A Grey Day on the Water

Burning sunshine and heavy humidity has been the weather for most of the last days, so we thought it a good idea to book a day trip on a boat. We were told Thursday would be bad weather but Friday would be great, so this was the day we chose. Little did we know...

Last night the rain came down in torrential quantities. I optimistically said “don't worry – the more it rains tonight, the less it will tomorrow”. After getting on board, the rain dropped off a bit, and the boat set off – and then the waves started. Nicki can be a bit seasick so she'd taken a tablet against it, but even with that, she felt bad as the boat lurched left and right and up and down. A German couple were sitting near us, wordless. I didn't see the guy say a thing for the whole trip and he looked miserable from start to finish.

After an hour, we were told there were just 10-15 mins to go until we stopped for a bushwalk up to a lookout on the coast - “so hold on to your stomachs, guys” announced the cheerfully unsympathetic Aussie skipper. Then the boat really bent into the waves and we were bouncing around. Neither of us had been in such rough water, and I got the feeling they were struggling a bit too much. Why on earth had they let the trip go ahead?



Finally it calmed down and they called for us to get ready for the bushwalk. I took a look at the pouring rain and decided to stay on the boat but to my amazement, every single one of the other day-trippers got on the small dinghy, a dozen at a time, and sped off towards the coast. As the last boat left, the rain hammered down in quantities I have rarely seen before and I sat inside with a coffee, thanking my lucky stars I had not given in to bravado and gone because the others did.

Half an hour later, they all returned looking like drowned rats. Clothes were rung out, towels were wrapped around shoulders and dismayed looks were exchanged. I was reminded of the phrase “are we having fun yet?” Clearly the answer was “No”.

Another 20 minutes of tumultuous journey took us onto Whitehaven beach, a 6-kilometre stretch of white sand and idyllic beauty. At least, that's what it should have looked like. Today, it looked grey and foreboding to us, with our minds still full of the info-board in Airlie Beach explaining the dangers of stinger jelly fish. They started to lay out the buffet lunch, saying “we'll have lunch then go snorkelling”. Well, we thought, this is the Barrier Reef and they have stinger suits to protect us, and that's an underwater activity – this won't be affected by the weather, right?

Wrong. After having to battle through the waves, something went wrong with the boat's generators. As we sat down to eat lunch, the boat sped away from Whitehaven - not great timing for those suffering from sea-sickness. A number of full plates and people with green faces lay on deck, facing the prospect of a 90 minute battle with the waves to get back home. Fortunately the sea was a little calmer on the way back, and tempers were calmed too by the news that a full refund would be given.

In short, the trip was quite a washout. Yet it was another kind of experience, and I have to admit that I found the rough sea very exciting. We've been lucky that very little on this trip has been seriously affected by the weather and if this is as bad as it gets, it's not so bad!

Onto the Whitsundays through the open space of Australia

Fraser Island and the Eco-resort at Kingfisher Bay were absolutely beautiful on the morning we left, with sun shining as we packed up our stuff. But the humidity, heat and mosquitoes were there too and the journey back to the mainland with a fresh breeze was a relief.

Next planned highlight was the Whitsunday islands, an 860km drive which we intended to split up into two days. After driving for 5 hours in a blasting 35 degree heat, we passed a town called Rockhampton and decided we would stop at the next town. Little did we know that this was the last town for 250km! It reminded us how big a country Australia is, with incredible space in-between everything.

The journey was still enjoyable. It is unbelievable to think how dry and arid parts of the country are because it is incredibly lush and green on the East Coast at the moment. This is not always the case, it seems. As we drove, we listened to local radio on the way and heard a farmer explaining that usually the land behind his house is red dust and yet right now, after 10 times the normal rainfall in January, it is full of long, swaying green grass.

We also got to see some kangaroos in the fields, hopping across the grassland. What an amazing sight!

