We set out for the Australia Zoo bright and early. Well, not quite early enough for me. We left Mark's house at about 9:45 and the zoo is a 45 minute drive so we didn't get there until 10:30. I was concerned that we'd be missing valuable zoo time. After reading in Lonely Planet that the Australia Zoo was in the writer's top ten list of overall amazing life experiences, I was itching to get there and see this place.
The Australia Zoo was Steve Irwin's ("The Crocodile Hunter") zoo. It was his life's work and it is his legacy. His wife and kids still run it. We were excited to see the zoo and wanted to pay hommage to Steve Irwin.
We got there just in time for the feeding of the giant tortoises. They are Jigar's favorite animal so that was cool to see. They do a little presentation so you learn a bit about the animal as they feed them.
It was reptile week so the next presentation was on Komodo Dragons. They were surprisingly mild mannered. The zoo keeper giving the presentation was patting the big guy on the head! I wouldn't want to be that close to a Komodo Dragon.
The Australia Zoo was Steve Irwin's ("The Crocodile Hunter") zoo. It was his life's work and it is his legacy. His wife and kids still run it. We were excited to see the zoo and wanted to pay hommage to Steve Irwin.
We got there just in time for the feeding of the giant tortoises. They are Jigar's favorite animal so that was cool to see. They do a little presentation so you learn a bit about the animal as they feed them.
It was reptile week so the next presentation was on Komodo Dragons. They were surprisingly mild mannered. The zoo keeper giving the presentation was patting the big guy on the head! I wouldn't want to be that close to a Komodo Dragon.
After that, we went to see the main show at the Crocoseum. They have this show twice a day to showcase the animals. First, "The Crocmen" come out and do about 45 minutes of singing and dancing. If Bindy (Steve Irwin's daughter) is around, she is part of the show too. Bindy was away saving the whales the day we were there. The Crocmen show is probably entertaining if you are 5. Otherwise, it gets old pretty quick. We stuck it out, though, so we could see the animals. First they brought out the birds of prey. It was cool, but the Crocoseum is a big outdoor auditorium so you couldn't get a very good look at the birds. We had just seen a similar show at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and it was much better. The Lone Pine show had only about 30 people in the audience so the birds were literally right in front of us. After the birds, they brought out the snakes. Again, they were just too far away. They have 3 elephants at the zoo and they made an appearance in the show as well. But the grande finale, the bit that we were all waiting for, was the salt water crocs. And they were worth it. The zoo keepers brought out a big ol' croc named Mossman. He swam around for a bit and then they got him to jump out of the water for some tucker (that's Aussie for food). When you see these crocs, it is like you are looking at a real life dinosaur. If you are camping in an area with salt water crocs, a crocodile can come up to 140 meters out of the water and pull you out of your tent! Yikes!
After the Crocoseum, we went to Roo Heaven. It is an area with kangaroos and wallabies. You can feed them like at Lone Pine. But there aren't as many 'roos as at Lone Pine and there are a lot more people at the zoo so we didn't stay long.
We took a break and went back to our campervan for some lunch. We went back into the zoo, it was time for the afternoon elephant feeding. The elephants come right up to the edge of their enclosure and stick their heads out and the people walk up and feed them a piece of fruit. We watched for a while and then Jigar convinced me to give it a try. Elephant mouths are slimy! It was fun, though, so Jigar did it, too. After that, we went to check out the tigers. They had a new tiger at the zoo and they were keeping him separate from the other tigers. He came up to the glass right in front of us and jumped right on it! Thank goodness that glass is strong. Then he turned around and sprayed the glass. That is about as close to an irritated tiger as I want to get!
The zoo was about to close by that time so we walked back through the koala enclosure. They were cute as always, but after a month in Australia we have seen so many freakin' koalas that we weren't impressed. I suppose we are a bit jaded.
At the end of the day, we were fine with the high price of admission ($50 each) because it all goes for animal conservation and that is a cause we are happy to support, but we were a bit disappointed with the Australia Zoo. We felt like we saw all the same things at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, and, quite frankly, Lone Pine did it better. We heard a lot about the zoo keepers walking around with animals for people to hold or pet, but we didn't see any. The brochure says that they want to be the world's leading zoological experience. They have a long way to go, but they still provided us with a fun day. It'll just be a long time before they rival a zoo like the San Diego Zoo. But it was fun (even if it was a bit disappointing) and we finally got to see a Tasmanian Devil - which don't look anything like the cartoon character. And if you go to see the crocs, not to see an amazing zoo, you will not be disappointed. They made the whole day worthwhile.
After the Crocoseum, we went to Roo Heaven. It is an area with kangaroos and wallabies. You can feed them like at Lone Pine. But there aren't as many 'roos as at Lone Pine and there are a lot more people at the zoo so we didn't stay long.
We took a break and went back to our campervan for some lunch. We went back into the zoo, it was time for the afternoon elephant feeding. The elephants come right up to the edge of their enclosure and stick their heads out and the people walk up and feed them a piece of fruit. We watched for a while and then Jigar convinced me to give it a try. Elephant mouths are slimy! It was fun, though, so Jigar did it, too. After that, we went to check out the tigers. They had a new tiger at the zoo and they were keeping him separate from the other tigers. He came up to the glass right in front of us and jumped right on it! Thank goodness that glass is strong. Then he turned around and sprayed the glass. That is about as close to an irritated tiger as I want to get!
The zoo was about to close by that time so we walked back through the koala enclosure. They were cute as always, but after a month in Australia we have seen so many freakin' koalas that we weren't impressed. I suppose we are a bit jaded.
At the end of the day, we were fine with the high price of admission ($50 each) because it all goes for animal conservation and that is a cause we are happy to support, but we were a bit disappointed with the Australia Zoo. We felt like we saw all the same things at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, and, quite frankly, Lone Pine did it better. We heard a lot about the zoo keepers walking around with animals for people to hold or pet, but we didn't see any. The brochure says that they want to be the world's leading zoological experience. They have a long way to go, but they still provided us with a fun day. It'll just be a long time before they rival a zoo like the San Diego Zoo. But it was fun (even if it was a bit disappointing) and we finally got to see a Tasmanian Devil - which don't look anything like the cartoon character. And if you go to see the crocs, not to see an amazing zoo, you will not be disappointed. They made the whole day worthwhile.
1 comment:
Jigar / Gin,
I finally got the webiste from Rajen. Actually he sent it to my sister and i got it from her. :)
Are u kidding !! I can't belive all the places u 2 have been 2.
What a great LIFE u r having.
All the best and be safe. I will check back frequently.
Post a Comment