Noosa, Caloundra and Australia Zoo
Arriving in Noosa we booked into our Park the Big 4 Noosa at
Tewantin about 10km from the main part of town. There are not a lot of parks in town, this one
was well run, clean and good for kids
but well out of town. Next time I would
choose the Noosa River Caravan Park which is not as flash but on the river and
much closer to town but still a few kilometres away. Unfortunately on our first day a strong
onshore wind was blowing, but the boys
loved their first swim in the surf the whole trip. Jordy and Kurt spent a long time in the water
getting rid of a bit if energy and loved it.
Saturday is Eumundi Market day and Jim and the boys were
suffering from market overload and decided to let Chrissy have some peace and
quiet on her own with beautiful food, arwork, awesome clothing, fabulous music and a million other fascinating things. She had a very relaxing time grabbing a few
bargains and enjoying some high quality markets. Later in the morning we all headed for the
beach. When the traffic snarls started
about a kilometre from the beach , Jim knew we were in trouble. The family was dropped at the beach and Jim
did circles for 40 min before finding a park. Loaded with hire surf equipment
he arrived at the beach eventually. It was worth the effort as the wind was offshore
with a lovely small swell. All round good conditions. Add to that, the beach is patrolled all year and is very
safe (unlike most beaches in Northern Queensland). Will and Kurt both got out to the first point
for a surf, in excellent conditions for beginners. We ALL
loved the boogy boarding! Jordy was
delighted to get Mum back into Body and Boogy boarding action. The Noosa SLSC club overlooks the beach with a
huge dining area with plenty of patrons and very cold beer. How did Jim know
that? He says he asked somebody! What could be better, day at the beach, kids
have an icy pole and Mum and Dad have a cold one before going home. The beach
made the parking effort worthwhile but makes you realise how easy we have it in
Albany.
Will at First Point
Jordy and Kurt loving the waves.
Next morning we got organised early and headed to the Noosa
Farmers Markets for breakfast. The Morcom Males returned to the market scene on
the promise of food. Nobody was to be
disappointed with the most professional, well organised and high quality
morning markets we have seen. The fresh
food was of a very high standard with a huge variety and the hot food was to
die for. We loved the crepes, Turkish breads, breakfast burgers, coffee, juice
and everything else that we ate. And to
top it all off, parking was a breeze, too easy!
Breakfast Heaven!
Banana and Nutella Crepe with ice-cream for breakfast.
Does it get any better?
Wash it down with some Orange Juice.
Kurt gives the Crepe stall his approval
By purchasing a market basket, Chrissy is reducing her carbon footprint, apparently.
This is the place to be, do not miss it.
One needs to remember that the Sunshine Coast from Noosa to Caloundra is highly populated, very busy and a bit of a traffic nightmare. We didn't get the best of the weather with high winds but it would be nice with good weather here. And as it is with Albany, locals do avoid the madness by finding quiet beaches away from the crowds. On Sunday we moved down to Caloundra to be closer to Australia Zoo for our visit on Monday.
Australia Zoo. By Will Morcom
Yesterday we went to Australia Zoo and we saw Tasmanian
Devils. Next we saw some turtles in the water and some cheeky otters. After that we saw some enormous tortoises
that can live to 150 years.
The Tigers were in the Asian section of the zoo. Some people still kill tigers for their skin and to use in medicine. That is not the right thing to do, they are
breaking the rules. Tigers are endangered so we need to try to stop them
killing them. The tigers are cool about
how high they can jump.
Mum took us down to see the white rhinoceros in the African section. When he sees the Australia Zoo green ute he
lays down near it because he knows they will give him a massage with the
cleaning brushes. The zebras were cool,
their stripes looked black and orange..... We think the giraffes were young
ones because they were not very tall.
At the show at the Crocoseum we saw a Condor - the
biggest bird of prey. His wingspan can
get to over 4 metres.