By the time the next town appeared, we'd driven 700 km, and stayed in the first motel we saw. The following morning at a bottle shop – the supermarkets often don't sell alcohol and there is often a drive-in booze shop next door – we met a lovely girl who gave us recommendations to head for Airlie Beach and a nice motel to stay at. We've had mixed experiences with people's recommendations (e.g. two people recommending a hostel where the ceiling fell in on us...) but this one was perfect. Sunlit Waters is a lovely little motel, with studio rooms next to a pool and a view across the bay and yacht harbour. It's also one of the cheapest places we've found and the view treated us to yet another lovely sunset.

In the last couple of days, we've hung around the pool and the town, and I rented a scooter to head out to Dingo Bay. It was such a nice feeling to ride a scooter for the first time in 4 months, and you can hear the sounds and feel the atmosphere so much better than in the car. The long, lush landscapes spread out before me, with the weird-looking cow-breed that populates the land staring at me as I took their picture.

The beach itself was deserted and gorgeous. Nevertheless, no matter how inviting it is to plunge in, the water is dangerous and unforgiving. I took a picture of the board at Airlie Beach with warnings and advice about the various jelly fish and similar dangers of swimming at this time of year. Under the symptoms of a Box-Jelly Fish sting, it mentions “Severe burning skin pain. Victim may stop breathing and rapidly lose consciousness.”

In that case, I prefer to have a good look from a safe distance!

A 4 x 4 Experience on Fraser Island

Some years ago, I had the chance to be driven in a 4x4 through the desert in Dubai, but I've never driven one myself. Nicki's birthday on Sunday was a good trigger to hire one here on Fraser Island.

The day before, the weather had been humid and overcast, so we made a short bushwalk. It is truly amazing that this sand island is home to such greenery and wildlife, and we followed the advice of walking with heavy steps to ensure any snakes or spiders would be frightened and run/slither away. (We didn't see anything on the walk, but we did see a tiny black snake late last night.) To finish, we came back along the coast with its odd collection of worn dead wood on the beach. We puzzled over the weird patterns created by some animal or crab (yet to be identified) which digs holes in the sand and leaves small balls of it, resulting in random but fascinating shapes and swirls.

Mosquitoes have been a serious problem for us. We have been plastering mosquito repellent on us but it seems these ones have genetically adjusted to become immune. It's the only explanation we can find, as our bite-count is around 25 for Nicki and 15 for me. They itch like hell!

Sunday brought finer weather and as we took over the 4x4 we decided to head to Mackenzie lake. The drive was frightening to start off with, because coming out of the resort, there is a steep uphill and a testing amount of sand. The little Suzuki skated across the road and we bounced up and down in our seats as I got the hang of it. Once we got onto the flatter area, it turned out to be a great fun thing to do, but scary moments came every now and again when we met big empty spaces in the tracks – my face says it all (and so does Nicki's...)

Arriving at Mackenzie Lake, we willed the clouds to leave. The sand is incredibly fine and white, and as I mentioned before, this freshwater lake is 85m above sea level and settling inside a huge sand dune. There is an odd effect of the light, as the first few metres are quite shallow making the water appear very light due to the reflection from the sand. But it gets less shallow very quickly after that and the deeper water seems is a deep dark blue, almost as if there is coral beneath it. But as you go further out into the water, the water become light before your eyes.

It is truly like paradise – almost empty beach, white sand, blue sky, lovely warm water.

When we got back to the car-park there was a huge green lizard, over a metre long, wandering around happily among the people and cars. He looked like a baby crocodile, but nobody seemed too bothered with him and his slithery tongue made me realise it was just a lizard. I tried to get a picture of him, little realising that in the background there was a guy trying to get his swimsuit off with a towel round his waist. He saw the flash go off and sheepishly walked to the other side of his 4x4, avoiding the pervert in the Suzuki,,,

We rushed back to the resort, and had some fun on the way – hopefully you can see this movie of us hitting a serious bump!


