20231202 AAAA Trip - Mooloolaba, Australia - A zoo and a family reunion

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 77/105 - Mooloolaba, Australia - Cousin time

We sailed toward Mooloolaba this morning.  We cannot dock here, so it was another dynamic positioning day and tender rides to the pier.  Mooloolaba was bigger than we expected with a huge beach and a nice, protected area for beach activities.

We took the tender to the pier.

Orion, using dynamic positioning to hold position all day

We took the included tour today to the Australia Zoo.  

Viking donated to the zoo to support their conservation and animal protection activities as part of the tour.  The zoo is a project supported by the Irwin family to honor and preserve the memory of Steve Irwin, Australia's famed Crocodile Hunter.  The zoo was lovely with beautiful landscaping, large open areas for the animals to roam, and a dedicated team of naturalists to help educate guests and keep the animals safe and healthy.

I was able to rescue Arlona and tour the zoo

Otters

Monitor lizard

Skink

Monitor

Komodo dragon

Blue-tongued lizard

There were lizards freely roaming all over the park

Australian water dragon

What's that on your arm?

Tasmanian devil

Sleepy dingo

They had several cassowary birds here

Australian crane

Jabirus

Black-necked stork

White cockatoo

Emus

Noisy miners

Little pied cormorant

Guineafowl

White-headed pigeon

Emerald dove

Echidnas

Quokkas

Binturongs

Elongated tortoise

Radiated tortoise

Another tortoise

Aldabra giant tortoise

Echidna

Bunches of kangaroos - they roam freely in a huge area and you can walk in there with them.

Tiger

Sumatran elephants

Giraffes

Zebras too

White rhinos behind us

Cheetahs

Meerkats

Lemurs

Shingleback skink

Check out that blue tongue

Red panda

Koalas are just too cute to not photograph.

After the zoo tour, we rode the bus back to Mooloolaba and took a walk through town and down the esplanade by the sea. There are tons of eateries along the way and all seemed to be doing a brisk business. We did a little shopping before heading back toward the pier area.

Today's "no thank you" flavor of snacks

We were walking next to the Tasman Sea, so you know that Arlona had to wander down for a feel.

Our destination was The Surf Club Mooloolaba for a meet-up. Some background...

My dad was the youngest of four Kolb children.  His older two sisters lived in the Chicago suburbs.  We moved to the Milwaukee area and then to the Detroit suburbs.  This kept us close enough to still spend holiday time with the family and my cousins.  His brother moved their family to California and we had very little contact with them.  The last time I could find that I saw those three cousins was my grandparent’s 50th anniversary in 1968.

In 2019, their oldest, my cousin, Teri, let me know she was going to be in our area in Florida and wondered if we would be home.  She came and stayed with us a few days and it was terrific reconnecting after more than 50 years.  Her brother Mike is in California somewhere and her other brother, Jeff is in Australia.

On this trip, we were talking with an Aussie couple and I mentioned that I had a cousin in Australia.  They asked where.  I had no idea.  Arlona did a little Facebook stalking and found Jeff in Noosa Heads, Queensland.  They said that Noosa Heads was less than an hour north of Mooloolaba.  I messaged Jeff on Facebook and then messaged Teri so she could vouch for me. We made contact and spent a few hours over dinner and some beer, catching up after 55 years.  How cool is that? It was a great time and it was terrific getting to know him and hear about his life and family.

Arlona, my cousin, Jeff, and me

55 years melted away quickly

All too soon, it was time to walk back to the pier and catch a tender back to the ship.  

Right next to the tender dock, a boat doubled as a restaurant - Prawn Star

Their sister ship, Prawn Star Too seemed to feel there was a rivalry

The sun was setting as we motored to the Orion.

The sky was still striking when we got to the room.  

We are parked here until later tonight so we can watch tender operations in the dark.

Tonight, we make our last time change of this cruise, losing another hour and moving to UTC+11 or 16 hours ahead of the US East Coast.  We’ll be on this time until December 12 when we fly to Dubai and gain seven hours to UTC+4.  Tomorrow is the last sea day of this cruise before we stop in Newcastle and then end in Sydney.