To work or to travel - that is the question. To work and travel is the answer.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

The Green behind the Gold

Tour: Tamborine Day Tripper
Tourists: Kairi, Ann, Grant
Time: Tuesday arvo
Transport: SuBaRu WRX
Price: Priceless

Busy with the last sightseeing as we are about to leave, we spent another day exploring the Gold Coast hinterland. Just 45 km northwest of the GC on a northern spur of the McPherson Range lies a 552m-high plateau - Mt Tamborine. It has gorges, cascades (Witches Falls, Curtis Falls and Cedar Creek Falls) and walking tracks to various lookouts with great views. It looks down on the surrounding lowlands, across the Nerang and Coomera River valleys to the Gold Coast and Pacific Ocean to the east, and over the beautiful Albert River valley and right out to the Great Dividing Range to the west.

The original vegetation was predominantly sub-tropical rainforest. Although much of this dense forest has been cleared to make way for farming, many remnant stands of the original forest still exist. Nine National Parks encircle the mountain and contain examples of the various types of rainforest that once covered the area. The most amazing of these are the belts of Piccabean Palm forest that cling around creeks and waterfalls. We picked one of the nine parks - Joalah section, and walked on a 1.5km return track to Curtis Falls. It goes through rainforest and descends steep stairs to a large pool at the base of the falls. The parks are rich in animal and bird life. You'll hear many bird songs as you walk down the path. The most colourful are the parrots, especially the Rainbow Lorikeets. You should also watch your step as you walk, unless you wanna hurt the lizards and who knows what else crawling across your way. We met this little fellow in the picture here above. And a few bush turkeys wandering around. Bandicoots, dainty wallabies, koalas and various other small Aussie natives that call the area home didn't come out this time though.

So we headed on to the town centre on Gallery Walk and stopped in the Mt Tamborine Winery for some wine tasting. Chocolate Port was pretty good hey. Just imagine it on the Choc Fudge Sundae ice-cream we sometimes get from the service station down the road. Yummie. A beautiful day. Sweet wine. Great nature. One little incident shocked us though. Recycled water in the public restrooms right on Gallery Walk, the town centre's main street with craft shops, galleries and cafés. The 'beautiful' yellow colour of the water.. and the sign on the WC wall. Hmm. Aussie water saving, you know.

Monday, February 26, 2007

South Stradbroke Island on Jetski

A w w w e s o m e!! That's how I'd describe my Monday. A whole day off till 6 pm.
. Sun .
.. Water ..
... Jetski ...

I wake up early. Again. Grant is coming to pick me up. We're going out on his jetski to discover the canals and South Stradbroke Island. Our skitrip begins from the little private jetty on the back of his house on Monaco St. Lovely. It's my first time out on a jetski.. I'm excited, but not afraid. Wrapped in a lifevest and Banana Boat's 30+ sunscreen, I jump on the back of the beautiful green-black jetski and off we go. Through the canals up to the Spit, the tip of the coastal strip. That's where we leave the calm Broadwater and conquer the surf off the southern end of South Stradbroke Island. Dangerous? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Adrenaline boosting. Wet and wild. Zero-gravity free-falls into the waves. We break through and land on the eastern side of the island for a short climb on the sand dunes. Short because of the rising surf that threatens our access back to the other side of the island. We'd better go till we can. And we can...

Back in the Broadwater, we stop on the western side of the island facing the mainland not far off. To take a closer look. The island consists mainly of sand, sand dunes and subtropical forest, and has a specific flora and fauna. For example, the Golden Wallaby only lives on this island (we meet two). We continue our ride.. but the driver has changed. Who's driving? The wallaby?! No!! Me!!! Who said I couldn't handle it? Who said?! It wasn't me (a) It feels amazing! I'm addicted. Addicted to the jetski. Grant's green-black jetski. I'm driving.. and looking for the red and green triangle signs marking he water way, but some other triangles catch my sight. Black triangles pointing out of the water. Sharkkk!!! Oh no. Only dolphins. Here and there, and everywhere. I can't express the feeling. Seeing these beautiful creatures swimming right around our jetski is just awesome. Better than Sea World. Much better. They are free. And that's amazing! I ask Grant to grab the wheel and reach for my camera, to snap a few photo proofs. Yes, I've seen them! I've finally seen them!

