We’ve finally arrived at the Australia Zoo, home of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter. The visit was part of Emily’s birthday present, but just before going in she told us that she didn’t really want to see any crocodiles, which makes up 60% of what’s in the zoo! (Actually Emily told us that she didn’t want to see any “trotodiles”, as she still pronounces C’s as T’s. And she still pronounces G’s as D’s – so both “dog” and “God” come out as “dod”). We’d called into the Zoo on the way up the coast, but we hadn’t made it past the packed out car park – it was the last day of the school holidays, so we decided to come back once it was quieter.

The zoo featured almost exclusively Australian animals, some of which we’d already seen at a distance, so we set out to get a better look at them. We watched two crocodile shows, where they got the crocs to come out of the water to grab some meat – it demonstrated to us all how vicious they could be, rather than the docile animals they appear when they are sitting on river banks, and then we wandered off to see some gentler animals.

The girls were able to get right up to the kangaroos, and stroke their soft fur. They were amazed to see a joey sticking out of it’s pouch, although because it was a bit bigger, it was the legs and tail that stuck out, with its head buried deep down. And when they saw the koalas, they decided that they bore a striking resemblance to their Naughty Uncle Euan, because of their ability to sleep anywhere, in the most uncomfortable positions!

The highlight of the day was the photo session with the python. Charlotte loved it, but Emily sensibly decided she didn’t want a python draped over her shoulders! I was lucky enough to get the tail end, which just felt like an arm moving around me. Sarah, at the other end, started laughing hysterically when the head moved around towards her instead of looking at the camera, and then it’s forked tongue started darting out towards her face. We were all relieved when it was all over, and a bit relieved that the fear doesn’t show in our eyes in the photo!

It was a great visit, where we had some fun and Charlotte and Emily both learnt some more about the animals of Australia.