Aaron Anderson pays a visit to Steve Irwin's most famous memorial, the Australia Zoo.
The first thing I notice is her eyelashes, long and smoky and perfectly curled. My wife could spend an hour with a mascara wand and never achieve that look. The second thing I notice about the girl is her feet. They are not nearly as attractive as her lashes. In fact they rather surprise me with their length and those three long toes.
Close-up on a kangaroo
I'm lying parallel to a female kangaroo in the grass at the
Australia Zoo; marvelling at the genius of this species up close. Kangaroos have always been cool to me as a foreigner. But many of my friends here consider them little more than hopping rats that make driving at night a real bugger or gluttonous herbivores destroying farmer's crops. But if you've ever laid still as a rock in the grass next to a 'roo and really studied her, felt the velvety touch of the grey fur then watched her lumber to her feet, and, like a girl playing hard to get, send you one last glance before thumping her tail hop slowly away, you'll gain a new respect for
Australia's most famous national icon.
I've been to a lot of great places in the few years I've been writing travel guides for Lonely Planet — Thailand and Madagascar are just two — but I have to say Australia Zoo is definitely in my top ten coolest places to visit in the world. Which frankly surprised me; I wasn't expecting to be so blown away.
Steve's legacy
In fact, walking though the front gates shortly after
Steve Irwin's sad and untimely death, I was wondering more about what his life's work would resemble than how unbelievably exciting
Australia's native fauna would turn out to be. And the tributes to Steve surrounding the zoo's famous Crocoseum were truly moving. But even more impressive was the work Irwin had started, and his wife Terri continues, to introduce Australia's animals to Australians and the world. Plus, profits from zoo admissions directly help endangered species and fund an onsite wildlife hospital.
I've never been a huge fan of zoos. I don't really like the whole animal in a cage concept. But the great thing about the animals here is they aren't kept in small cages. Instead they wander freely through semi natural habitats spread over acres. Many of which (like the kangaroo habitat) you can walk straight through.
Why does a kangaroo hop?
Have you ever wondered why a kangaroo hops? I did as my shaggy grey friend wandered off to make friends with a small girl standing to my left.
It was only a short distance and I was quite shocked by how slowly the kangaroo was going. I always just expected them to bound away and fly, but this one seemed to be practically crawling. It was like she was the laziest hopper in the world, or perhaps very, very, drunk.
It turns out kangaroos hop to conserve energy. But before they can achieve this they must build up enough speed, which apparently takes a while when you are working on a piston system. Once you get your bounce going, hopping is the most efficient way to get around at medium speeds. The energy of the bounce is stored in the tendons of the legs — think, pogo stick — while the intestines bounce up and down like a piston, emptying and filling the lungs without needing to activate the chest muscles.
Koalas: cute or scary?
We wandered out of the kangaroo enclosure and down to check out the little stoned bears. Koalas consume so many poisonous eucalyptus leaves each day that they stay pretty much constantly high. As a result, they have a bland stare that is a mixture of cute and slightly scary.
Speeding wombats
After the koala we wandered down the well-marked path to visit his closest living relative, the wombat. I sat down in the grass to try and snap the little fellow's picture, and before I knew it the wily wombat was climbing right into my lap. The wombat was wearing a harness attached to a leash held by a friendly zookeeper. When I asked her if I could hold the wiry haired animal's leash for a photo, she pleasantly informed me; it just was neither allowed nor safe.
"We don't want one of these guys to get loose," she explains. "Did you know a wombat can run up to 40km an hour?"
I most certainly did not.
I learned a lot a lot of animal trivia at the zoo that day that I'd never been in possession of before. But best of all I was able to experience the life's work, and love, of one of the world's most charismatic warriors for the planet, Steve Irwin.
Today the Crocodile Hunter's family is carrying on his legacy of environmental conservation and education. The first annual
Steve Irwin Day on November 15 will take place with celebrations at the zoo outside
Brisbane. Folks are encouraged to visit the zoo for a special remembrance, wear khaki or have a barbie to help raise money for Irwin's Wildlife Warriors charity. There will be live music from
Bindi Irwin,
Jimmy Barnes and
Olivia Newton-John, lots of free swag, and an auction in the Crocoseum benefiting charity.
Details:
If you would like to visit, the
Australia Zoo phone (07) 5494 1134; or visit the website:
www.australiazoo.com.au.
Admission: $49 for an adult and $29 for a child.
Open: From 9am to 4.30pm daily.
Getting there: There are free transfers between the zoo and Noosa Heads, Coolum, Maroochydore, Alexandra Headlands, Mooloolaba and Caloundra; call (07) 5436 2000 to book.
