When I originally thought of Australia, lizards and reptiles did not enter my mind even though I’ve seen the TV shows of Steve Erwin, the Crocodile Hunter, who was killed by a fatal sting from a stingray. Instead, cuddly koalas and doe-eyed kangaroos filled my head, masking the dangers and creepy crawlies that also call this place home. I guess I secretly wished we would not be introduced or at least not intimately. However, my adventures on the Gold Coast had other ideas.
My travel companion and I said goodbye to Melbourne and arrived in the Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise, to be exact. Known as the Spring Break capital of Australia, the Schoolies, or Spring Breakers would be arriving for their festivities the day we are scheduled to leave, making us quite thankful.
Arriving at our beachfront, full ocean view accommodations on the 12
th floor, our jaws dropped as we entered our two-room, fully furnished apartment as our eyes stared at sliding glass doors that framed nothing but sun-kissed ocean. Stepping out onto our balcony, the humid, warm weather of Queensland greeted us, which was an adjustment from the cooler weather of Melbourne but welcomed nonetheless. I can see why this Ft. Lauderdale/ Santa Cruz-type town attracts spring breakers every year. My travel companion and I found our way to the local grocery store, picked up fish and chips for dinner, and enjoyed them back at our apartment while watching the sunset on our balcony. However, a different kind of adventure awaited us tomorrow.
The next day, we set off on a 2-hour trip up to the Sunshine Coast to pay tribute to the legacy of Steve Erwin by visiting the Australia Zoo, which I was visiting in honor of my parents, big fans of the Crocodile Hunter. In the midst of a jungle environment, we set out to meet the various animals, getting to feed an Elephant, see various birds of prey up close, spy crocs lurking by the water’s edge and jump 3/4
th of the way out of the water to catch their food. The Zoo also has Asian and African themed sections but it’s the Tasmanian Devils, Emus, Cassowaries, Kangaroos, Koalas, Wombats, and such that dominated the Australian portion of the zoo. What makes this zoo stand out is it allows people to have personal encounters with the animals for an additional fee of course. However, one encounter I found to be free of charge.
One of the first things I noticed upon entering the Australia Zoo were lizards, Water Dragons, at least a foot long, roaming around the park, in and out of animal enclosures, and up and down paths. It was a bit unnerving to see them, staring at you, head half cocked as if they know a secret you don’t know but really wish you did, reminiscent of the scary dinosaurs I previously had an encounter with in Melbourne, the ones that at any moment would flair their neck and spit venom at you. I was distant but fascinated at the same time, finding myself getting slowly sucked into their scaly beauty, but little did I know that this was all part of their plan to get me.
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| Water Dragon |
Stopping at a picnic area, my travel companion and I found a picnic bench and settled in to eat our lunch with Water Dragons inquisitively watching the people walking by, ready to snatch any morsels of food that may fall to the ground. As we ate our sandwiches, I noticed one of them eyeing me but brushed it off until I felt it, movement over my nicely pedicured pink toes. I pulled my legs to my chest, looked down, and there was the Water Dragon scurrying away. When she was at a safe distance away from me, I cautiously put my feet back down and resumed eating my lunch until something nibbled my toes. That’s it! I yanked my feet back up, looked down, and there she was, watching me. She was after my toes! It turns out the Water Dragons appear to be attracted to bright colors so she thought my pink toe nails were food. I saw another Water Dragon go for a lady’s bright green croc sandals. Both that lady and I finished our lunches with our feet on the bench.
I proceeded through the rest of the day on guard, making sure not to linger too long in any place knowing my toes were not safe. However, nothing could distract me from my main highlight of the day, my chance to actually hold a Koala! While Koalas eat Eucalyptus leaves that leave them drugged and sleepy most of the day, they also have a plate in the bottom to act as a permanent seat, helping them sit in trees for long portions of the day. Overlapping my hands at my wais to create a big “O” shape against my body, the Koala was placed on my hands to act as a perch. She then adjusted herself, grabbed my arms, where I slowly moved my right arm around her back. It was a short but amazing experience to cuddle them and have them look at you with their half-drugged, groggy eyes.
Returning to our hotel and enjoying another meal out on our balcony, we prepared for our next adventure to Springbrook National Park. Getting up early, we joined a tour that would lead us on a guided hike of the local rainforests, highlighting various waterfalls, underground caves, and more importantly, glow worms! On this trip, I have done a few hikes through rainforests and I thought I’d get tired of it, but their beauty still captures me and this one was one of the best. I even got to walk under a waterfall, which was great! However, I was fascinated by the glowworms since we have a children’s song about them but I’ve never seen them in person.
Into a dark cave we went where when our eyes adjusted, we saw pinpricks of green light, the light from the glowworms. When light shined on them, little sticky silk threads hung down which is a means to trap their food, usually spiders, their main predator. They were much smaller than I imagined but amazing nonetheless.
While our time in the Gold Coast went by too fast, the timing was just right as we passed loads of Schoolies and Toolies, graduated folks with a Peter Pan syndrome looking to cause trouble for the Schoolies, coming off the plane we were about to board. It was a nice time to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature, even if nature was out to get me!
Scavenger Hunt Items Completed:
10. See glowworms light up the night like twinkling stars.
13. Visit Steve Erwin’s legacy (the crocodile hunter), the Australia Zoo. (That’s for mom!)
1 comment:
We saw lizards all over the place in Broadbeach, right by Jupiter's Casino.. some were up to 3 feet long, with big "fans" that could stand out from their heads. In addition, we saw great big bats that would swoop down at night and HUGE cockroaches that would climb up the walls of the apartment buildings and condos.. I have never seen such huge bugs. We also enjoyed watching the sharks swim up the Nerang River, into the estuaries so people were told not to swim off the docks and people frequently lost their dogs when the dogs would jump into the water.
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