Crikey Crocs!

G'Day ya little rippers

Gav and Jess here reporting back safe and sound from Steve Irwin's Zoo. We had a great time at the zoo, but it was just a shame that as we walked around we knew that Steve was no longer there. However we were really impressed at the zoo and we kicked the day off by hand feeding elephants. The keepers brought out three elephants and introduced them to the kids (as it was school holidays when we were there) and invited the kids to line up to feed them. Jess and i managed to go up 5 times each (It's amazing how you can fool Australians just by walking up on your knees!).
Jess feeding an elephant
Then we went to the famous croc show that we have all seen on TV where the zoo people get in right beside the crocs and get them to jump out of the water for food. This was done in crystal clear water and it just showed you how silently and easily the crocs can creep up on you without you knowing they are even there.
Croc show!
It seems foolish now and its probably something you would only do when young and stupid, but we left the show and made our way to the other croc enclosure full of courage. Jess and I decided to throw all caution to the wind and ran straight up to the fence at where a croc was lying only a matter of feet away......I really can't believe we did this and got away with it...........we smiled at a crocodile! All we have ever been taught and warned against was ignored! Actually we could see what the whole fuss is about as just as we started our smiling the croc opened its mouth at us. At this we decided to call it quits and look at the other animals. We would recommend anyone to go to the zoo but we don't encourage any showing of affection in anyway to the crocs.
Highly risky wildlife encounter
Also during our stay in Brisbane we had a couple of day trips to the glass house mountains and Noosa. After leaving Brisbane we drove inland 10 hours to Carnarvan National Park (yes we did it in one day, and Mr McKinley decided it was good preparations to stay up to 3.30am the night before to watch the football. For all you fact fans out there Man Utd beat Arsenal 2-1). Here in the National park is a beautiful gorge that you can walk up and see Aboriginal hand paintings on cave walls and lots of wildlife.
Aboriginal cave paintings
Just beside were we were camping there was a resident Platypus. These little creatures can only be found in Oz and any chance to see one is worth a shot. Unfortunately during our time there we didn’t get the chance to see the wee man, however in a National Park further north we read that there was a better chance to see these elusive little critters! So team McKinley set off on the hunt for a Platypus and now we can happily report that we have seen three! In order to do this we took Thundercat off road and through some water passes! Ok they were a little tame but it was still quite exciting and it makes us sad that in a couple of weeks we are going to have to say goodbye to the old girl.
Thunder cat offroad (well sort of!)
We both say that if she could pass as hand luggage we would bring her home! Normally Platypus spend the day in their burrows sleeping and come out at night to play and hunt, but at this place they appear around 3pm so it makes it easier to see them. To get the best pictures i could i had to scramble along the bank in my flip flops and sit on a tree over the water. As I was doing this I looked up to see Jess on the other bank mouthing "Be careful!" I pretended i couldn't see her, which forced her to try and give me her "Mum eyes" along with another be careful warning. As i was out of lethal range i carried on and managed to get these pictures. They arent really the best and i have done my best with them but hopefully you can see it's beak, flippers and rubbery tail!
A Platypus!
Being in the State of Queensland, which is the tropical area, the wildlife has got a little more interesting! So much so you can't really go near water without seeing a sign warning you not to swim or go near the edge as there are crocodiles living in the area! The campsite that we stayed at the other night was beside a river and there was a sign right beside where we camped warning us of the dangers! How cool is this! But don't worry I showed common sense and took all necessary precautions to gaurd against danger (I made sure Jess was sleeping on the side of the tent closest to the river).
A delightful little place to set up camp
Well over the next couple of weeks we are going to go for a trip around the Whitsunday Islands; go for a trip out to the Great Barrier reef and up to the Daintree National Park, So hopefully we should gets lots more great pictures. We really feel blessed to see such amazing scenery and experience some awesome wildlife close up. Time feels that it is going so fast but we are trying our best to make it all count. Unfortunately over the past week Jess has been down with a bad cold, but before you send get well messages she is on the mend, i imagine i have had something to do with this as i kindly pointed out that what she was going through was nothing compared to Man Flu. It's good to put everything into perspective.

We will try and post a blog soon and let you know what other adventures we have got up to. Hope you are all well and are enjoying the current football season (it's turning out to be a cracker!).

Gav and Jess