The hurry was in hope of catching the sunset - and what a sunset it was. It's the only place on the East Coast that you can watch the sun drop over the ocean, so we were incredibly lucky to experience it. Nicki's pictures are fantastic, and really capture its calm beauty, as we sat in the bay bar and took it all in.

Following dreams with all you've got

While on this trip, I was stunned and inspired by the story of Sean Willmore, an Australian Park Ranger, who mortgaged his house 3 times in pursuit of creating a documentary about his passion.

As a Park Ranger in countries like Australia and all over Africa, you are often subject to attacks from animals or poachers, since the wildlife you protect is either large and terrifyingly violent, or highly sought after for tusks or skin.

Sean had the idea to travel all over the world and film the work of this often dangerous profession, after meeting many of his colleagues at an International Park Rangers' Congress in 2003. He sold his car and put hgis house up as collateral to caoture what he felt was a fascinating subject.

In the process, he has travelled to 23 countries and captured footage of rangers being bulldozed by wild animals and threatened with guns by smugglers. In the Congo, one ranger was tortured, shot and murdered by poachers.

On his website, he lists the names of 11 rangers killed in Uganda in the last years. Thanks to his efforts, the government has given support to the widows, a one-year salary payment to help them through - it's just 1,000 dollars each.

Sean managed to keep the finances managed and finished his amazing documentary, The Thin Green Line, thanks to an amazing determination. He is restricted from travel for the coming months because he contracted Dengue Fever (transmitted by vicious mosquitos), so he continues to work on fund-raising for the widows of other fallen rangers around the world.



In the interview, he came across as an incredibly nice, ordinary person who had a vision sparked by seeing beyond the bounds of his own life. Eternal Respect to a man who truly followed his dreams and what he believes in.

Please do visit his website to find out more. http://www.thethingreenline.info/

The Wildlife of Fraser Island

It's been a surprise to us to realise that Summer in Australia means tropical weather on the East Coast. Our friend in Brisbane left our ears ringing with warnings of what it's like to drive in such weather, so we were prepared for the worst. Luckily, our next destination Fraser Island is still south of the worst parts, a unique place 4 hours north of Brisbane, and we arrived safely with no storms along the way.

The island is completely made up of sand and is 100km long and 15km wide, with tropical forest and amazing wildlife all over it. We had heard that it's not possible to take your car over the water unless you have a 4x4 (our little Mitsubishi doesn't qualify...) and were unsure where to stay. A last-minute check on Internet took us by complete luck to a fantastic eco-resort called Kingfisher Bay.

Although it is a holiday location, there are many things Kingfisher have done to blend in with the environment. The whole place is built into the forest and we are surrounded by green and wildlife constantly. They raised all the rooms and blocks up on stilts to enable animals to be able to live underneath (apparently there are loads of spiders, snakes and lizards all over the place) and have used timber and natural materials wherever possible. There are messages everywhere encouraging you to take an interest in the environment around you, with a huge picture in the main lobby with the caption “We only preserve what we love, we only love what we understand, we only understand what we study.” They even made the swimming pool in the shape of Lake MacKenzie, a beautiful freshwater lake that somehow sits 85m above sea level in a sand dune.

It all goes to make up possibly the best accommodation we've had so far on the whole trip. Being surrounded by tropical green and the noises of it birds and wildlife is such a treat.

An Ecosystem like that on Fraser Island is a fragile thing and they explained that when wood chips were used to mark out some of the pathways here, they decided not to buy it from the mainland because even a small pest inside the wood could be something damaging to the wildlife on the secluded island. Much of the wildlife is indigenous to Fraser and small adjustments or additions could have disastrous consequences.

One example was given to us after a tour around the site with a Ranger. We saw a tiny, one-centimetre long frog jumping around. We excitedly pointed it out as the smallest frog we'd ever seen, but were corrected with the info that it was a Cane Toad. In 1935, 101 cane toads were brought onto the island to combat a pest that had developed in sugar cane. Even though they are poisonous, it was thought they would be a small price to pay to beat the pestilence, but 65 years on, there are 50 million of the little buggers! They reproduce at incredible rates, with females able to let loose thousands of toad spawn. Playing with nature can be a dangerous thing.

