We were due to spend a week in Brisbane with Brian’s brother Tommy, which wasn’t a long way to go from Noosa, so decided to visit Australia Zoo on the way there. Australia Zoo is pretty much known as the Steve Irwin or Crocodile Hunter zoo, but I was going there to look at koalas!
I’m not a great fan of zoos and this one in particular is expensive ($59/person) but I was intent on seeing some koalas and kangaroos! It was another hot and humid day, and it was clear I made a mistake wearing jeans by the time we got to the zoo! We got to see lots of very tame kangaroos, a crocodile show, emus, cassowaries, dingoes and of course koalas – mostly asleep! Koalas are really not the brightest of animals and spend most of their time asleep but they are as cute in real life as they are in pictures! After I stroked enough kangaroos and a particularly dozy looking koala, we moved on from the zoo. Australia Zoo is known as Australia’s best zoo but I can’t say I was that impressed as we covered the whole place in about 2 hours, including me spending loads of time at the various koala enclosures, so I wouldn’t say it is great value for money. Then again, we didn’t go and see the African animals as we’ve seen them all before!
The next day we went for a wander around Brisbane – Tommy lives about an hour outside of Brisbane near Helensvale Station so we took the train from there into the city. We just spent the day walking around, getting a feel for the city and going into a couple of art galleries (and saw a snake in the Botanical Gardens!). Later on we met up with ex-colleague and friend Vanessa Ropiha for a few drinks and a meal.
The rest of the week was spent relaxing and going out for the occasional meal and/or drink, with the highlight probably being the Coolangatta Gold that we went to see on Sunday near Burleigh Heads.
Surfer’s Paradise
Day trip to Tamborine Mountain and Springbrook Mountain – amazing views!
Visit to NightQuarter – brilliant night market on Fridays & Saturdays
Burleigh Heads watching Coolangatta Gold
Biltong and Burger 