We headed to the airport to start our next great adventure…driving on the other side of the road!
We picked up our Mitsubishi Mivec with ease and after getting acquainted with the vehicle, we hit the road. In our brains was the single message…keep left on the road!
We had no GPS but we had some maps and some google maps images I had saved onto the ipad. With these in hand, we have to admit that the trip went pretty well considering. Google Maps hp gets strange with their directions sometimes but it reminds me of the GPS on the 401 where you go straight and it thinks you are changing highways all the time.
Driving on the highway is easy work, its when you get into the town and make turns where you have to remember where to drive. All in all, Vero and I got the hang of it over six days and between us we only hit the windshield wipers instead of the signal lights under ten times!
First stop…the Australian Zoo, home of Steve Irwin’s clan! Crikey! This place is definitely playing up the legacy of the Crocodile Hunter and why not?! He is a great lover of animals and put Australia wildlife on the map with his over the top personality.
Our favourite part upon entering is the statue of the Irwin family…quite surreal.
We only had a few hours to kill before we headed to Hervey Bay. We didn’t want to be on the road around dusk because of the kangaroos.
John and Maureen would have loved this place. I only have faint memories of going to a zoo when I was a kid but it was nothing like this.
First up was a show of the wildest creatures in Australia…when we arrived late a giant bird swooped in towards Vero when we entered the arena!
Then we got to see a crocodile come out and entertain the masses. Crocodiles are massive and would be scary up close. Quite interesting to see.
Next up,were photos with animals…Vero wanted to hold a koala in a photo and there was also a photo with an alligator available today! Bonus! Imagine getting a photo with a huge reptile! Vero has always wanted to wrestle a creature such as this and this was her chance to prove it.
The koala was quite soft haired and was holding onto Vero with all her might. I think it might be because they live in trees so their hands are always grasping at something.
Next up was the alligator…we saw a massive bench set up and figured that it would hold this mighty beast.
Then we saw the alligator come out and we couldn’t stop laughing. It was the size of a hot water bottle! We felt like fools thinking they would bring out a large alligator to pose with. Luckily they refunded the photo opportunity we had already purchased.
We walked into Roo Heaven which held the kangaroos. I didn’t realize how awesome this zoo was until I realized they let us into the actual kangaroo area and we can approach and pet them! Definitely different than animals in cages! It was a fabulous experience.
The Australian Zoo definitely didn’t disappoint and its a shame we only had a few hours there before hitting the road to Hervey Bay.