All over the island there are warnings about Dingoes. Sadly, a young child was mauled by a Dingo in 2001 and since then they have been culled and removed from inhabited areas. They are beautiful dog-like beasts and the ones here on Fraser Island are completely pure, having never bred with any dingoes from the mainland. Luckily, claims that there have been crocodiles have proven unfounded. We saw a few signs warning about them, but apparently this was sparked by a tourist saying they had spotted them. Due liability kicks in and there is an obligation for the resort to check such claims – luckily not a scrap of evidence was found. However, we hear that the downside of them being a protected species is that they are breeding fast and in 20-30 years could be a real threat to places like Fraser Island. Thank goodness I won't be there to see it...

On the softer side of life, we walked along the beach and were convinced parts of it were moving. Sure enough, there are armies of tiny crabs running around at low tide, and they bury themselves as soon as they're approached. It seems the earth and sand are constantly moving with something alive.

The News in Australia

We just arrived in Brisbane and found it to be a fine city. It was the site of Expo 88 which gave the city an international standing and an upgrade from being a town to a significant city. Sadly, some terrible stories have dominated the headlines in the last days.

A friend of Nicki's father, Nigel, is living just outside of the main city, and it's a beautiful area with "Queenslander" houses dotted all along the beach front. The style is really distinctive, and apparently houses that were built as bungalows have been lifted in one piece and had a lower floor built underneath, giving extra space, cool verandas and a great view.

As we drove around the area, we came past St Patrick's College at Shorncliffe, where a 12-year old was stabbed and killed by another 13 year old pupil. It's caused a huge round of agonising and inward review as a country with questions being asked on the news to child psychologists and the like about how such a thing could happen. It's a horrific story, and it is coupled with a growing fear of bullying on social networking platforms like Facebook, which has also been in the news.

Hearing the debate, it seemed to me that phenomena like Facebook and YouTube have changed the way kids communicate at a much faster rate than authorities such as schools have been able to adapt - the people seemed completely out of touch with the world the kids are living in. The reality of the situation seems to be that this very real incident was an extension of an online, supposedly "virtual" bullying campaign. Tellingly, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said ''I think Australia's not the sort of place where this should be happening in a schoolyard". This is a frightening lack of connection with a shocking and real tragedy.

What's also shocking is some of the statistics that have been appearing in the news. One report suggested that more than one in six Australian boys have been involved in violence over a 12 month period. It seems there were also calls for metal detectors to be installed in schools, as a response to what is called the "growing knife culture", although this idea is being rejected as being an over-reaction.

Over the last months, we have been almost completely insulated from these kinds of incidents that are of course a part of everyday life. However, it did remind us that Nicki had seen one mad moment in Buenos Aires. She was strolling around a beautiful, Notting Hill-like area of the city, enjoying the relaxed buzz of the Palermo district, when a man seemingly running for his life burst down the street and shouted obscenities. He was chased by a man carrying a gun. They disappeared round the corner, leaving Nicki shaken and hardly able to believe what she had just seen.

On a less tragic note, Brisbane suffered flash floods the day before we arrived. Up to 120mm of rain fell in some areas and cars were literally floating down the street. As we saw this on TV, thinking about tomorrow's drive to that area, we were a little nervous, but on arrival we found nothing more than a hazy drizzle of rain and heavy humidity. Australia has been suffering from a drought for the past couple of years and despite the difficulties for home-owners and businesses, the main story is how much the dams in certain areas of the country have increased in recent years.

A third big story here in Australia is the decision to stop 20,000 people's applications to live in the country, setting new regulations and standards on what professions people should come from to qualify for citizenship. It seems there were desperate University PHD students taking hairdressing courses - previously in the list of needed professions - because that was the only way to get in.

