Eating your cereal in front of cartoons packed with superheroes is a rite of passage for young Aussies across the nation. Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk … kids glued to the set watching the action unfold over breakfast. But three-year-old Robert Irwin’s favourite superhero was far closer to home. Bounding out of bed each morning, he would beg his mum, Terri, to put on an episode of his own favourite show – to “play a daddy doco”.
“That was with breakfast, every morning,” he says now, aged 20 and about to start a new chapter in his life. “I remember studying it and watching everything he did. Mum made sure he was in the living room. Dad was part of everything.”
Steve Irwin looms large in our conversation today at Australia Zoo as we catch up with his younger child, Robert.
With Steve’s image still proudly displayed around the grounds, the zoo itself remains a living shrine to the man who took the word “crikey” worldwide while blazing a trail as a documentarian and wildlife conservationist. It was here that first met Robert as a baby. And it was here that the family of four – Steve, Terri, Bindi and Robert – took part in a final photo shoot for us which would end up on the cover
