I always thought Americans viewed
Australia as a place where you couldn’t walk down the main street without
bumping into a kangaroo. I was wrong. Thanks to Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin
they now apparently believe there are crocs everywhere.
Here’s a
Gaither diary entry
for last Thursday:
What fun we have had
in Sydney so far! We visited the Taronga Zoo, made famous by the "Crocodile
Hunter" himself, Steve Erwin. As you might imagine, Mark Lowry had a heyday
in the zoo acting out a new song called, "Why Not Crocodile Me?" which he
and Woody Wright have written just for this occasion.
(Steve Irwin actually
works from
Australia Zoo, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, more than 1,000
kilometres north of Sydney.)
And the concert
itself?
The Vocal Band was
having the time of their lives. Mark Lowry was brilliant, Janet Paschal was
the picture of perfection, the Easters hit a home run with their new song
"She Loved" and Anthony just about had an 'out of body' experience on the
Hallelujan Chorus medley. Taylor Mason, too, was having a heyday with this
crowd and his Crocodile Hunter jokes were received with overwhelming
enthusiasm.
It’s kind of ironic,
don’t you think, that when I start imagining what life’s like in the
southern states of the US, one of the images that springs to mind is
crocodiles. Wow, the power of Southern Gospel – bringing the world together.
(Or is it just the power of Steve Irwin?)
I’m a huge fan of the
Gaither Homecoming music, and was highly disappointed that they flew all the
way to Australia for just one concert, in Sydney. I thought they would at
least have come to my city – Melbourne – as well. With 3.5 million people
we’re bigger than most American cities.
So here’s some
information about Melbourne that might entice them next time:
Our biggest attraction
is the fabulous nightly
Penguin
Parade at Phillip Island, when hundreds of little penguins waddle up the
beach at sunset, bringing food for their babies.
Then there are the
koalas, platypuses, deadly snakes and 200 other species of Australian
wildlife at the
Healesville Sanctuary. Meanwhile,
Australian fur seals and
quokkas are at
Melbourne Zoo, and kangaroos and emus in the Australian Grassland area
of the open range
Werribee Zoo.
And hardly a crocodile
in sight.
November 5th, 2002