This change has come at a time when a report suggests that population will explode from 20 million to as much as 36 million. That's in stark contrast to a country like Japan, where population growth is negative to the extent of -24%. Australia is a huge country - 32 times larger than the UK! - but big chunks are uninhabitable, and we have noticed that (for example) traffic is much heavier here as the infrastructure in major cities struggles to keep pace with the increases in population density.

It's a tricky subject, and India has raised claims that the new policy is targeted towards them. However, we have seen that people especially on the East Coast have a great life and plenty of space, so the desirability of moving here is huge. Managing that attractiveness is not a simple issue.

Not Surfing in Byron Bay

If you're into surfing, then Byron Bay is the place to be. It's 150km south of Brisbane and the town sits in-between miles and miles of wide, sandy beaches with fantastic waves.

The town itself is small but has an amazing presence in Australia. It's been the most expensive place we've stayed and almost every kind of accommodation was booked at the weekend as Aussies from North and South flock into the town. The music scene is strong with live music most evenings, and there is a huge music festival here over the Easter weekend with an amazing the band-list – Jack Johnson, Crowded House, Rodger Hodgson (from Supertramp) and 10CC to name a few. The drawing power of Byron Bay seems bigger than the place itself.

Most of the people here are youngsters (remember, I am 42 so a “youngster” could be anybody under 30...) plus a few grungy dread-locked nutters who look like they came for a weekend years ago and never left. One guy on a street with a huge long beard holds a sign saying “Jokes, three for $1”. Youth Hostels, Backpacker places and cute handicraft and souvenir shops are the main basis of the centre of town.

We are not into surfing and decided simply to enjoy the beach life here. We have moments where we feel we should do more of the things on offer – skydiving, micro-lighting, etc – but feel like just being here and soaking up the atmosphere is enough for us. Weather has been scorchingly hot and our walk to the Lighthouse around the Byron peninsula yesterday left us dripping with sweat. But it was worth it as we walked through a coastal rainforest and passed Australia's most Easterly point, as well as being rewarded with a stunning view from the lighthouse itself. We finished off the walk by paddling for a mile along the coast.

The sun is incredibly strong when it shines, although we are told that New Zealand can even be stronger. Nicki noticed in one small town two skin-cancer clinics, so it's obviously an issue here, and we have been very careful to be plastered in sun cream.

Today the rain has come down for the first time in a week, so we've wandered round the town, read books in our cabin and I've gone back over a few pics. These are some signs we've seen along the way. The first is a standard icon of Australia – sadly we've seen two kangaroos by the roadside that have been hit by cars, a horrifying thought.
We love the informality of the Australians, and this message to give more thought to the environment gets the message across pretty directly...
And finally, this billboard has been quite a common sight along the roadside since Sydney – now that's informal!

Australian Wildlife

In the last few days, we've been treated to a series of Aussie specialities, from lovely Koalas and a Possum through to creepy spiders and crawly Iguanas.

We sat watching a movie in the dark in our wood cabin in the forest and heard a scratching noise out on the deck. We had been told that Possums are common and were hoping for one as a visitor – and sure enough, here he was. We put a bit of banana on the fence and he came and took it, then we took a chance and put the deck light on. They have night vision so the ambient light didn't scare him away, and we were able to see it close up – they are such cute little creatures, almost like mini-kangaroos with a heavy back-end and sweet faces. But we had started a turf war, as one of the site owners explained when another possum started growling in the trees up above, a low and ominous sound that was telling our friend to get out of the other's space.

The following day we took a walk up the main lookout across Nelson Bay, a steep 20 minute climb that gave a fantastic view but was infested with huge spiders webs – and, of course, huge spiders... This one with yellow bits on his legs just scares the hell out of me. I know I am 1000 times his size, but nature obviously made him a bit more powerful than the average house-spider at home. This was just one of hundreds we saw, lying in wait for flies, wasps and frightened Englishmen.

Just before we had left the forest cabin, there was another wild Koala sitting in a tree. I just can't get enough of seeing these docile, fuzzy looking things. Their lack of motion is quite hypnotic and their faces seem to be wise, almost zen-like. What amazing luck to see it so near and out in the open.