We drive on. Pass the Couran Cove Resort. The traffic gets busier. Rush hour. Big boats, small boats, catamarans, jetskis. Right and left. I drive through. The island lives on tourism, but nothing compared to Australia's largest tourist resort, the nearby Gold Coast. The island has some quiet campsites. The western beaches are calm and lagoon-like, while the eastern beaches are known as a surfers' paradise. Some compare the surf with the famous Hawaiin Pipeline, just that one is on the reef and the other one breaks on the sand.

We arrive at our destination: South Stradbroke Island Resort (or Tipplers Resort). It has Fijian style huts and is famous for Tipplers Tavern and Mangroves Restaurant where on Friday-Saturday nights and long weekends is a buzz with many people coming over from the mainland on their own yachts to party till early morning. The resort is in the middle of nowhere, so telecommunications, waste, water and electricity are limited in connection to the mainland, all resources are produced onsite with diesel tanks, and phone calls are made via microwave link. Paradise. And you can feel it. Monday is quiet. Beautifully quiet. We hop off the jetski and walk towards the music. Live music. Old hits. Relaxing rhythms. Cool Corona beer and Bacardi Breezer. Chill. Can't believe this place is only half an hour away from the Gold Coast's hubbub. Unreachable to the crowds.. Unreachable unless you have your own water transport. And the water transport is my new favourite :) Jetski is my new favourite. I drive back. Fast on the calm Broadwater. And my speed record is a 3-digit number.. km/h ;) We get back home, safe and sound, salty and sun-kissed. I've just had one of the best days of my Gold Coast time, of my Aussie trip...

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Wet'n'Wild Sunday

Early Sunday morning. Hot and sunny. Bikini, thongs and towel quickly find their way to our beach bags. 'Cause it's a Wet'n'Wild day. Grant is coming to pick us up at 9:30 and as usual he's right on time. 'Out the front when you are ready' says an sms at 9:30:23 and off we go to get wet'n'wild altogether at the Gold Coast's #1 waterpark.

It's a great day. It's a long day. With short rides, long rides, slow rides, fast rides, individual rides.. 2, 3, 4, .. person rides, and a lazy rubber tube hang on the beach. Our attraction hunt begins with Mammoth Falls, 4.5 metre wide troughs winding over more than 200 metres of white water rapids, ridden in giant 6-person tubes. Too easy. Let's get the pulses racing. There's a whole new Extreme H2O Zone now open with Tornado, Blackhole and Mach 5. That's where we go next. Other 200 metres of twists and turns in open air flumes, ridden in a 3-man tube. Perfect for me, Ann and Grant :) Blackhole as the name suggests features two enclosed slides that catapult you into pitch black spirals of darkness. You don't know which way you're turning next, and you don't see a thing until you hit the final splashdown. Tornado offers a wild journey on the unique super-slide from a 15-metre high platform, where you blast down a 40-metre long tunnel into the middle of a storm, spin around the Tornado's funnel in a 2-person clover-leaf tube splashing back and forth through the swirling water. And we made it! Me and Ann, the two adrenaline addicts.

What's next? A little stroll pass the Buccaneer Bay, the ultimate kids' zone full of colour and cool interactive elements. Ahoy, little maties! :) Maybe next time. We head to the other side of the park where we split. Ann decides to try Aqua Racing, 86 metre long slide reaching speeds of up to 40 km/h. Änn da fäst wumän :) Me and Grant jump on the Speedcoaster, a tandem tube slide with a zero-gravity finish. Down in one piece, we meet up again and climb to the top of Whitewater Mountain to find the entrance to the four Whitewater Flumes: Cascade, Bombora, Ripcurl and Pipeline, where each of us rides its own slide over 150 metres to the splashdown zone. Splashhh!! That's enough. No more climbing, no more riding. We lie back and relax on the soft tubes at Calypso Beach and let the slow-flowing river take us through lush sub-tropical gardens, a Caribbean shanty town and the remains of a pirate castle. Go with the flow...

