Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia
Saturday, December 17, 2011

We usually used to drive in the morning, stop for lunch and then pull into our hostel for the night mid- afternoon. It was always better to drive in daylight judging by the amount of kangaroo bodies by the side of the road in the morning, they are attracted by the headlights and jump in front of the cars at night. As we were not in a large 4 wheel drive with bull bars, a large 'roo could have written the car off, let alone both feeling dreadful to kill such a lovely animal that we have spent so much time petting and feeding all through Oz

We stopped at Rockhampton – unless you were into underground caving visiting tight spots such as 'Fat Man's Misery- and we weren't- this would only ever be a one night stop to sleep and eat.

We also stopped at Hervey Bay which is the best place in Australia for whale watching. Sightings are guaranteed. If by any chance the wales do a no show, you get a free subsequent trip. Unfortunately the whale watching season is April – October so we knew we would be a few weeks late, but we can totally recommend the fish and chips we had overlooking the pier. If you can't see the marine life you want, put vinegar on it and eat it instead!

Our last one night stop was at Maroochydore and at 2.30am in the morning I received a text saying 'Mum-----------Emirates have overbooked the flight and have offered me a free flight to Brisbane plus Duty Free if I fly another day'. Knowing that before Xmas all subsequent flights would be full right up to Xmas and New Year, I had a bit of a panic until I received another text 30 minutes later saying, 'Don't worry I've refused their offer – tempting as it was'- phew, so many trips and an internal flight booked that Marc arriving a few days later that's if he could have got on a flight at this time of year, could have thrown all our plans into chaos.,

As Maroochydore was only a mere 180 kms from Brisbane we decided to visit the Australian Zoo on the way

The Australia Zoo was the life's work and love of the late great Steve Irwin and what a legacy to the man- his presence is still very much all around the place. The animals aren't in cages, they roam around semi natural habitats and spread over acres, several of which you can walk straight through , you would walk through a gate and see kangaroos  lying all over the lawns, sunbathing and  waiting for you to feed them.

This was also my first sighting of koalas in Australia and since that first look; I just can't get enough of them. I am totally mesmerised by them, whether in zoos, sanctuaries or in the wild I am totally captivated. They are nearly always asleep, just ledged in a gum tree by their big, fat, furry bums. Koalas live entirely on Eucalyptus leaves which are so toxic and contain so little nutrition that the koala has so little energy and sleeps for 20 hours a day in the tree tops. I think this just adds to their charm. I just love them.

The keeper's change the gum leaves constantly and one little baby that suddenly realised its leaves had been taken away momentarily and must have felt a bit vulnerable kept playing peek-a-boo with me and then looked me straight in the eye, stretched his arm out and tried to climb on to me

I always knew that Koalas would be a big favourite but had no idea that I would start a second love affair a few minutes later.  Wombats- they are so gorgeous. I always presumed they were possum size, but they are big fat hairy things, some large one at the Australian zoo weighs 35kgs with heads so big and solid they can use them as battering rams.

We had such a good time at the zoo, so many Crocodiles that Steve Irwin has rescued, some when he was as young as 13, Tasmanian Devils, Dingoes, Possums and even the elusive Platypus.

Attached to the zoo is the animal hospital, which you can visit for a small donation. They do such wonderful work rescuing injured animals. One area had a giant bean bags around a Eucalyptus plant and injured koalas sitting on it eating. They all had something either plastered or bandaged, there would be an arm sticking out at right angles or a foot plastered up to the hip. So many fall out of trees and are hit by cars, even if the koala is dead always call the rescue centre as there could still be a live joey in the pouch that can live up to 3 days  after their mother has died.

One more sleep and Marc arrives and then we are visiting another Koala Sanctuary for me to get what will become my weekly fix.