We drove North along the gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway, the 3rd time we've driven up a road so-named – the first was in California and the second in New Zealand., Both of us have been really surprised at how lush the countryside is as we had expected a more arid landscape, but it has been green all the way. We imagine that the images we have in our minds of endless open dry land is more from the middle of Australia, and that the obvious reason the coast is so populated is the contrast with its inland life.

In the evening we stayed in Sawtell, a small village by the sea with a huge long beach. As we ran along it the following morning, the sand that was so fine it squeaked like closely packed snow. I saw somebody talking on a mobile phone and found it odd, because at home a seaside-trip on a sunny day is a rarity. We would think “ok, off to the beach, switch off the phone, it's a day out!” But for an Australian in Sawtell, a wander up an almost deserted stretch of sand is a daily occurrence and real life goes on comfortably alongside the beach life. No wonder the Aussies are so laid back.

Yesterday, we stopped at a strange little motorway stop, called the Little Italy services. Not only did they have a statue of David (clearly made in my image – though not in every respect...) but they also had an Italian museum and exhibition. As we had lunch sitting in front of a huge painting of Florence, Nicki said “I think if we wander around here, we'll see kangaroos in the fields”. I have to admit, I thought it was just a sign of her eternal optimism – 'roos in Litle Italy,? Then we wandered around the back of the building and found half a dozen kangaroos...

It is such a great feeling to see these unique animals close up. They look so different to anything I have seen in the wild before and to just chance upon them like this was incredibly good fortune.

We continued in scorching sunshine to Byron Bay and are staying in a cabin in a caravan park next to a creek. After Nicki's predictive powers were shown earlier, I got nervous when she said “maybe we'll see crocodiles”. Luckily, her vision of the future was impaired a little this time, as we stepped out of the front door and saw an 80cm long Iguana on the step. He took a look at us and scampered off down the side between the car and the cabin – no doubt that won't be the last we see of him...

Beaches on the East Coast of Oz

We left Sydney on yet another rainy day – so NOT what we had expected there! On the way out, we dropped by Bondi beach, a place both of us have heard of all our lives. We expected a huge, endless stretch of sand but found in reality something resembling Broadstairs or Bloemendaal. It was just a typical seaside town with a half-mile of beach which happens to be close to Sydney. So much for the famous Australia beach life, thought.

120Km from the city there is a region called the Blue Mountains and we headed there, hoping it would change our luck. The area is so-called because of the blue haze created by the huge forests of Eucalypt trees (apparently there are over 100 types of them and they are all gum trees) but we weren't able to see much of that in the mist and clouds. However, after a night in a damp and 'yuk' motel - run by some North-England Brits who instantly told us about the location and quality of ladybars in Bangkok when we mentioned going to Thailand - we did manage to get a view of the amazing Three Sisters rock formations and a beautiful valley from a lovely lookout. The hazy sky gave us the urge to move on and get away from Sydney.

By luck rather than anything else, we ended up at Port Stephens after a day's driving. It's a beautiful area with a collection of little towns around the bay area, and we found a perfect spot to settle down for a couple of days – the Wanderer's Retreat in Boat Harbour. It's a place with a half-dozen wooden huts in a Eucalypt forest, so you're surrounded by greenery and shaded from the now-burning sunshine. The sounds all around are Kookaburras (which cackle almost like monkeys!), cicadas, cockateels and various other birds, and the sound of the ocean laps in the background, a 5-minute walk away.

Yesterday was an amazing experience as we headed for the unique sand-dunes along Stockton Beach, which run for 35 km and are around 1km wide. Neither of us have been walking in a desert before so this gave a tiny taste of it. The sand was incredibly white and we were taken in by the formations and shapes the wind carves across the dunes, and we tramped up and down the sudden steep slopes that trick your eyes. Of course, sea in the distance in one direction and the green forest in the other gave the assurance that the sand would come to an end soon – a bit different to a real desert...

