Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast

We took our first trip/vacation in Australia to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland for a long weekend, on the 19-22 of May.

The Sunshine Coast is an area along the coast of East Australia, about an hours drive north of Brisbane and an 1.5 hour flight from Sydney.

We chose this location because of it's proximity to the Australia Zoo! 

This is the zoo that Steve and Terrie Irwin started together and what launched the Crocodile Hunter that we all know and love. We visited the Australia Zoo as a Christmas present from my parents (thanks Mom and Dad Loch). The zoo was absolutely incredible. They had all the iconic Australian animals as well as American Alligators and an Africa section. See some of the highlights below:

Seychelles Giant Tortoise - 40 year old 'teen' brothers. This species lives 150+ years!

Lemur on Bindi's Island. This area is completely surrounded by water as the lemurs will not swim (maybe that's why they're only found on Madagascar). There are no barriers/enclosures other than the bridge and door to get on the island. We wandered the island, looking up in the canopy for those long, fluffy, striped tails! It was their nap time when we visited.

Sumatran Elephants

Saltwater Crocodiles, Agro and Cookie. The sign describes that the crocodile, Agro (aussie slang from aggressive), has 'killed' several push mowers when Steve was trying to mow the lawn in their enclosure.

Saltwater Crocodile show in the Crocoseum.

Snack time for the Kangaroos.

Wallaby

Cuddles with the Koala, Jett.

We ended up getting into the Zoo around 10am and stayed there until 5pm, running through the rain to get to the last few animal exhibit. The zoo still seems to exude Steve Irwin's love and passion for animals, as there were so many cool animals to check out and lots of amazing keepers to chat with. 

After spending a full day on our feet, walking around the zoo, we needed a day to lounge around and truly relax during our vacation. Despite the name, Sunshine Coast, I think that we only saw the sun for 30 minutes. The whole Eastern Coast of Australia has been hit hard by La Nina this year, continuing to experience record breaking rainfalls. The weekend that we visited Sunshine Coast was no different. 

We slept in on our second full day and in the afternoon, walked around the downtown area of Mooloolaba, popping into surf shops and eating seafood. 

Our last day in Sunshine Coast, we had the morning to relax, prior to our flight home in the evening. I went on a two hour walk down the beach, searching for cowrie shells. I was (mostly) spared from the rain but the overcast clouds still lingered.

We had an absolutely lovely weekend despite the weather not being on our side. That just gives another excuse to go back and visit, once the weather starts to cooperate. It was also great to travel and experience different parts of Australia. Can't wait for more to come!