This is a Koala from a zoo/shelter outside of Sydney. This was the first place I saw a Koala. They even let us pet the litle buggers. Very oily fur.

The picture to the left is my favorite picture from Australia. The koala was doing something other than sleeping and I was able to get a nice zoom in on him. The video camera I was using (Sony TRV-900) did a real nice job of keeping everything nice and crisp.

The koala isn’t related to the bear family. I think it is more of a racoon or possum than a bear.

The koala spends most of it’s time sleeping (about 20 hours a day). I later found out that most of the animals in Australia spend the majority of the time sitting around doing nothing (reminds me of college). That made for boring video. Mark and I decided that a sharp stick is necesary for getting good exciting video and pics.
This koala was walking around a little, so the stick wasn’t needed. It still would have been nice to have. After it found a nice comfortable branch nook, the koala closed it’s eyes and went to sleep.

This is a shark. Also known as a pointy fish, or sharp fish. I was not the slightest bit afraid when I was taking this picture. It was in the Sydney Aquarium.

There were a few big tanks in the Aquarium. Tunnels were cut out through the tanks, allowing the people to walk through and get a great view of everything. This picture was taken looking up from one of the tunnels.

The Sydney Opera House. One of the big things I wanted to do while in Australia was to go see an opera here. When we arrived in Sydney it was Christmas time and there wasn’t anything playing while we were there. It was also closed and locked up, so I couldn’t go in and walk around.

When we went back to Sydney I wasn’t really interested in it anymore. I don’t think there were any shows playing while we were there, but I didn’t really make much effort to find out. I didn’t even bother to go over there for a tour.

I would still like to see a show there, but it isn’t as important to me as it was before the trip. Maybe next time…

It looks funny. It was fun to play on, but it got real hard near the end (when there aren’t many balls left). At endgame it is real easy to play defence, especially if your opponents balls are all in one place.

We found this table in an arcade in Surfers Paradise. In general, the pool tables there are different enough from American tables that we both had to put some effort getting used them. The corner pockets were harder to hit, but the side pockets were cut out more. The balls were also smaller than what we are used to.

We spent New Year’s Eve in Brisbane. They had a decent fire works display. It was neat celebrating New Year’s outside in shorts and watching fireworks. I thought it was more festive than the way we celebrate in America. But I guess it might get a little cold running around in the snow in shorts.

Part of the New Year’s celebration was a live band. They were ok I guess. They had a little crowd which seemed to like them a lot. There was a little mosh pit, and a few of the kids jumped up on stage.

Look! There’s a crazy hippie feeding a crocidile. Ohh, wait… That’s just Steve Irwin, “The Croc Hunter”.

We visited his zoo on Jan1. It was hot. Extreamly hot. The guys at the zo said that was good, because the crocs were more active. I think that was a big croc.

We were happy that Steve was there and giving demos. We watched him feed three different crocs that day. That dude is pretty crazy.

What is that in his hand? Is it croc food or his daughter? Or perhaps both?

Bindi (his daughter) enjoyed helping her Dad put on the shows. He would hold on to her while feeding the crocs. I guess she was security for him. If something happened, he could toss Bindi at the croc and run.

I have found a friend. Like the koala, this kangeroo did nothing while we were there. It just sat around doing nothing. I guess that is what I looked like in college.