Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
A zoo in the hinterland.
An introduction to the Sunshine Coast hinterland around Beerwah, where Australia Zoo grew from a roadside reptile park.
On this page
Read the region from the road
Australia Zoo stands on Steve Irwin Way at Beerwah, about an hour’s drive north of Brisbane and inland from the Sunshine Coast beaches. The road was formerly Glass House Mountains Road and passes through the locality of Glass House Mountains on its way north; it was renamed in 2006.
A regional guide can give context without turning a town into a backdrop. Notice how farmland, forest and a busy road meet at the zoo’s gates, and respect the homes and working farms around it.
Spaces built for animals
Much of what you see at the zoo was built around animals and shows: the Crocoseum, an arena that seats 5,000; Elephantasia, a 12-acre Asian-themed area; and the Africa exhibit, which recreates a savanna for several species together.
Begin with a detail and ask what it is for: a pool, a viewing window, a stand of shade trees. A photograph alone cannot tell you how an enclosure was designed or how the animals use it.
An Australia Zoo chapter
Australia Zoo shows a different side of the Sunshine Coast: a family business that grew from two acres in 1970 to more than 700 acres today, by the zoo’s own account.
Look at the meeting of the two: the wooded hinterland, and the themed spaces built within it.
Make room for context
Pair this regional reading with the zoo’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places or represents the people who built them.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
