Anyone been to Australia Zoo near Brisbane?

[cluttered]

We may be spending a few days in Brisbane en route to NZ in December and I was wondering about day trips to Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast. We would like to visit beach but also see some native animals especially snakes and parrots (interests of DC). I have looked at Australia Zoo website and it looks a bit OTT, has anyone been? Alternatively how about the wildlife Sanctuary at Currumbin on Gold Coast. How far are these from Brisbane as we could instead spend a couple of days out of Brisbane if they are too far for day trips although in this case we would prefer to be on Sunshine Coast as Gold Coast sounds a bit too glitzy.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

We have been to Currumbin with ds - it is a lovely day out, well landscaped with lots of Australian native animals. If you stay near the sanctuary or south of it this isn't anywhere near as touristy as Surfers Paradise. I wouldn't have wanted to do it as a day trip from Brisbane.

A friend has been to Australia Zoo and also raves about it. Don't buy a plastic snake there and try to get it through security at Brisbane airport - pack in suitcase! I have no idea of the distance though sorry.

have been to Currumbin some 11 years ago and it as ok, don't know if they've updated it.
However, we went to Australia Zoo 2.5 years ago and it was BLOODY BRILLIANT! If a bit OTT on the crocs but that's hardly surprising, is it

Australia Zoo has the BEST EVER wombat enclosure which means you actually get to see them awake (unusual); and a fantastic walk-through bird enclosure full of eclectus parrots, king parrots, cockatoos, rosellas and heaps of other Australian birds. We got there at opening time and almost the first thing we saw was a wombat being taken for a walk, which meant I got to pat her as well! They also have an enormous python...

If you are up Brisbane way, I highly recommend the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary as well - lots of lovely Koalas plus a great character of a cockatoo, birds of prey, wombats etc. etc. It is my favourite of the several wildlife parks and zoos I have visited in Australia; not usually too busy and just so many koalas!

I think Australia zoo is the furthest away from Brisbane, iirc, but well worth a day trip; Currumbin I did while staying in Bris no problem and The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is virtually in Bris (I have a friend who lives in Indooroopilly and it is 1/4 mile away from them)

HTH - have a FABULOUS time!

Australia Zoo is not OTT at all and is about 60 minutes out from Brisbane. We enjoyed our visit to Australia Zoo a couple of years ago and its not all crocodiles by any means. Its a good day out.

If you're staying in Brisbane itself it would take far longer to travel down to Currumbin, you're looking at around 2-3 hours each way!.

Sunshine Coast is generally quieter than the Gold Coast but Sunshine Coast I believe starts north of Brisbane.

Sunshine Coast (which runs from Caloundra to Noosa approximately) is much more laid back than the Gold Coast, which is more like Florida (think high rise buildings on the beachfront and theme parks). Sunshine Coast will take about an hour to get to from Brisbane by car. Australia Zoo is great for kids.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Another question: if we focus on visiting Australia Zoo and the beach at Sunshine Coast would it be worth staying at the beach on the Sunshine Coast for 2 or 3 days, if so which area (we have two DS of 5 and 9 so would like quiet swimming beach not surfing beach)? Alternatively do you think we should just stay in Brisbane and make day trips? My sister will be in Brisbane which is why we will be there en route to NZ but we are thinking to arrive on the Wednesday and will have to wait until the weekend to catch up with her. Apart from beach and Australia Zoo (and the Lone Pine koala place in Brisbane which sounds good) what else is recommended for Brisbane and around?

Thanks again, all this advice is so helpful, much better than any website I have been able to find!

If you choose to go somewhere beachy to stay, you could try Noosa or surrounds. In the locality you have the Glass Mountains national park, great walks; Maleny which is a chocolate-box sort of town, there are opal mines around there somewhere as well, I think although I am not sure of the accessibility of them; if you have a thing for markets the Eumundi market is not far away either (a bit north on the map I linked you to - biggest market I have EVER seen!) but I am not sure on which days it runs so yo might miss it anyway.

Hasn't your sister been able to give you any insights? Or is she just visiting as well, not actually there?

Cluttered - the swimming not surfing beach has got me a bit stumped - there is surf on all of them! Though there are lots of coves up at Noosa National Park that may be less boisterous as they face the north rather than the East. If you are looking for a lovely child friendly beachside place to stay, I would say Mooloolaba. It has some great apartments (google Beachcomber Mooloolaba - they are huge apartments and there is no road between you and the beach), good shops, a fab kids playground right on the beach, lovely places to eat, and Underwater World is right there for a rainy day - should that happen. Noosa is very trendy and gorgeous, but a bit more sophisticated (and therefore expensive). Hope this helps.

