Close Encounters of the Koala Kind

"So that is what they look like up close!!"

Me (left) with a Koala (right)

ZZZZZZZZZZ

We are currently driving north of Brisbane toward Rockham- oh, wait, whoops, let me start that again.  Today, we are driving north from from Brisbane, toward Rockhampton.  On our way we stopped at yet ANOTHER zoo that had the same familiar Australian animals, except for the wombats being to the left of the koalas, and with the echidna being across from the wombats, as opposed to having the echidna next to the koalas, and the wombats on the other side of the zoo by the dingoes.  All kidding aside, this is a legendary zoo founded by Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, and is now run by his family.  The animals are in their natural settings, and have a lot of room to roam.  We saw the same animals as before, but in this zoo, I got to hold a koala, which is more interesting than watching one eat or sleep.  Koala is basically like a giant fuzzy warm football that has a heartbeat, two opposing thumbs on each hand, and smells like eucalyptus.   We also got to see a crocodile show, where a staff member made it jump out of the water.  One thing is for sure, Australian wildlife is very different than North American wildlife.  

Today, we (yes, I got it right) also visited the Glass House Mountains that were originally named by Captain Cook (who mapped the east coast of Australia in 1770s).  He thought they looked like the furnaces you melt glass in, hence he named them the Glass House Mountains.  These mountains are volcano plugs, formed by lava cooling.  The original sandstone mountains surrounding the lava plugs eroded over millions of years, leaving the extremely pointy, and jagged formations (plugs).  They were fascinatingly beautiful.

I still can't decide whether I like the wombats next to the echidnas or on the other side of the zoo.