T R AV E L crocodiles some of which weighed up to 300kg. One of the most exciting parts was the daily show at the Crocoseum, where birds pick up $5 from the audience and take rubbish and put it in the bin. There is snake handling in the aisles (urgh!) and a crazy Australian who jumps into crocodile-infested water to feed them. My favourite animal was the Komodo Dragon; it was pretty cool seeing a real one up close. Another highlight was the Galapagos land tortoise. There is a statue here in memory of a previous tortoise, Harriet, who died in 2006. She was brought first to the UK, from the Galapagos Islands, by Charles Darwin in 1835, and arrived in Brisbane in 1842. When she died, she was a mere 176 years old. It was interesting exhibits such as this that really made the zoo an educational experience for my My favourite animal was the Komodo Dragon; it was pretty cool seeing a real one up close children. There are many playgrounds, including a bounce-and-splash park, which was much appreciated given that the heat was in excess of 30C. At the end of day, we were able to go into the animal hospital and watch, from behind a glass screen, as vets worked on a variety of different sick animals although Im not sure if the operating table was big enough for an elephant, or how sedated the tigers would have to be. Surfers paradise Next, we headed south, to the Gold Coast, where we spent a few days at the Village Roadshow Theme Park. There are five parks in total and we managed three of them with our three-day ticket a great mix for the children and adults in our group. We started at Sea World, which has been included in the Australian Tourism Hall of Fame for the past 30 years. It is a great family park. The entertainment included a water-based stunt show on boats and water skis, which made for an exhilarating start to the day. There were several rollercoasters that most of the children were able to go on, as well as fun activities such as feeding huge manta rays, dolphin shows, penguins, and lots of other wildlife to see. There was also a helicopter ride, which looked exciting given that I have spent most of my flying time in fixed-wing aircraft. 54 THE LOG Autumn 24 pp52-55 Aus.indd 54 13/11/2024 14:43