Day 2 - Australia Zoo

After a much needed kip.. almost 12 hours.. we started our long day at around 06:30. Graeme was to give us a lift to the Zoo at about 08:00, which would take about 1hr 45mins, then

we would have to find our way back to Daisy Hill using buses and train routes we had looked at the night before.. but it surely couldn't go as smoothly as we'd expect, could it!?

Anyway, we got to Australia Zoo at around 09:30 and started our visit around one of the most famous Zoo's on the planet.. thanks to one man.. Steve Irwin.. who is a bit of a cult hero in Australia with bill boards of him still being used to advertise the Zoo in and around Brisbane. Just after entering the Zoo there was a statue of the whole Irwin family, quite a fitting star

t considering it was him who was the drive behind the development of the Zoo.
We managed to see many different animals, reptiles, birds etc. The croc's were huge, and so were the Tortoise's! Australia boasts many fasinating creatures, much more interesting that the English Pigeon, or the Fox. How about a Kookaburra or a Tasmaini

an Devil! Much more interesting! We also managed to see

a croc show, where they showed their ability to catch prey with the speed and height they can jump, pretty insane. All in all, we saw many different and strange animals at the Zoo.. such as the odd lizard just wondering around the Zoo, you

had to be careful where you were stepping!

At around 15:08 we started our long 3hr public transport journey home. We weren't sure what to expect from the public transport here in Australia, it seemed okay when we got on the bus from the Zoo and made our way to Beerburram station, straight forward enough, it took about 20 minutes, only had to ask the driver once where to get off! The train station was very strange. In the UK we are used to people behind a desk who we can ask to buy tickets from and where to go, etc. Not in Australia, well not in Beerburram at least. For people who have no idea where they are going, a ticket machine isn't that useful. We knew we had to get to Brisbane Central Station, however, the ticket we recieved didn't tell us which platform to use, so we had to guess by the direction we thought Brisbane was! Oh well, it was never going to be smooth and easy was it!? Luckerly, we guessed right, well we thought we had! The train PA system seemed to be saying that it was only going express to a station called Bowern Hills, not mentioning Central station. This concerend Chaggie, as it would anyone, but we decided to sit tight and see what happens. Thankfully, the train did continue after Bowern Hills, and eventually we got to Central station! What a relief. Now we just had to find the bus stop which would take us back to Daisy Hill. We wondered in and around the train station looking for a clue to where our bus stop was. Eventually Chino worked out that the sheet we had with us, said the street name that the bus station was on. Edward Street. We found the sign saying Edward Street, and according to our sheet, we had a 655m walk to the stop. However, typically, we were walking the wrong way up Edward Street, and had probably double the distance to walk now, with 10 minutes to get there, not as much time as you might think! Anyway, we got lucky and turned up at the stop as the bus pulled up too.. phew!

We took our seats and now pondered how we were going to find the bus stop we wanted, near Kinloch Street, which is a street very close to Graeme and Lorraine's. We got lucky, as after asking the bus driver where to get off, a nice Aussie bloke (I kid you not) told us where to go, it was just as well he lived down Kinloch Street and knew exactly where we were going! We got lucky there!

So, we finally did get back to Graeme and Lorraine's in-time to chill out, go in the pool, have a well earned dinner, which Lorraine had very kindly left us (SPAG BOL) as she was babysitting in the evening.

A very busy 2nd day, and I am nodding off as I write this! So I will leave it at that. A very good 2nd day here in Aus! Here's to many more!

Chaggie

x