Australia Zoo – Angus’ highlight

Even though we have visited what seems like EVERY SINGLE ZOO IN AUSTRALIA. Even though we have seen more wildlife than you could poke a stick at. And even though we’ve seen more crocodiles than one lifetime requires… we still had to take Angus to Australia Zoo. Because 3 years ago Lexie got to hold a koala for a photo at the Gold Coast, and Angus was too young. We had promised him. Queensland is the only state where you can legally hold them, and we had missed out earlier on Magnetic Island. So we simply HAD to take the boy to Australia Zoo.

It was a whopping 2 minute drive from where we were staying, so we were there nice and early. Fortunately I had pre-purchased our tickets online, and I thoroughly recommend it as the queue was INSANE.

In fact the whole day was a bit of a surprise for us. It was so much larger and far more commercial than we were expecting. The zoo was enormous and beautifully designed, with stunning landscaping throughout. Since it was peak school holidays, Bindi was even performing. We got to the ‘Crocoseum’ in time to catch most of her show and Dunc and I simply sat there and laughed at the spectacle. It was followed by the big croc show, which again was far more commercial than the small little croc sanctuaries we’ve been to so far.

Unexpectedly, there were all sorts of animals and it was pretty cool seeing an African Condor bird though – that thing is HUGE.

We spent the whole day there and explored every part. It was stinking hot, but they had great misters to help keep people cool, so we all coped well. We caught the shuttle train around, and Angus was overjoyed to be able to see the cheetah. They don’t have them on display, so you can only see them if they are being walked. Phew!

We also got to see the set for Bindi’s Bootcamp and the kids had a go at the rockwall. It was pretty much just like hiking at Karajini. LOL.

And fortunately we DID get to have a photo with a koala. Angus only JUST made it past the height restriction, and you can see that the keeper is watching the koala VERY closely as they are not usually that close to the ground. You can also see that it is VERY hard to miss the grin on Angus’ face – makes it all worthwhile!

I just had to snap one last pic on the way out the exit. The crowds were thronging around the gift shop. The food outlets and shops were always packed, but we had our usual brown-bagged lunch in our backpack so managed to avoid them all. It was a great day, and even Lexie (not so much into animals) enjoyed herself a lot.