As you might expect, the primary focus of this venture is to immortalize and celebrate the life and achievements of Steve Irwin. Secondary is the education of the public about unique Australian animals to build a love for and desire to protect those critters. So, they have lots of them here. By far the cutest are the Koalas. No surprise here. They have adorable faces and seem to be able to balance to nap in virtually any position. The attendant points out that the Koala has a saucer-shaped boney plate in its bum that helps them comfortably perch among tree limbs for hours, up to 20hrs a day napping. We visit kangaroos– we actually walk among them-they are very chill, echidnas – never see them in the wild – they look lots like a porcupine and love to hide in hollow logs during the day, emus-they make a low rumbling sound-very non-birdlike, wombats, dingos – sleeping in the sun just like a pet dog, Tasmanian devils – scampering around a bit but no whirling dervishes, cassowaries – look just like the ones in the wild, large wading birds-weirdest are the Jabirus, a Brolga crane- it dances just like sand hills, rainforest dwellers with fantastic color, snakes and lizards everywhere – in the enclosures and outside of them, and lots of crocodiles and alligators –they are all named of course. Interesting inhabitants of Asia and Africa also make appearances. Mostly I enjoy seeing the more elusive locals. Throughout the day they have animals out with handlers so we can get a close up look. Overall, it is a fun stop. Coronavirus restrictions cause them to stop “photos with Koalas” – typically people actually get to hold one and have their picture taken. More circus-like than zoo or conservationist but I expect a pretty big draw. Workers get some new directive as we sit eating our ice cream (more accurately our non-dairy berry) treat. They have to gather up all seating around food venders so people won’t congregate. The entire place is placarded with signs admonishing all who come there to practice social distancing. Here that means 1.5 meters. They even reduced seating in the crocoseum so as to allow for more personal space. I suspect it won’t be long until the zoo is required to close.
We head on south toward Sydney at least to the New South Wales border (we are still in Queensland) since states are rapidly closing borders and we don’t need the complication as we head for the airport. The drive is slower than anticipated as there is much roadwork on A1/M1 as they transition this whole section to controlled access, divided highway. It is dark as we roll into camp in Coffs Harbor but we safely settle in for the night.