Thanks thumbwitch. My sister has just moved there from Victoria and has been very busy workwise so hasn't had much time to explore. Obviously she will know more by the time we go, but at the moment I am just trying to get a feel for what we might do before I book the flights.

You may have seen my post on the education forum asking people's opinions on whether it is justified taking the DS out of school to go as we have lots of family in NZ to see at Christmas as well as my sister and her kids (who I've never met) in Australia (there is a bit of a rift between my sister in Australia and my Mum so she won't be coming over to NZ for Christmas). Hence 2 weeks for the whole thing doesn't seem enough plus the prices will be much higher if we wait until school is out! We are thinking that if we are missing a few days of school we may as well take a week off and go at the weekend. We will stop for a night in Singapore but it still means arriving mid-week and having a few days to fill before seeing my sister

JaninLondon- Mooloolaba looks gorgeous but unfortunately reading the website it looks to me like from 29 Nov there is 7 night minimum stay. We could do 3 nights which is min off peak not 7 unfortunately. Shame because it would be perfect! Any more places you know of in that area? Thanks for your advice, I am feeling v excited!

Sorry meant to say Beachcomber apartments have 7 night minimum, obviously there must be many others but recommendations would be great

I have been out to Noosaville twice in the last four years (have family there). There is a lovely river front called Gympie Terrace with sand and water for the children. There is also grass for people who don't like to sit on sand (me). As it is a river there is no surf. You can do river trips to Noosa Heads from there. There are nice cafes and it is not as expensive as Noosa Heads.

Last time we were out we took dd1 to Australia Zoo, which she loved. The macadamia nut factory is also fun. (or it might be the ginger factory I can't remember). Children can also go to Underwater world nearby.

I have relatives in both Noosaville and Brisbane so if you have any questions I should be able to get the answer.

can I just ask something that I am a tad confused about - are we talking about December 2009 here? are you really that organised? hats off to you if you are!

Yes December 2009 ! DS1 will be Year 5 then so Year 6 in 2010 and it seems to be the consensus it would be unpopular to take him out in Year 6 even just before Christmas. Flights are available up to January 2010 now and I doubt prices will get cheaper for mid-December 2009. Certainly some friends who tried to book for Christmas 2008 in May last year were quoted a worse deal than is currently available. I want my children to experience a big family Christmas as it's only the 4 of us here, all my family in NZ/Oz, and this seems to be our last chance for a while as I presume secondary school will be even less keen on holidays in term time!

I booked our summer holiday to Italy for this August last October which didn't turn out to be such a good idea after the pound slumped against the euro and we owe the balance in euros to the villa owner! Also when we went to Caribbean last year to see DP's family we booked our flights 11 months ahead. When I phoned the travel agent to pay the balance a few weeks later he mentioned that the cheap flights we had booked had already sold out so I'm not the only one to plan ahead! Obviously we won't be booking accommodation for a while yet but just want to map out a rough plan of what we might do.

Thanks for all your help!

One more question: what does the weather tend to be like in Brisbane mid December, is there likely to be lots of rain? I spent a few hours there in transit (to Sydney I think) about 10 years ago and didn't leave the airport because it was pouring. I have a feeling that was early December so is that typical or are we more likely to have a majority of fine days?

Australia Zoo is brilliant. I am 40 mins from there and have been a few times. The bird show is fantastic. Not too OTT but a bit pricey.

The day trips from Brisbane would be okay. The train travels from Central Brisbane to Beerwah Station with a free shuttle bus to the Zoo. It would take about an hour and 20 to get there. It would take about 45 mins from Noosa.

Kings beach at Caloundra is lovely and has a sea pool and water play park on the seafront. It wake take 25 mins to get to the Zoo from there.

Hard to predict the weather. In 2007 it rained for weeks. 2008 it hardly rained at all. It will be very hot. Most temps will be over 30 for December.

I think it is a great idea to book your flights now. We went to the UK in October 2007 and booked our flights in November 2006 and got the cheapest deal going.

cluttered just read your comment further up about taking the dc out of school. I took my dc out of school for the whole last term in 2007 (10 weeks) and they were not affected. It was the end of the school year for Australia and 5 of those weeks are usually spent revising the year's work and creating Christmas craft.

The weather is likely to be hot and humid. Last week it was over 40C and 90% humidity!!!! It was high 30s/40 for December.

If you stayed in the city you could take the kids to SouthBank. It has a large manmade beach, science centre, free museum, Imax cinema and QPAC theatre. In December they have loads on for children. Christmas markets, free movies on the green, fireworks and children's workshops. This past December it was circus skills and performing.

