Day 10: Holding a koala at the Australia Zoo

We arrived there around 12:00pm and had under 3 hours to walk around and watch the animals. We were advised to watch the crocodile show at 2:00pm, as it was a great show. But as Martin and I walked in the park, we saw that the photo opportuniy with a koala was also at 2:00pm. So, what to do?

First, we grabbed a quick lunch. And then we walked around the park, seeing crocodiles, koalas, a porcupine and kangaroos. At around 1:45pm we noticed that there was already a few people in line to have their picture with the koala. So, we decided to stand in line and go to the crocodile show afterwards, missing probably some 10 to 15 minutes of the show. At 2:00pm, the koala and her keeper arrived. He instructed everyone how to hold the koala before the picture was taken.

When it was my turn, he told me the koala's name is Mist and told me how to hold my hands, as he placed her on my left hand and I hold her with my right arm. He placed ler left paw on my right shoulder and I felt the tips of her nails dig through my shirt and t-shirt into me, but it wasn't painfull. The picture was taken, but apparently it wasn't a good one, as it had to be re-taken. Meanwhile I was still holding Mist in my arms and I could feel her heart beat against my side. Then my picture was again taken and it was a good one.

So, it was time to watch the crocodile show. To be honest, the show was a disappointment, as the crocodile didn't really wanted to participate (that's the problem with live animals and shows, they still have a mind of their own) and it wasn't very spectacular.

The keeper eventually managed to get the crocodile in the water and "jumping" out of the water for the chicken dinner. But other then that, the attempts to make it more exciting to watch, were futile. As we thought and had been told, the show would last 45 minutes, we barely sat there for 10 minutes and we got a promotional video of the 2 boys from Steve Irwin and that's when eveyrbody left. The show was over. I'm glad we decided to have our picture taken with the koala first.

We went to the photo shop and collected our photo and then we headed back to the bus, as we had to leave at around 3:00pm for Hervey Bay, our home for 2 nights.

- Distance travelled: 46 miles or 75 kilometers (from Brisbane to Beerwah)