Wild about Australia Zoo

Travel writer Mike Yardley discovers a trip to Queensland is incomplete without seeing some of the world’s most amazing and endangered animals.

If you’re treating the family to a Sunshine Coast winter escape, spend a night at Australia Zoo.

The legacy of Steve Irwin lives on at the zoo, where his wife Terri and children, Bindi and Robert, live and work.

Bindi has been joined by her husband Chandler and their two-year-old daughter Grace.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve and Terri several times before tragedy struck 16 years ago. His larger-than-life TV personality was not just a case of playing for the cameras. In person, that exuberant charm and passion was just as infectious.

From humble beginnings in the 1990s, the Irwin family worked hard to make Australia Zoo a world-class conservation facility, in addition to its appeal as a tourist attraction.

Set across 700 acres of tropical parkland, over 1200 native and exotic animals call Australia Zoo home.

And you’ll struggle to do justice to its mind-blowing magnificence in just one day.

It’s the intimacy of the animal encounters that makes Australia Zoo such an exhilarating wildlife experience.

Like all good Aussie wildlife parks, you can hand-feed kangaroos and cuddle a koala. Then there’s the up-close experiences with red pandas, otters, wombats, giraffes and spiky echidnas.

The Australia Zoo wildlife team also provide opportunities to pose for a photo with a menagerie of wildlife, including dingoes, blue-tongue lizards, skinks, pythons, alligators, macaws and cockatoos.

Visitors can even be zookeepers for a day and see the animals up close, with a variety of encounters with red pandas, Komodo dragons and a white rhino.

Australia Zoo’s Tiger Temple is a class act, dedicated to conserving Sumatran tigers.

Another headliner is Bindi’s Island, built around her three-storey treehouse, where I marvelled over gorgeous Aldabra tortoises — the world’s largest, weighing in at 300kg.

But the showpiece attraction is Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors, which roars into life at 1.15pm each day in the Crocoseum.

It begins with the free-flight birds of prey that swoop around the arena before the jaw-snapping drama of the saltwater crocodiles commands proceedings.

On my recent return to Australia Zoo, I also took a behind-the-scenes tour through the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.

This remarkable care and rehabilitation centre typically treats around 10,000 patients a year, with over 110,000 patients being admitted since the hospital first opened in 2004.

The standard of treatment and care is extraordinary, with fully-equipped operating theatres and intensive care units, plus extensive rehabilitation facilities.

On my tour, a gorgeous green sea turtle, about 60 years old and weighing 150kg, had been placed in an adult hoist after undergoing surgery.

The gentle giant had been rushed to the hospital after having been found seriously injured following what appeared to be a collision with a vessel.

Sadly, one of her flippers had to be amputated. She was also suffering from soft-shell syndrome, which is an emerging concern that the hospital is detecting in green turtles.

You’ll also see numerous koalas at the hospital, most of which are suffering from chlamydia, or from being hit by a car or attacked by domestic pets.

Push the boat out and stay overnight at The Crocodile Hunter Lodge, a dream project that Steve Irwin harboured.

It still has that new lodge smell since opening last June.

It’s less than a five-minute drive from Australia Zoo, whether you wish to drive or take advantage of the free shuttle.

Guests enjoy unlimited entry to the zoo.

Dotted around the bushland, eight family-friendly cabins offer a comfortable accommodation experience. Robert Irwin is a talented photographer and his work features prominently.

I woke to the harmonious sound of Australian birdlife serenading the new day.

Bindi was behind the name of the lodge’s on-site dining area, The Warrior Restaurant and Bar, which pays homage to her father.

After enjoying complimentary breakfast, I retired to the lodge’s prize draw, The Billabong.

This 25-metre infinity pool is the idyllic spot to gaze across the surrounding wildlife — from red kangaroos and emus to dozing koalas in the gum trees that were rescued from bushfires in recent years.

Robert added a great touch to the pool — photographs he took of two crocodiles have been printed on the pool tiles.

Throughout the lodge, there are special nods to Steve and his legacy.

From framed family photographs on the wall to recycled timber that Steve used to build viewing stands at the zoo, this luxury overnight experience is another way the family is honouring the Crocodile Hunter.

I flew to Queensland with Qantas. Enjoy an all-inclusive in-flight service with excellent entertainment offerings and tasty meal boxes in economy, with complimentary alcoholic beverages, or treat yourself to full indulgence in business.

Qantas also provides a generous 30kg checked baggage allowance when flying economy, or 46kg in business.

From June, Qantas launches direct flights to New York from Auckland.

Book direct at www.qantas.com