You could still do the day trip to Australia Zoo quite easily.

mymama- thanks for the advice. You are very lucky you are allowed to take kids out of school, here (well at my DS school) any time out is unauthorised so the school says they won't authorise it but obviously you can go anyhow. After 2 weeks absence in our LEA you get a fine. Also it's quite likely DS2 in infants would lose his place as there is a legal class size limit of 30 and the school is oversubscribed so if they give the place to another child they cannot legally take your child back. Not a problem for DS1 in Juniors as there is no legal limit so I think we could argue it would be in his interest to return to same school. DS2 is quite clingy anyhow, would be very traumatised by moving to another school and it really does happen, it's not an empty threat. My relatives in NZ are quite that the school can stop us!

Kings beach at Caloundra sounds good, what's the accomodation like? Lots of apartments at Mooloolaba (recommended by JaninLondon) seem to have minimum 1 week rental in December, maybe that is standard? We would like to stay in apartment or something like motels you have in NZ where you can cook but stay for even just one night. Do they have motels in Australia too?

mymama we would definitely stay at least 2 nights in Brisbane either with my sister (lives in Chapel Hill, don't know whereabouts that is in Brisbane but sounds quite suburban from her description) or else nearby as want to meet her kids (my niece and nephew) and spend weekend with them. So could do family-type stuff with them.

Here are a couple. I haven't stayed anywhere as I used to live in Caloundra.

www.meridiancaloundra.com.au/

www.caloundracentral.com.au/

If you google Caloundra or King's Beach lots of accommodation will pop up.

The schools break up for Summer holidays at the end of the second week in December. You will have to pay premium prices and there will be minumum stays in most places.

Thanks mymama. We may end up getting to Brisbane before the schools break up as flight prices seem to go up about 12th Dec so we may leave UK on Sunday 6th and arrive Wed 9th (have to have stopover as I cannot face such a long trip with two DS!). I had originally planned to take the boys out of school for only one week but may be two now, all the more reason to go before 2010 when DS1 is Year 6 and doing SATS tests!

Hi

We have just come back to NZ following a trip to the UK. Mid November we stayed in Brisbane for 2 days. It was very hot and humid with bad rainstorms at night. South Bank was great, but didn't venture too far else due to the heat and a 2 yr old and 9mth year old. At the beginning of January arrived back in Brisbane, hired a car and drove to Noosa. Approximately 2 hours away and a really easy drive.We spent 1 superb week in Noosa staying near Hastings Street near the'family friendly beach'. The sea was a bit rough for our little ones though (a unique king tide I think was the cause so may not be normally like that). The place is great and would certainly recommend it. Did a day trip from here (1 hour) to Australia Zoo. Good, but expensive for what was there. Could be dissapointed. Ginger Factory excellent. Trips/activities in Noosa area very interesting. Chilling out very good!!!! Weather was superb, calm and very hot. You need a place with a pool or close to the beach!!Then moved to Gold Coast- Sanctuary Cove near Dreamworld. No beach, but nice hotel with big sandy/salt water lagoon pool and usual swimming pool. Theme parks good if you are into that kind of thing. Weather was nice- a bit cloudy and windy, but really hot so more than fine.
Some good web sites exist for holiday home rentals in Noosa. 20th December - 17th Jan comes up as High/Peak Season when prices will be a lot higher and minimum stays longer.

We've been back home less than a week and would jump at the chance to go back to Noosa!!{smile}

Catper33- would the Ginger factory be exciting for two DS who will be aged 10 and 6? I would love to go there for a trip down memory lane as I think I went there when I was 8 and we did a family trip round Queensland (grew up in NZ so did see quite a bit of Australia during my primary school years). Noosa sounds good but I think we will have to look at motel/hotel accommodation rather than apartments as it will be the December shoulder season and minimum rental period seems to be a week everywhere. We definitely need somewhere with a pool as my DS are more into pool swimming than the beach, especially if there are big waves. DS1 (9) had a scary experience in the Caribbean last year when he thought he couldn't get back to the beach because the currents near the beach were too strong!

Am very excited now as I booked the tickets last night so it's official. We arrive in Brisbane at the ungodly hour of 6.30 am on Wednesday Dec 9th and are leaving Monday 14th to go to Auckland. Want to leave the weekend clear to spend time with my sister and family so are thinking of driving to Sunshine Coast on the Wednesday (will be way too early to check in to anywhere in Brisbane anyway so may as well drive out) and staying 2 or 3 nights then heading back to Brisbane.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful advice!