Friday, February 23, 2007

Get closer @ Sea World

Friday, the 23rd of February. We take advantage of our day off and visit one of the 4 theme parks on the Gold Coast. One of the best theme parks on the Gold Coast - Sea World. The 25-hectare theme park, located on Sea World Drive, Main Beach, was established in October 1971, on an area which was originally swamp and sand dunes. It's the only theme park of its kind to successfully combine education, environmental awareness and entertainment into some outstanding attractions such as Polar Bear Shores, Dolphin Cove, and the new Shark Bay. Its research and rescue team takes on countless whale, dolphin and turtle rescues each year and participates in valuable research into the marine environment.

And despite of being just a man-made theme park, it is a lovely place to spend your day at. At least I liked it. And so did Ann :) And to have a day off after some dozen a.m. shifts at Crowne is the best thing you can ask for when you open your eyes in the morning to a new day out in Down Under. But it's also one of our last days off on the Gold Coast as we've decided to pack our lives in the two red suitcases again and roll them down to South, with Sydney and Melbourne being the next destinations of our Aussie trip. The take off is due to March the 13th and with a few stops on the way we're planning to arrive in Sydney by the 20th. To meet up with Paavo and Tiit, travelling down from Cairns, before they head back to good old Europe. It's strange how time and time again I miss home. Not only home in Estonia but home in Europe, our continent :) The different countries, different cultures, different languages, different seasons.. cities, old cities and new cities, ancient cities and modern ones. Rather than one big country, one language, one Australia. But don't get me wrong. I like it here. I love it. But I'll always love home much more (a) End of story! :)

Back to Sea World. We arrive at 11ish, line up, get in.. and discover to our disappointment that it has just started to rain. Why? Because we have a day off? Once in a while. Because we have decided to come to Sea World? Once in a lifetime. But the first show at 11:30, Quest for the Golden Seal, immediately puts the smile back on our faces. It's amazing how well-trained and cute the seals can be. They swim, they walk, they talk, they drive in a boat.. they smack a kiss, they wave their fins.. they play jokes, they carry a ball, they jump.. and they are great fun to look at. And even though it might feel as if they were kept in prison in the huge, yet so small compared to the ocean, man-made theme park, I'm pretty sure they are having fun, too.

The next ones to show us what they can are the Polar Bears, proudly presented by.. surprise surprise.. Coca-Cola Company. You can observe the bears' underwater swimming and playful behaviours through large underwater viewing windows, as well as up on the lookout. However, as far I could see from below and above, they were always playing the same stunt. Lazybones in a repeat mode :) But they ain't just Polar Bears, they are Hudson and Nelson who arrived at Sea World in November 2004 at the age of 9 months after they had been orphaned in the Canadian province of Quebec. Both boys love wrestling in the freshwater pools and sitting under the waterfall at Polar Bear Shores, and often have games of tug-o-war which entertain park guests. They also learnt quickly how to hide their favourite toys from each other. Just like the big bears the cubs love their watermelon and grapes :)

Alright, Hudson and Nelson, time to wave goodbye. Some less cuddly Sea World inhabitants are waiting for us at the Shark Bay. Let the name speak for itself :) Shark Bay is the world's largest man-made lagoon system for sharks which houses some of the most awe-inspiring of the species in an exhibit now open at Sea World. As you enter the Bay, you'll be given the opportunity to interact with some of the inhabitants at the specially designed touch pools. Watch your fingers! Heh, only kidding, there are no sharks there, just a bunch of little sea stars. Touch them gently, don't lift them up, unless you wanna be one of the 'I understand no English' nee-ha-ows. I just had to stop them, couldn't see them lifting the stars out of the water, turning them upside down to see if they look any different on the other side. Please! Lucky they didn't confuse the Shark Lagoon with the Water Park just next door, for a refreshing afternoon swim. There's a better way to admire the inhabitants of the Bay. The three 10 x 3 metre underwater windows allow you to come face to face with a number of large sharks, stingrays and a range of exotic tropical fish. Get up close and personal. You never know when, or where, these fellows come across your way here in Down Under. I'm hoping it's the closest encounter I'll ever have with these 'show me your teeth' and 'see the blacktip 'triangle'' guys. However, I'm very much looking forward to meeting the rest of the colourful reef fish out in the Great Barrier Reef some day. They are just stunningly beautiful. Which still reminds me of the first time I laid my eyes on the Coral Reef in Sharm el Sheikh and the feeling I'll never forget. A big thanks goes to.. one special person.

