This is Kat Jenkins, from Brisbane. That's me on the right. ;) I'm a Physics major who's been enjoying learning more about communication.

After watching "The Crocodile Hunter" on Animal Planet when I was younger, I knew there was no way I could go to Brisbane without taking a day trip to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. After a train and a bus ride from downtown Brisbane, we arrived at the zoo. We were not quite sure what to expect. We knew we wanted to cuddle with koalas, chill with crocs, and waddle with wombats, but what else was behind the entrance gates, we had no idea.

As soon as I entered, I could tell that this was different than any other zoo I'd been to before. There was less glass and more trees than usual, and the animals seemed to be within reach. Some of the parts of the zoo we could even walk right through the animal's habitats to interact with them.

Cosmo the koala at the koala demonstration.

We went to a koala demonstration where one of the zookeepers, Adam, taught us that koalas sleep for about twenty hours a day. Wouldn't that be a nice life! After the demonstration, we all got a chance to touch and pat a koala. I hadn't realized before that there weren't all gray, but that they have white spots on them so they can blend in with the trees better. And yes, they are just as cute in person.

Watching the crocs at the Crocoseum.

Then we went to the the Crocoseum, where we saw a live show with snakes, birds, elephants, and crocodiles. We started with a few rounds of yelling "Crocs rule!" and "Crikey!" and a rememberance of Steve Irwin, whose presense is felt throughout the zoo even though he passed away this fall. The show was a chance to watch people interacting up close with "dangerous" animals, a chance to see macaws fly overhead (their colors are really amazing) and a chance to be in awe of a thirteen foot croc named Osmond who was fed right in front of us.

A portion of the mementos from the Steve Irwin memorial display.

After the show we had a chance to go see the memorial for Steve Irwin, which showed how much of an influence he's had on people everywhere. Families, schools, and zoos from all around Australia and the world had sent cards, posters, shirts signed with messages, and even plastic crocs to honor the Crocodile Hunter. The fence was 50 feet long and five feet high, covered with memorials on both sides. It was touching to see.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the zoo was the area where we got to interact with the kangaroos. At first I was reluctant and scared to just approach a kangaroo, but they're very friendly animals. They weren't the least bit afraid of us, but they also didn't even try to bite us. I think that it is neat that the Australia Zoo thinks it is so important to have real interaction with the animals to make people appreciate them more. They also give the animals space by having special rest areas for them to go to when too many little kids (or college students) come up to touch them.

Chelsea Gorrow, Shayna Doi, Jill Russell and Kat Jenkins jumping with Steve.

All in all the trip to the Australia Zoo was worth it. I learned a lot about the amazing animals of Australia. For instance, I didn't realize that Australia is the only country in the world with more varieties of poisonous than non-poisonous snake. I guess I can live without koalas in the US if that also means fewer dangerous snakes. I also had the chance to get up close to a kangaroo, something a bit more difficult to do at school in Washington. And something I'll remember for a lifetime.

After the obligatory stop in the gift shop, we hopped back to our bus and snoozed like koalas on the train back to Brisbane.