Noosa

Day 1: I bumped into Jeff (our Fraser guide) as I was waiting for my OZ bus that morning so I had a good catch up with him and thanked him again for his part in our fantastic trip. His response was the very aussie ''Too easy mate'', which apparantly means ''you're welcome''. I like that one.

Lugsy was the OZ driver for the trip and it was just me and him on the bus as we headed down the coast towards Noosa. Lugsy is a good lad so we had a laugh on the journey as he told me some stories of previous OZ experience passengers. Prior to arriving in Noosa, we stopped off at a look-out point, which gave us some great views over the small town.

When we arrived, Kat and Luke were there at the bus stop waiting to board the bus. Since I was getting off in Noosa, I caught up with them briefly on their time there and on Fraser Island. A shame I couldn't tag-along with them again for a few more days but they were on an even tighter schedule than me. Plus, I was keen to check Noosa out for a couple of days.

After finding a hostel, I took a walk down to Noosa Beach. It was a nice day so the beach was packed as I took a walk along it towards the National park, famed for it's abundance of Wildlife apparently. I took a walk along one of the trails to see if that was the case - it wasn't, I didn't see anything wildlife-wise unfortunately. It was a nice walk though, concluding on the top of a cliff-face with some good views over another nearby beach.

After the walk, I spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing back on Noosa Beach, which is really nice. In the evening, I just took a walk around the small town, which didn't take very long.

Day 2: Up early for a day at Australia Zoo - home of the late, great Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. I've already been to Saigon Zoo and the fantastic Singapore Zoo so far on the trip so wasn't really expecting this one to better them. However, I was keen to check out the Australian animals I was yet to see. Also, being the home of such a legend, I couldn't really skip this one out.

The bus journey showed a video of the legend himself, trying to catch all manner of Crocs and Lizards, which drew laughs from everyone onboard. The zoo was really good and gave me the opportunity to see those native animals I was hoping for - Koalas, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Kookaburras, Cassowaries (you don't want to mess with them by the sounds of it), Wombats, Dingoes, Echidnas and Tasmanian Devils. There were also some cool shows, including one that involved a huge Bengal Tiger leaning on the trainer's shoulders, while taking a drink of milk. Rather him than me!

Also there were Steve Irwin's family - Terri, Bindi and Robert, who were the presenters for a Crocodile and Bird show inside the zoo's Crocoseum. This was quite entertaining, although the Croc feeding parts weren't half as impressive as what I'd seen at Koorana Crocodile Farm at Emu Park. It was still a good show though and I had an enjoyable day walking around the zoo. I think I'm done with zoos for this trip now though.

Off to Byron Bay the next morning. Motoring down the coast now!