Sharks seen, it's time for some attractions. The first one that we hop on is the Viking's Revenge Flume Ride. Boat nr 23 takes us through the Bermuda Triangle with desert island and volcano landscapes, just before we arrive to the revenge and fall down into splashing water, with a photo taken of the 'best-looking' impressions on our faces. Thanks guys, but I don't want this picture to become part of my photo collection :) Let's go and see where the Sea World Eye can take us. 60 m closer to the heaven? Maybe, but after 5 attempts we still land on the ground. The Australia's first giant observation wheel obviously wants to please the guests with more than one stunning view on the Gold Coast, so it keeps spinning. 1 round, 2, 3, 4, 5.. Up and down. Look left, look right. If you are fast, look ahead, and look behind. Had enough? Get down! That's exactly how fast it goes up and down, till it finally stops for a minute on the last round. Funny wheel. But it has windows, and it has air-con. High-tech, you know :) Ann doen't appreciate it though, so I regret to say but I miss the next two attractions - Corkscrew and Pirate Ship, but she takes me on a Carousel :) And the Sea World Railway, Sky High Skyway and Sea World Monorail, so I've had enough of all sort of trains for the next few years now :) Old wonky trains, hanging-the-rope funiculars, and new highspeed monorails. Tchuhh-tchuhh-tchuhh! :)

Just before the dolphins start their show, we have enough time to jump into the 4-D cinema to watch a short environmentally orientated animation Planet SOS. It's the first time I see a movie in 4-D effects. It's funny how you still turn your head away or raise your hand to protect against fish swimming right towards you, snakes hanging on a tree branch that seems to be right in front of you or monkies throwing coconuts at you.. even though you know it's just the 4-D glasses playing jokes on you. These wonders.. But however good, however high-tech, some wonders will always remain better the way they naturally are. I'm talking about dolphins. So beautiful, so intelligent, so gorgeous. The Dolphin Cove Show is definitely the moment of the day. The best jumps, the best stunts! 10 points! And the incredible closeness and trust they enjoy with their keepers is just awesome to look at. Whether swimming with dolphins, gliding on their back, or surfing through the water - once you become friends with dolphins, you can do that all. And let me tell you a little secret.. I even got to kiss one ;)

There's one show left before the park closes, and it's Waterski WipeOut. Herr Elvis and Frau Marilyn personally, entertaining you at a beach party. Good old cars, good old tunes, good new waterskis. Wiuuhh-wiuuhh-wiuuhh. Floating cars, floating bath tubes, speed boats. Surfboards, bodyboards, wakeboards. Professional skiers, amateur skiers. Rock'n'Roll. Viva la Beach Party!

4:50 pm. Time to go home? Oh, no! Wait! The Penguins! Run! Ohh. What's that 'smell'? The Penguins! You'd better tidy up when I come to see you on Phillip Island :) We leave the park.. and get a ticket for another one. It's gonna be a Wet'n'Wild Sunday!! Yey!

... And now I'm going out.
... It's Friday night!! <:o)

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's!

Don't walk in front of me,

I may not follow.

Don't walk behind me,

I may not lead.

Walk beside me

and be my friend.


Love, K.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The Pursuit of Happyness

Tuesday night.
Pacific Fair Cinema.
The Pursuit of Happyness.

For the first time in 3 months I discovered the movie world again. I love movies. And I love going to the cinema. I know there's one person back home that still remembers our once-a-week movie nights. And if he happens to read this, I want him to know I've been missing them heaps. Coca-Cola Plaza, Combo package (popcorn with 2 drinks) and peanut M&M's :) And even though it's not CC Plaza, but Pacific Fair Cinema here, there's no Combo package, but simply popcorn, it was great to go out to the movies again. And they do have M&M's here, size XXL :) The movie we chose to see was The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith and his real-life son Jaden Christopher. Great choice!

