our trip to Australia Zoo

Greetings all,
When we went to Queensland at Easter we went to Australia Zoo.  My last big road trip was 6 years ago, when we were living in Sydney & i drove my 4 babies to visit handsome soldier, who was on course in Brisbane (see how repetitive my life is??)  That fateful trip to the newly opened Austarlia Zoo saw one of our twins climb INTO a crocodile pen (OMG!!)  My husband found her, in the empty pen & she had climbed between seats from the viewing platform & her Nikes were covered in green crocodile slime.  This child is going to age me like no other, total heart attack situation.  I guess, being born in Darwin & all, she's at one with the crocodile species??  Anyway, this time, she could read the signs . . .  

 signs like this only seem to attract my children, trouble finds them!!

 We saw Dingoes (did you know about 4% are black??) . . .

 posing on the giant Crocodile - why can't i ever get 4 children in the one 'memory' shot . . .

 a sweet sleeping Tasmanian Devil . . .

 scary Cassowary, i would not wish to meet one in the wild, they have big caveman-axe-shaped bones on top of their heads, which are always dented - proving they will head bang anything, sorry it's a bad photo of these prehistoric looking birds . . .

 we took this shot for our puppy, also named Khan . . .

 Iguanas, if they are your thing, they are not mine . . .

 our 4 went down this giant inflatable slide over & over . . .

 my husband's dislikes Camels, too many desert war zones . . . i kind of like them, they're so bizarre & almost girlie pretty, like giraffes.

 There was a school holiday class going on - they were with the Echidnas . . .

 Bear Cats, something i didn't know existed, they are like one of those made up animals . . .

 ah, my husband, doing his bit for friendly Australian tourism & PR, especially when pretty young Americans are involved!!

 Then onto the Crocosseum, where the Irwins hosted the show . . . they're ok in small doses & this is their habitat, but i could have done without their attempt at impromptu comedy - even our children were rolling their eyes at Bindi & Bob!! 

 Re-thinking the decision to sit in the front row, way too close to the snake handlers??!!

 All the animal handlers were very attractive . . .

 The elephants made a grand entrance . . .

 then it was time to head back to the carpark, via the Animal Hospital . . .

 well worth the $2 per head entry . . .

 it's an amazing set up & we got to see the koala ward, through the glass, along with the operating theatre - they were working on a koala who had been hit by a car.

There you have it, a great day out, no children in crocodile pens this time & we spent the afternoon at the beach, it was fantastic.  If you are ever in the Brisbane/ SunShine Coast region, Australia Zoo is a must & guess what, military get in free (which meant i got in with one family pass for the rest of us - about $200).  For a dedicated post on koalas, kangaroos & the fabulous petting zoo . . . go here. 
If you want to see serious crocodiles & crocodile feeding - go straight to the Northern Territory, Crocodylus Park in Berrimah & the famous Adelaide River Jumping Crocodile Tours - they are FULL ON.  Love Posie.
. . . last few days for my paper packaging giveaway . . .

Crocodylus Park, Berrimah NT

. . . why you never smile at a crocodile . . .Want to know how families spend their school holidays in the Crocodile mad Northern Territory?? Visiting crocodile farms of course & I can assure you, Crocodylus is the BEST!! Not only do you get a very informative tour guide with fascinating information plus a dose of comedy (like "don't run in a zig zag if a crocodile is chasing you as he'll run straight", & to determine the gender of the crocodile, it's temperature dependent, i.e. 30C incubation to make females, 32C to make males). Oh, at the end of the tour, everyone is invited to hold a crocodile for photo opportunties. I'm almost embarrassed to say the first 4 children in the queue where all my children, Darwin born & bred. So I share with you some photos of the park, which now includes lions, tigers, leopards, kangeroos, emus, lizards, turtles, dingoes & far too many monkeys for my liking. They have lots of massive crocodiles which they have rescued, so many are missing limbs - not sure about the people who caught them!! So enjoy the snaps, excuse the pun . . . first up, this is a young female crocodile sunbaking . . .

a group of young males sunbaking (below)

a small male in the breeding pensa big male in the breeding pensour children with their Sydney cousin, looking at monkeyssorry, I just don't like monkeys, this one is looking at me like it wants to scratch my eyes out

kangaroos munching American alligater pool "no swimming"our Roar with a new friend, a leopard kitten named Chloe
turtles, really big sea turtles

it's not an emu, they wouldn't pose, so here is an ostrich, he looks wiseok, so I took 70 photos of crocodiles, I like the claws on this one

a crocodile trap, as seen in Darwin harbour & various creeks around the top end

. . . on a final note, those aren't logs, look closely at the banks . . . Please show these to your children too, for a taste of what life is like in the Territory. It adds a little adventure to a day in the life of a crafty designer mum. Enjoy, love Jennie