We were leaving the Brisbane airport when we first spotted Steve. He was screaming "Crikey!" from a billboard just outside the airport, beckoning us to the Australia Zoo. We saw him again, less than an hour later, on the back of a Brisbane city bus, exclaiming that same famous catch phrase. And as we settled into our hotel, 26 hours and three flights after leaving the states for Australia, there was Steve where we know him best, on TV, eluding another grumpy croc and still inviting us to his zoo.

If you are a fan of The Crocodile Hunter, this is what you have come for, and if you are charged with the task of covering the action behind the scenes of Croc Hunter Live, it's exactly what you have come to do. We'd made it to Crocodile Hunter country. So Bert Collins, videographer, Kate Griffin, photographer, and I obliged the beckoning TV icon and wildlife warrior with a visit to his zoo.

Scenic Treasures

It's almost an hour drive to the Australia Zoo from Brisbane along Route 1, also known as the Bruce Highway. As right-lane-driving Americans, we acclimated fairly quickly to driving on the "wrong" or left side of the road, after mistaking the windshield wipers for the turn signal a few times and being extra careful around rotaries where, in a momentary lapse, you could find yourself facing oncoming traffic, possibly more dangerous than facing a grumpy croc.

The drive along Bruce Highway, an uneventful stretch of two-lane road, takes us north, away from the small metropolis of Brisbane with its high-rises lining the Brisbane River, toes almost dipped in the river's edge. It's when you turn onto Glasshouse Mountain Road that you realize you've landed in the country and maybe found the true character of life in Australia. The road winds a bit, each curve revealing a scenic treasure — a group of cows leisurely lunching on bright green grass, a prickly pineapple patch, lush groves of macadamia and avocado trees stretching as far as the eye can see. Each of these treasures tells the story of this slice of the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland, Australia. Farming is the way here, and simplicity and hard work are the ethic. This place may even tell us about the man who keeps calling us to his zoo. We've passed another sign.

The biggest of this area's scenic treasures, though, is the Glass House Mountains, a stunning grouping of nine distinctive mountains that rise between patches of farmland. We drive past the most impressive, Mount Tibrogargan, which as Aborigine legend has it is father to the small mountain range with wife Beerwah. One day, while looking out to sea, Tibrogargan noticed that the seas were rising and rushed off to save his children, pushing them west. He asked his eldest son, Coonowrin, to help his pregnant mother escape, but Coonowrin selfishly decided to save himself instead. Angered and ashamed of his son's betrayal, Tibrogragan turned his back on his son, cradling his craggy rockface in his hands, and wept in shame along with his brothers and sisters, creating the small streams found in the area.

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