It's a touching rags-to-riches tale that explores the possibilities of life, based on a true story, making it all-the-more remarkable. Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith) evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them. Despite being broke and alone, Chris makes a commitment to his son. Having had an absent father, Chris vows to always be there for his boy, no matter what. His dogged determination and devotion is fascinating and inspiring. Despite the troubles, Chris continues to honour his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces.

The team Smiths have done a great job, and the little Smith is a gorgeous kid. The obvious pleasure he takes in the closeness between him and his father is very touching. Perhaps the only negative of this film is its one-dimensionality. There aren't really any sub-plots, and though the journey is remarkable, the outcome is somewhat predictable. There is a lot of hardship for a few moments of glory, but the ride is touching and enjoyable nonetheless.

There are a few moments throughout the movie that bear amazing resemblance to one of my favourite movies of them all La Vita È Bella (Life Is Beautiful), which tells the story of an Italian jew, Guido Orefice (played by Italian Roberto Benigni who also directed and co-wrote the film), who lives in his own romantic fairy tale world, but must learn how to use his fertile imagination to help his son survive their internment in a Nazi concentration camp. See where Gardner is forced to spend a night at a metro station and he makes his son believe the medical gadget he's selling is a time machine, which brings them back in the era of dinosaurs. See where they escape to find shelter in the public toilets which they imagine are a cave where they can hide, this is where you can feel an amazing similarity to the story of Guido and his son Giosuè in the Nazi camp. In an attempt at keeping up Giosuè's spirits, Guido convinces him that the camp is just a game – a game in which the first person to get a thousand points wins a tank. He convinces Giosuè that the camp guards are mean because they want the tank for themselves, that all the other children are hiding in order to win the game, and puts off every attempt of Giosuè's ending the game and returning home by convincing him that they are in the lead for the tank. Despite being surrounded by rampant death and disease, Giosuè doesn't question this fiction both because of his father's convincing performance and his own innocence.

Guido maintains this story right until the end, when – in the chaos caused by the American advance drawing near – he is caught, taken away, and shot, but not before making his son laugh one last time. Little Giosuè manages to survive, and thinks he's won the game when an American tank arrives to liberate the camp, and is reunited with his mother. Half happy ending. Very sentimental. Whereas in The Pursuit of Happiness the Italian director (coincidence?) Gabriele Muccino resists the temptation to politicise or racialise Chris's plight, or that of the many other homeless in the San Francisco area. He also avoids corniness and sentimentality, a tremendous achievement for a film that oscillates between such heartbreaking themes. In one way or another, the two movies are both top class. Highly recommended.

P.S. Thanks, Grant, for the invitation to see this great movie!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Bimbadgen. Four Winds. And the GC

Back from Currumbin, we had a little Wine Tasting event at Crowne Plaza. Terrace Café and Four Winds are promoting Bimbadgen wines as wines of the season, and a Bimbadgen salesman had taken on a trip up to the GC to brainwash all F&B staff, so from that day on the only wines we know are from Bimbadgen Estate in Hunter Valley, NSW. Well done, Mr Bimbadgen, I’m now addicted to your Semillon Sparkling. Yummie, especially if you drop a little strawberry slice in the glass. A good wine to go with fresh seafood dishes.

And where would you have a better seafood buffet than our lovely Four Winds, Queensland's only revolving restaurant, 26 floors atop Crowne Plaza. Yey! And what a beautiful coincidence that I was going back there for dinner on Wednesday night when John was visiting from Melbourne. Thought it would be a nice way to welcome him to the GC. And it was beautiful, indeed. You get a breathtaking 360° view on the Coast as the restaurant revolves while you are having dinner. Not too fast, not too slow. It takes a bit more than an hour to turn around. But get yourself a bottle of the magic Bimbadgen and it will probably revolve a few times faster :)

