Crocs are never out of the news. Their shenanigans, whatever, in the Northern Territory provide endless material for the tabloids. So why the fascination with these creepy creatures? I asked the first Aussie I could find to throw some light on the subject. "Don't ask me - I don't give a rats about crocs."  Rats seem to figure quite a lot in Aussie sayings. The best one I've heard so far, para-phrasing a bit, is: 'God, he was so frantic: like a rat in a blender.' That's quite an image to conjure-up.

I've been hoping to get pretty up-close with wildlife (excepting spiders and snakes of course), so meeting cute Banjo the koala, chomping merrily on his eucalyptus leaf at a wildlife park south of Sydney yesterday, was bliss - for me anyway. Not sure what the little fella thought about being stroked, petted and generally swooned-over, but he behaved impeccably, with no scratching, biting or general misbehaving.

You're not allowed to hold koalas in NSW, although it's ok to in Queensland. Didn't get to the bottom of that one. Sadly the little fluffy guys (and gals) are endangered, so a koala hospital is offering softies the chance to adopt a koala for Xmas. Think I'll pass on that one. Not sure the little guy would be warm enough back home.