The koalas were very cute and fluffy. There was one baby
koala that was the cutest. Koalas sleep
for nearly 20 hours every day.
I loved how well trained the birds were at the Crocoseum
Wildlife Warriors Show, they were amazing.
We were sad not to see Bindi, but Mum took a photo of her cardboard
cutout..... She looks beautiful.
Will Morcom (6)
THE MORCOMS ARE COMING FOR THE CROCMEN!!
( not really
mate)
Today is Monday, we got to visit AUSTRALIA ZOO, Home of Steve Irwin, The Wildlife Warrior.
The first thing we saw were some lizards called Rhinosaures Iguanas, and true
to their name, they were half-rhino, half-Iguana. They had the parched skin
like a rhino, but unlike both elements it
had three strange looking ball-like objects at the base of it’s head (this
really was mystifying ). Next enclosure was the tassy devil, one which was happily enjoying an egg,
by watching I saw how much they open their jaws, that one could’ve swallowed
the egg whole without trouble!
During the day I shot some great photos of various animals,I
reckon some might’ve been better than Mum’s. The Koalas were a all time
favourite of the day, and some were in the most ridiculous sleeping positions,
yet they sleep 18 hours or more a day.
Mum was amazed at the crocmen show at the crocaseum, she
wanted to know how they trained birds to fly around the arena in certain formations
for an amount of laps before going back into their stations, and let alone with
music blasting off around them. After their performance the huge condor was
taken out,You know what I mean by huge? Well this was bigger! Being part of the
vulture family meant that it was a scavenger.It’s wingspan was bigger than the
one of the mighty eagle. The zoo even
had a Africa section, all with a range of Giraffes, Zebras and a rhino (they
really had eight altogether, but only one rhino goes on display at a time). The
rhino was called DJ, who really makes
the most of his services; every time he sees the zookeepers’ Ute he goes up to
it and lies down next to it. He does this because he knows they will give him a
rub down, which he really likes , he even lifts his legs up so they can get to
his underside! Then stand up and turn over for the other side.
Another good thing at the zoo was the Roo heaven, roo heaven is a big enclosure full of
kangaroos, however, you can go inside
the enclosure and feed and pat the kangaroos. The Roos are friendly and usually
just lie down, except for one acation...
There are two roo heavens, one for the greys and one for the
red roos, in the red roo heaven there
was this old grumpy fella, who refused to eat any of the visitors’ food, anyway
when mum was there A kid went up to pat him, the dad was a dopey type and told
him not to. Ignoring him, he went up to the grumpy roo and... WHAM! He whacked that roo, but it payed no
attention. Later he did it again, This time the roo lashed out at him.
Another all time favourite was the TIGERS, the zoo
was lucky enough to have eight Sumatran tigers at the zoo, all which they train
regularly, two at a time. We had the privilege of watching two of them. The keepers
separated both of the cats and encouraged them to perform different exercises,
e.g. going in fighting stances, putting paws on blocks, and doing cool stuff
like climbing trees and springing off logs for meat. It was incredible.
The rest of the zoo was spectacular, from cheeky otters to
the amazing borolga, and will almost lost his Akubra golden spur hat. (he was
wearing his Bindi’s boot camp hat which he bought from the shop) and I got an awesome shot of the laughing Kookaburras
(though they weren’t laughing) .
See you next time.
Will feeding one of the elephants.
This Python wasn't an exhibit, he just lives there!
A Rhino who loves a back rub
Bindi, well a cardboard cutout of her anyway.
Will and his Wallaby friend.
These guys were awesome.
If a tiger chases you don't climb a tree, Just give up!
The Otters were cute.
The Animal hospital at the Zoo.
Australia Zoo is a wonderful zoo, in which each animal looks to be comfortable there and certainly well cared for. The staff are amazing and lets hope the work of Steve Irwin can continue for the sake of many species throughout the world.
The stars of the show
Jet Ski Stunt Show
