In the 1940's an enterprising horticulturist bought a tract of land near the beach, He lured the local birds with twice daily feedings, making his inland flower farms less popular amongst the feathered set. It has since grown to house many of Australia's native species.
The wild lorikeets are still fed twice a day but more on that later.
Just ten miles from our house in Broadbeach Waters, Currumbin is at the southernmost edge of the Gold Coast.
It's a noisy place - the birds flit about in the treetops constantly, some at war with each other. I shot a short video so you could get a sense of the racket:
We arrived just in time for the crocodile feeding. We raced across the park only to be disappointed. In winter, these large salt water crocs don't eat a lot. Holey, shown below, didn't have much of an appetite that day.
We hand fed the kangaroos, which roamed freely beneath a copse of eucalyptus. This proved popular with the parents, whose kids could either be described as petrified or ecstatic as they came eye to eye with their hungry counterparts. Dodo's niece Giselle went through both emotions. The little girl in this photo didn't show the slightest hesitation.
Currumbin proved to be both entertaining and educational. I read all of the placards that were posted around the park. I was asking myself about the difference between kangaroos and wallabys I saw this.
The emus reminded me of the ostriches I saw during my trip to Kenya. They stand six feet tall and they're aggressive. This guy was not happy that I was near his lady and let me know it. He jogged over, puffed up and stared me down. I was glad for the chain link fence between us.
The sound was eerie - it drew me over to the dingos. They were running around their pen howling fiercely in unison, necks arched, snouts to the sky. I don't know what riled them up. Had I not witnessed this wolf-like behavior, I might have mistaken them for a pack of dogs. They don't appear capable of stealing a baby, though the big news during our trip was the evidence that finally proved that a dingo, had in fact, "stole me bayyyybayyyyy."
The stars were the koalas of course. They clung to their branches and peered lazily at me.
They only came to life when some assistants appeared with a handful of leaves for their dinner. The male assistant hopped over the fence warning the newbie to "be careful of Popeye, he can be a bit aggressive." I watched as Popeye chased the newbie in slow motion until she was pinned against the fence. She held the leaves out as a peace offering but he was more interested in taking a bite of her leg.
I loitered at the Tasmanian Devil pen searching in vain. No idea where he was hiding. My only experience
with one is from the cartoons.
Later in the afternoon I got lucky. As I passed by his pen I heard a rustle and there he was. He was a lot smaller than I expected and didn't instill fear though had he charged me with teeth bared I probably would've run screaming.
At 4pm we made our way to the bird feeding area, a small opening near the entrance to the park. As though they had watches, the lorikeets appeared in flocks right on time. They are wild but know when the nectar is being served. You can get a pan of it and they'll land right on you. Ben was lucky, he didn't get peed on. Everyone else did, especially Joanne. She asked for it, letting them alight on her
head. 
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