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Take five spunky American music stars, invade a wildlife park for a day, and what do you get? The Backstreet Boys coming face to face with koalas, wombats, and some very noise cockatoos!
And here come the boys! One of two vans bounce 5 smiling guys--Nick, A.J., Kevin, Brian, and Howie D.--eager to meet the natives of Australia. Also in their entourage are two very beefy bodyguards (each equipped with a video camera!), two mums (A.J.'s mum, Denise and Nick's mum, Jane), and Brooke Harry, publicist extraordinaire from Mushroom Records.
After we're introduced to everyone, the boys have a chuckle at the stuffed animals in the souvenir shop. "Hey, look at this!" yells Brian, clutching an enormous kangaroo toy. "I want one!"
We finally make our way in and Nick exclaims, "Do they have duck-billed platypuses here? I want to see one!"
This reminds A.J., and he jumps in: "Do they have a Tasmanian tiger?" The zoo politely explains that the tigers are extinct, but a Tasmanian devil on the other hand..., "Yeah, that's the one," says A.J. "Do they have a devil? I want to hold one!" He soon gives up pleading when he is told they are not unlike the cartoon of the Tasmanian Devil--ferocious and with rather sharp teeth!
As they make their way past the entrance are, a deep voice suddenly booms over the loudspeaker...it's Brian jumping on the microphone! "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen," he begins. "If I can have everyone's attention, ah, um, ahhh," he collapses into laughter and decides that a career as a tour guide is not for him! The first animals we see are the koalas, and it's obvious the boys are very taken with them.
Nick and Howie give us some useful information: "You know, they're really not bears, don't you?" says Nick.
Howie agrees knowledgably. "Yeah, they're really related to the marsupial family! Isn't it strange that they call them bears?!"
The boys gather around the koalas and smile for our camera while their bodyguars are busily capturing each moment on their video recorders. "The koalas are a bit sleepy today," explains Judy, the keeper, but she is cut off mid-sentence when one intrepid little koala jumps off his tree and runs over to climb up her legs.
"Aww, isn't he cute?" the boys cry in unison. The other koalas are getting a little scared and the boys look to their right, and discover why. A large group of girls, obviously fans, have followed them into the park and are shadowing the boys.
"They get to our hotel early in the morning and follow us everywhere all day," explains Howie D.. Adds Kevin: "It's flattering, but a bit weird."
Next, they meet the kangaroos and excitement reigns when they're lucky enough to find baby joeys in their pouches. "Ohh look, it's a joey," says Howie D..
"Wow! Look at that little fella hanging out all the way down there!" says Nick with a laugh. "He looks a little uncomfortable."
After a brief 'let's-imitate-the-emus' session courtesy of Nick, and a meeting with Matilda (the huuuuuuge wombat), they continue on to the cockatoos. A.J. has worked the birds up to a screaming frenzy! "I just squawked at them!" he protest. The boys continue to squawk at the cockatoos and one particular bird flies to the side of he cage and almost deafens them. "He likes me!" laughs A.J..
It's almost time to wrap things up, but not before the boys meet a dingo! "He's really nice looking. Just like a dog," says Brian. The dingo tries to jump on him and Brian adds with a laugh, "Hey, and he's friendly, too! Get down!"
They practically have to be dragged out of the park when the entourage of fans come up of a chat and autographs. Of course, the boys happily oblige! They wrap up with: " This is the 1st sight-seeing thing we've done here and we've really enjoyed it," says Kevin.
Howie D. agrees: "Yeah, we were really looking forward to this! Thanks, you Australians are really nice people."
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