The beach itself was incredible – this was what we were expecting at Bondi. It went on and on for miles, almost no people on it, clean and crisp sand with no coral or stones in the water. We rushed out to meet the crashing waves and felt like 7 year-olds as we thrashed around in the perfect sea. More people were surfing than swimming, and we wondered what these people do for jobs that enables them to surf at 3pm on a Wednesday afternoon.

That evening, we had another Koala experience. This one was perched in a tree above the Wanderer's Retreat office and we were advised to keep to one side – sure enough just as we arrived, he peed and pooed – a narrow escape... He was just about awake and looked us in the eye – it seemed to us he was saying “what are you rushing around for? Take it easy...” It was just lovely to see him in the wild and apparently there are plenty around this area. They have many warning signs on the road to beware of hitting the Koalas, and a tally of how many road fatalities there are. I can't imagine how awful it would be to crash into one, they are so defenceless and do no harm to anyone.

Today we wandered along One Mile Beach early in the morning and then on to Nelson's Bay and Dutchman's Bay, all of them beautiful, under-populated and white-sanded beaches. We're quickly realising that Australia's charms lie by the sea and not inland.

A Day At Sydney Zoo

It has poured every day since we got here, with the most rain that Sydney has seen for years (apparently a month's rain has fallen in a week). So, what better thing to do than go to the Zoo?

Taronga zoo overlooks Sydney harbour and on a clear day, probably the views are breathtaking. We were just grateful for a let-up of the downpour and made our way to the Koalas and Wallabies as a first stop. Koalas are not bears but marsupials - a surprise to us - and they sleep for 20 hours per day (nice life, huh?). They live on Eucalypt plants, which is very difficult to digest, hence they sleep so long, and sure enough the two Koalas they took us to have our picture taken with were well-asleep. They are beautiful little things and you just want to give them a big hug, but it seems they get no comfort from being petted and it just disturbs them.

The wallabies were, amazingly, wandering around in an open part of the zoo. We asked about this and the staff explained that they are reared by humans so are very used to being around people. We also later got a real treat - one small mother kangaroo had its baby (called a Joey) in its pouch and I filmed what looked like the Joey grooming the mother. It was absolutely mesmerising.


The Seal show was great fun - I haven't seen something like that since being a child! - and when the well-trained seals launched themselves out of the water, the kids were roaring with joy - me among them...

After being terrorised by small multi-coloured parrots at lunch (one of which was so ballsy it waltzed up and took a bite out of Nicki's carrot cake as she was trying to get a pic of it), we watched a baby elephant and its mother playing in the water. More menacingly, we also saw the crocodiles and were re-assured by the statistic that they are not as quick as the stereotype. I've always believed that they are faster than a human but they can 'only' reach speeds of 12-14km. So if you're ever pursued by a croc, run like hell and you'll be fine... Then we found the fantastic Small Penguins swimming around (if you've seen the animated movie, Surf's Up, you'll recognise these cute little things swishing around in the water).



Nicki was moved by the Gorillas and Chimpanzees, so human-like in their interactions with each other - it almost seemed two chimpanzees were kissing... My worst part of the visit was the spiders - it makes my skin crawl to see these great big things that roam around this country. It didn't help when we got back to the hotel and Nicki said "I think that was a Redback crawling underneath our window". Just great, I'd rather not know it was there. We did read that in a year, spiders eat the weight of the whole world's human population in moths, flies and other insects, so at least they are good for something...

It was a big surprise to enjoy the zoo and with the animals so free and easy with the people, it made for a completely different experience compared to our childhood memories. Plus, seeing Koalas, Kangaroos and huge spiders certainly gave it a unique feel.

Footnote - we heard a fantastic radio advert today on Aussie radio. "imagine if you started eating a meat pie and after two bites, you were full! Imagine if the same thing happened in bed too! To improve your in-bed performance and ensure you make the final hooter, call now on..." Informal is the name of the game here in Australia...