Thursday. Another day off, except for the short evening shift at Barnie’s. That makes almost 10 hours off if you get up early. Sure. Who wants to sleep in on their day off anyway? Not me. No, no. The 7 am starts at Terrace Café have got me into a whole new routine. Rise and shine, you know. 24/7 and more. So get up, K! You gotta take John on a GC tour. That’s a good excuse to get out of Surfers and explore some of the great places down on the southern tip of the GC. Our alternative route, that didn’t include Cavill Ave in Surfers Paradise, started with the twin towns of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads, where the border of QLD and NSW runs right through to Point Danger, named by Captain Cook. Although the lookout and lighthouse didn’t leave the same impression as did Byron Bay, the twin towns feature some great breaks on Kirra and Duranbah beach, which are regularly used for both national and international competitions because of their top-notch waves. Kirra is known for its heavy, quick waves and Duranbah, locally known as D-Bah, has a fast-breaking wave and often has surf when it’s flat elsewhere. So you’d better practice a bit before you get out there. Just like the school kids in Australia. We spotted a bunch of them having fun on the beach, back bags lying lazily far behind. Or perhaps they were in the class. Why not! Surf class. The same as we have basketball back home. It must be part of the curriculum. Learn to surf, learn to watch whales, to fight shark attacks, learn to protect from the UV - learn to survive Down Under.

Our next stop was Palm Beach, with beautiful walks on both end on the banks of Currumbin and Tallebudgera Creeks. The Burleigh Heads National Park, on the northern side of the mouth of Tallebudgera Creek, is a small but diverse forest reserve with walking trails around and through the rocky headland, as well as a lookout and picnic area. We picked the Ocean View track which has beautiful views on the skyline of Surfers Paradise. And it looks great from the distance. Yes, from the distance…

P.S. It was nice having you here, John! I'll c ya soon in Melbourne ;)

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Get closer @ Cu-rrrrrrr-um-bin

A day off. The first one in the last week's roster. Chill!! (H) We've decided to take a little day tour to one of the Gold Coast attractions and team parks on our must-do-must-visit list. So no long sleeps, we get up early at 6:30 am to catch a bus to Currumbin.

But before we can do that, we are caught surprised by our amazingly crazy flatmate Nick. He has just come back from a big night out at the Casino (Conrad Jupiters, of course ($)) and comes home in not the soberest condition. And not alone. Running into me as I'm coming out of shower, still half asleep, he proudly announces: 'Look what I've found - a baby duck!!!' I can't believe we have a duck at home, but seeing the little shocked duckling hiding in the corner on our kitchen floor must admit the Jungle Man I'm living with is completely unpredictable. He's totally overjoyed and claims he's thinking about adopting the poor little duckling that was left alone without parents. What else, Nick!! Only a quick flashback to piles of plates in the basin, heaps of clothes packed in the washing machine, all kind of stuff all over the place, and I'm 101% convinced he should never ever have a pet. Concerned about the little baby duck, we give Jungle Man a strict command to take the poor thing to the vet across the street as soon as they open. ...

But back to Currumbin, one of the suburbs of the Gold Coast region between Palm Beach and Coolangatta Airport, home to a beautiful Wildlife Sanctuary with a bunch of cuddly (and some less cuddly) Aussie inhabitants. Koalas, kangaroos, wombats, opossums, dingos, lorikeets, parrots, eagles, snakes, crocs, Tasmanian devils, and last but not least a group of Aborigenes :) Not sure the last ones permanently live at the Sanctuary though, but they do perform a show every day at 3:30 pm.. along with all the cuddly and not so cuddly Aussie animals. With 3 months passing by this Friday since we landed Down Under, it's about the time we make some new friends among the well-known Aussies, with koalas and roos being my favourites of them all. Ann has also been talking about Currumbin and Currumbin for the past couple of weeks, so it comes first on our sightseeing list. Hmm. Sightseeing list. After all we are here on holiday. We are tourists. We are backpackers. We can 'sightsee'!! :)

A day at Currumbin starts at 8 am, that's for the visitors. Not for the inhabitants that probably get up early to practise for their own show. And show is going on the whole day long, with lorikeets opening and closing the busy programme where most of the above mentioned fellows have their role to play. Stars of the Santuary, that's what they are called. Big starts, famous stars.. and co-stars. Little Hollywood. We arrive just in time and after a short phone call to our flatmate's mom, who happens to work at the sanctuary, get a discounted ticket and a free Behind the Scenes tour ;) And head to the first spot where lorikeets are just about to finish their breakfast. The lories at Currumbin are completely wild, and their numbers may vary from day to day depending on the seasonal flowering of local food trees and the presence of predatory birds in the area. They are beautiful and brave, eat from a plate in your hand, sit on your arm, or land right on your head to have a better view around.

