, a wedge-tailed eagle, a kookaburra and two beautfiul parrots.

The final show was the main event. They brought out a saltwater crocodile. The show started with the big-screen TV showing how they brought the crocodile out by splashing the water and stamping their feet right by the side in order to make the crocodile come out and defend his territory. Once he was out in the arena they demonstrated his striking prowess by dangling food close to the edge so he had to strike for it. Scariest of all was the 'tail-walk' where, using his tail, the croc was able to propel himself about 2m out of the water to strike at bait hanging from a platform.

There was a second croc show - done in one of the croc's actual enclosures - about an hour and a half after the first one so we went and did a few of the less ferocious animals while we waited including camels, dingos, cassowaries and tasmanian devils.

The second croc show didn't feature as much as the first but what was noticeable was the keepers were a lot more wary of this particular croc, a 3m beast called Agro. He also seemed a little more clever - biding his time to try and encourage the keeper to get a little closer!!

From there we wandered through the Kangaroo enclosure to feed them although they were mostly stuffed and we were only able to find a few that actually wanted any food. We did get to see a young Joey feeding from it's mother.

Dave K then managed to get into a staring match with an Emu and it started to make some bizarre noises. Probably fancied him.

Our next stop was the Tiger Temple where the keepers were showing off some different tigers - I forget which species. They really looked like over-szied kittens in there, although a love-tap from one of those would hurt. One of the keepers did manage to accidentally hit one of the tigers on the head with a ball and it went and sulked for a while.

On the Anzac day public holiday Dave and I headed up to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast for the day for a bit of sunbathing. The waves were pretty impressive and I did go out into the sea but regretted it fairly quickly after an impressive wipe out saw me smacked into the sand. The rips were also fairly strong and it took me a fair old time to get back out again!

The rest of the week in Brisbane involved packing and sorting out my flat and eventually handing it over.

Friday, my last in Brisbane, we took in a few sights including driving up to Mt Coot-tha look out with spectacular views over the city and you could see as far as Moreton Island, down south to the Border Ranges and out west to Warwick and Main Range National Park. We also had a wander through Mt Coot-tha botanical gardens.