Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, Brisbane

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Almost exactly one hour's drive north of Brisbane, Australia Zoo is well worth a visit for locals and tourists alike.

There is a lot of hype surrounding the Zoo and its operations due to the untimely passing of its superstar owner, conservationist and croc hunter, Steve Irwin. Fortunately the Zoo doesn't disappoint visitors drawn by Steve's massive appeal with its fantastic furry and reptilian inhabitants.

The Zoo has expanded over the last few years to include tigers and Asian elephants and a state-of-the-art crocoseum to house its daily croc and other wildlife shows. Terri Irwin herself led the croc show on my most recent visit in January 2008. In addition to these new animals, the Zoo still houses its Aussie attractions including a number of the crocs featured in Steve's movies and documentaries. Other Aussie animals include native snakes and lizards, wombats, kookaburras, tasmanian devils and of course koala's and kangaroos.

There is also a food court which is very well run with a wide selection of food and drinks and other small attractions (merry-go round, face painting etc) to keep the kids entertained. Australia Zoo staff also wander round the Zoo throughout the day with animals in tow which allow visitors to have a first hand look and at times, touch, of these beautiful animals.

What really impressed me about this Zoo was how clean all the animal exhibits and park was and how happy and healthy the animals seemed. Admission price when I visited in Jan 2008 was $53 adult, $31 child with some discounted family packages available. All in all - a great day out for the whole family!

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Check out Australia Zoo - it's the WILDEST show on Earth!

The Irwins eat, sleep and live for wildlife. "Our love, passion, and devotion is to educate and share with the world our magnificent - often threatened or sometimes threatening - wildlife. Our job in this world is to bring misunderstood and feared animals (as well as the cute and cuddlies) right into your house, so that we can share and learn about the world's wildlife."

Check back with us as our Amazing Animals section continues to grow. We have hundreds of animals here at Australia Zoo and will continue to add them over the coming weeks

We pack in stacks of wildlife action every day and move at a great rate of knots – there are always plenty of exciting wildlife shows to see, friendly zoo keepers to chat with and heaps of drop-dead gorgeous animals that can't wait to get up close and personal with YOU!

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About an hour out of Brisbane in a place called Beerwah, is the late Steve Irwin's (aka: Crocodile Hunter) Australia Zoo. The Zoo has a lot of interesting animals, ranging from crocs (of course) to an albino kangaroo to camels. I recommend this park to anyone, but if you are going further north, I would also recommend the Billabong Sanctuary outside of Townswille, where you will be able to hold Koalas, wombats and even a little croc :)

I took a special bus out to the zoo, that's run by a bloke that used to work in the zoo. On the way over and back, you can watch movies from when Steve was young and chasing lizards, when he met Terri and nearly got eaten by a croc and all the bloopers. It's called CC's Croc Connections and I booked it from my hostel, I haven't got any other info.
The Zoo itself is beautiful. All the enclosures are really big and clean. There's a crocoseum with 5000 seats, where you can see croc, tiger and bird shows. I've also fed an elephant there and there's a turte that's been found by Charles Darwin. There are caretakers walking around with dingoes and baby crocs, so you can see them up close and ofcourse you can walk thru a paddock with kangaroos and koala's. It's a great day out!
Unfortunately the owner of this zoo, Steve Irwin, died in a freak accident getting stung by a sting ray. The zoo won't be the same without him.

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Steve Irwin's Australian Zoo is top of many peoples list of places to visit. It's not cheap ($43 adult) so make sure you've got plenty of time to wander around the whole zoo and enjoy your time there.
It's a very professionally run place as you realise from the moment you enter the car park. You are directed to the parking area by a person....not just a sign.
Make sure you get a map as you enter, saves you wandering aimlessly. Also enables you to plan your day around the show times.
We were drawn to the crocodile show by the noise. The "CROCOSEUM" is a huge stadium area (would hate to be there if it was full). Unfortunately we didn't see Steve Irwin himself, but those guys handling the crocs were great anyway. Very informative.

Check on the net for discount vouchers...they are there!! Try googling "australia zoo+discounts" . I printed the vouchers out, took them with me and threw the staff into confusion, but I got the discount :)

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There are 4 live shows that kicks off from 11am so make sure you get to Australia Zoo in time. If you're taking the train from Brisbane, then it's best to take either the 8.06am or the 8.42am train. When you get to Beerwah station, there'll be a shuttle bus to take you to the zoo.

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Australia Zoo is located on the Beautiful Sunshine Coast near the Glasshouse Mountains. Just 45 minutes North of Brisbane on the Glasshouse Mountains Tourist Drive, is the home of some of Australia's most unique and amazing wildlife, as well as, some interesting animals from overseas. Your visit to the home of "THE CROCODILE HUNTER" will definitely thrill and amaze you!

There are daily (feeding) shows from 10 am daily thru 3:30pm each and every day, and make the day more memorable when you attend these.

My day here at Australia Zoo was something I had been looking forward to for quite a long time and the day exceeded my expectations. Get there early to see the crocodile feeding demonstrations. The zoo grounds are huge, bigger than I expected.

The food court was AMAZING. Great view, good food and quite affordable. The variety of food choices was EXCELLENT. The souvenirs were outrageously high priced though. I just took pix of the souvenirs!

For those of you who don't know Steve, he is one CRAZY guy!! He wrestles crocodiles with no fear. His nick name is "The Crocodile Hunter" His wife is canadian and has a little girl named Bindi.
He loves animals so much that he lives in the Australia zoo. It's a great experience if he is there one day.. you should go and see him in action.