Almost everyone in town is of the same mind: Steve Irwin has put Beerwah on the map. Few people in Australia, let alone the United States or anywhere else in the world, had heard of the tiny town, home to the Irwin family and the Australia Zoo, before there was a Crocodile Hunter.

Folks also seem to agree that Steve and the zoo have been the best thing that ever happened to Beerwah, bringing a steady stream of tourist traffic onto its three-block-long main street, Beerwah Road. All this croc business is, well, good for business.

The train brings them—daytrippers, backpackers, Croc Hunter-crazed fans.

"They certainly come in here looking for [the zoo]. Some have to be crazed, fanatical fans," Sue Nielan, owner of Beerwah's Flowers and Gifts, across the street from the Queensland Rail train stop, says. "They come leaping through the door like 'Where's Steve?! Where's Steve?!' and you think, OK, so you're looking for the zoo."

But Nielan and other shop owners on Beerwah Road are more than happy to have Steve's fans stop by, because they are an interesting bunch.

"We've certainly had quite a diverse group of people coming to look for the zoo," Nielan says. "They've been from Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, as well as Americans ... English. They all come in here looking for it. They've come off the train and they're waiting on a connection, or they come in the afternoon and they're looking for accommodation."

Janice Ryan, who runs the cafe next door to Beerwah Flowers and Gifts, is happy to feed wayward tourists fried chicken, hamburgers and fries.

"Yesterday, someone came in excited that they'd gotten their picture taken with Steve," she says. "They all like that."

Indeed they do. In fact, spotting any of the Irwins at the zoo is a boon for any visitor, adult or child.

Just beyond the wombat enclosure, a little boy calls out to his mom in a sing-song voice, "I just played with Bindi!" Bindi has her own small playground at the zoo, steps away from the wombats, complete with a swing set. She was enjoying the birthday gift from her dad in a little "I Dream of Jeannie" outfit when she and the happy visitor met.

But 6-year old Lee Berghouse of Noosa, Queensland, may have that other little kid beat. He's a zoo regular, visiting every Sunday. He's been so often, 30 times to be exact, that he's become Bindi's friend.

Lee has even adopted the standard Croc Hunter attire of khaki shirt and shorts, and he does a pretty good Croc Hunter impersonation.

"Look at this little beauty," he exclaims, excitedly dangling a rubber snake.

"He never watches TV, except to watch the Crocodile Hunter," says his mother, Jackie. "And he never really liked animals before he came to the zoo either."

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