Steve Irwin Zoo north of Brisbane

We went to the amazing Steve Irwin Zoo north of Brisbane.  We missed Steve's daughter Bindi by a couple of days.  We had a full day of fun getting up close to many of the animals.  My highlight, of course, was getting to cuddle with a koala bear!  He was soft and fury, but really heavy!   Their facilities were world class and a must see if you ever make it to this end of the planet.

When I got home to my house tonight there was poo in my front yard.  I asked my neighbor about it and he said a kangaroo was paying me a visit and leave his calling card!  Sure enough I looked out past my back fence and there was the culprit grazing in the back field.  I have some yard clean up to do ... 

Sapphire Fossicking

Today we went to the Billabong Blue Fossicking Park to fossick for sapphires.  Yes, fossicking is what you do in the Inverell area.  It is known as a leading provider of the worlds sapphires and other gems.  The owner gave us a personal tour of their big wash plant, an operation similar to that on the TV program Gold Rush. You can see in the top photo the pile of raw dirt that you sift through.  You then wash the rocks in the pool of muddy water and dump them onto a burlap covered barrel.  You start combing through the stones looking for blue coloured rocks.  With a keen eye, we picked out about 20 little stones that could be turned into sapphires.  A great way to spend the day in +30 degree weather.  Thanks to Deb Czainski for my Australian hat, it came in handy today:)

Coffs Harbour

On our way to Coffs Harbour we came across our first 'koala bear' road sign.  We didn't see any koala's on the road, but did see, on separate occasions, two kangaroos who were resting permanently on the side of the road ... yep, we hit deer and here they hit kangaroo.  We went for a run yesterday morning around the town dam and a kangaroo went bouncing on by ... so cool to see in the wild, but not so cool when the 4 foot long snake went slithering across our running path. 
Barnaby had his picture taken in front of the Big Banana!  Coffs harbour has groves and groves of banana trees ... hence the really big banana as a town attraction.

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Like all tourists do, we went down to the Sydney Opera House and took our pictures at this famous landmark.  Didn't have time for a boat cruise around the harbour, maybe next time I'm in Sydney, I'll squeeze it in.

I was able to get my picture taken at the National Museum in Auckland before we left NZ.  It was, hands down, the best and biggest museum I have ever been to.  This fellow represents the traditional Maori dress and look. 

Today we went to the Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium.  Outside was the Shark Bus ... Barnaby is posing just inside his mouth!  I got to see my first king penguins!  So cool up close. 

Big Apple

We are seeing a lot of "World's Largest" here in NZ.  Barnaby had his picture taken beside the Big Apple!