July 19th

Today we said goodbye to the surf town of Noosa and made our way along the highway towards Brissy, with one very important stop along the way - AUSTRALIA ZOO!!

I loved my last visit here, and definitely wanted the family to have the same chance at seeing all the great things I was able to experience. So, we planned for an entire day to walk around the zoo and for Cass, Quinn and Dad to enjoy Steve Irwin's creation.

We began the day with otter and elephant feeding - we even managed to get Dad in on the action! I think Cass and Quinn enjoyed feeding the elephants by hand.....

We also caught the infamous croc show, then wandered around for a bit to snap some more photos of the large crocs that are housed at the zoo. All of them were problem crocs in the wild (meaning they were attacking human boats etc, or migrating too close to human populations) and would have been shot. Instead, Steve saved them by creating this zoo to house them all!

Next stop, we really scared Dad by wanting to take a photo with a snake. The three kids sit side-by-side on this bench, and next thing we know, there is this HUGE albino python wrapped around all of us. I have to admit, when I signed up for this photo, I assumed a slightly smaller reptile. The size of this thing just blew my mind! AND, according to the handler, she was a small one. Yikes!

Cass and Quinn also took some koala holding photos, while I snapped away photos since I already held a koala in Brissy in Feb. We also hand fed the kangaroos, which I think was the highlight of the day for everyone!!

We wandered around for a bit after taking a lunch break, seeing all the unique Australian animals and, by the end of the day, DAD TOUCHED A SNAKE. For those of you who know my Dad, this is epic. He is deathly afraid of snakes and would much rather DIE before getting near one. But, he did conquer his fear a little bit, and pat a snake that was being held by a handler. I have photo evidence!!

We left the zoo around 3pm, drove the remaining kms into Brissy and I was hit with a huge case of nostalgia. I serisouly do not want to leave this country!! In Brissy, we are staying in apartments in the CBD (central business district or downtown to us Canadians!) and because we had made it in before 5pm, Cass and I went to surprise Dave at Zumba class. Here, Cass met one of my housemates and we both were able to fit in a workout! I was also able to say goodbye to the instructors, whom I've gotten to know really well over the course of the semester. It was my first of many final "goodbyes" I'll be making in Brissy and I had to fight off the urge to cry. I've made such good mates here!!

Zumba was followed by dinner with Dave, Derek and the family, then a quick catch-up with the other 2 housemates at the house and then bed. Cass was eager to get up for tomorrow's shopping day, so we all needed all the rest we could!!