Once they've had enough and fly away to come back later on for the afternoon show, we move on to the next 'stage' where koalas and wombats are getting ready to show what they can. Hmm. Not much, I would say. Eat and sleep, that's pretty much all these lazybones are keen on, with approx 20% of their time spent on eating and 80% on sleeping. Life is chill (H) Hanging on the trees, chewing the leaves, they are incredibly cute to look at though. Especially when they slowly move to change their position for a better sleep and sweeter dreams (S) The real reason why these little fellows are so little active is hidden in their eating habits. Try and live almost entirely on eucalypt leaves, drink no water.. and see what happens. Apart from falling into almost continuous sleep, it might reduce your brain. Seriously. Koalas have an unusually small brain, with about 40% of the cranial cavity being filled with fluid, which makes them the only animals on Earth with such a strangely reduced brain. I ain't kidding. Their closest relatives living next door at Currumbin are wombats. Although they look more like wild boars (or wild pigs :)) to me, they are said to be broadly similar in appearance to koalas. They are not as easily seen as many animals, but leave ample evidence of their passage, treating fences as a minor inconvenience to be gone through or under and leaving distinctive cubic scats. The question is: have you ever seen any koalas behave the same? Not even with the reduced brain :)

When the little 'wild pigs' finish munching their meal, we walk further down to see the next performance. Dingos in action. The whole park is actually based on these shows. You'd hardly see any animal if you just walked through the park. The little spoilt fellows only stick their nose out when there's some food to be served. They ain't stupid. The two dingos are especially prone to turn their back as soon as they've had their gulp. Fair enough. We gotta hurry to our Behind the Scenes tour anyway. A quick walk through the backstage takes us to the vet hospital and food preparation area, where Ann spots a bucket of dead mice ready to be fed to the crocs. Iacc. We are also introduced to some of the furry, feathered and scaly friends, such as a small python, a few lizards (the one in the picture was actually a free range roaming at Devils Diner), a bird of prey, and another dingo. They stars of the Totally Wild and Snakes Alive Show - the next two shows at Close Encounters. While the first one brings about no big excitement as we have already met the cast in person, apart from one cute yellow-orange opossum, the second one introduces three totally alive snakes, one of them ranked as the 4th most venomous in the world. Nice to meet you, guys, I hope it's the last time I see ya! :)



Off we go to the Free Flight Bird Show, where some of the majestic eagles, kites and owls swoop low and fast above our heads on supersonic speed, a classy pelican toddles on and off the stage, and miss parrots participate on a beauty contest. One of them enjoys using people's heads as a landing track. Hey, don't mess with my hair, mate! When they are gone, we take a walk to the other end of the park, known as Kangaroo Crossing. Hard to guess who we come across there. A gang of kangaroos enjoying their afternoon siesta on the lawn. At least three generations altogether. Mr and Mrs K Roo's, with Joey nr 1, 2, 3, ... , 303, and Mr and Mrs Grand and Grandgrand K Roo's. You easily notice the difference between the young Duracell Joeys and Mr and Mrs Slowmotion KKKRoos. They are the only inhabitants of Currumbin that actually have some freedom of hopping around on a bit bigger ground, and the only ones that you can go close enough to shake hands with. 'Cause I doubt you'd wanna do it with the next fellows that live just a few steps further up in the Wetlands and are known to the locals as Salties. Their show is about to begin as the bucket we spotted earlier in the food preparation area has now been moved in front of the hungry crocs, flapping their jaws to express their disappointment in the long wait. One greedy gulp, 2, 3, 4, .. the jaws remain wide open, the little hogs can't get enough. And as we have to leave them to drive back to Surfers, we hope they won't eat the Croco Tamer.