Terri Irwin says she still dreams of Steve

TERRI Irwin has admitted that the only way to really make everything fine again in her life would be "if Steve came back".
Giving a brief but emotional insight into her struggle to cope with the death of her Crocodile Hunter husband 18 months ago, Mrs Irwin said she still often dreamed about him.
"I had a dream the other night – and I often dream about Steve – and I was saying to him how much I missed him and how glad I was that he was back, because everything would be fine," she said at the family's Australia Zoo at Beerwah yesterday.
"And really, that would be the only way to really make everything fine is if Steve came back."
Mrs Irwin also had some words on the alleged controversial family feud that has seen her father-in-law Bob Irwin, 68, cut ties with the zoo he founded and strike out on his own with a new 240ha wildlife reserve near Kingaroy.
"I'm very happy that when Bob came to us in January and asked for a change in life that we were able to help him," Mrs Irwin said.
"And I'm happy that my kids seem to be coping fairly well day to day and I'm happy that I'm able to carry on Steve's works and I think that whatever is portrayed publicly that it's important to remember that privately we're a very close-knit family . . . that Australia Zoo has always been about family and I just love Bob so much."
Mrs Irwin said Bob Irwin, the whole Irwin family and her children along with people worldwide were coping with Steve's loss.
"I'll cope with it forever but the main thing is to be supportive and just love each other," she said, adding that Bindi, 9, and Robert, 4, had as close a relationship with all their grandparents as possible.
"You have to understand that my parents live 8000 miles (12,875km) away and it can be challenging sometimes . . . like I haven't seen Bob since the end of March and he thanked Bindi for the Valentine's card (then) – so it's that sort of relationship.
"Sometimes it's long distance because we're travelling – but just like with my parents it's a concerted effort and it's important to remember that even if it's not a time of grief and time of need to consider your loved ones still there and make that time . . . and I hope that's a lesson for everyone."
Addressing allusions that a clash of opinions about Steve Irwin's wildlife conservation legacy could have sparked rumours of a family rift, Mrs Irwin said she thought every view of how his conservation message should be remembered was important.
"I don't think there's any right way or wrong way – I think it's just getting that message out," she said.
"Whether you're involved in a small way with wildlife rehabilitation or whether you're involved in international programs, it's all really important."
Mrs Irwin said she was proud that Australia Zoo's income was now able to cover the administration costs of worldwide conservation foundation Wildlife Warriors, "so that it all goes to wildlife – not just a percentage – we've cutten (sic) through that bureaucracy".
"I'm very happy with the way we're moving forward with everything that's been going on since losing Steve."
Mrs Irwin's comments came after she joined Incredible Chocolate Company chief Noel Watson to launch a range of Australia Zoo-backed confectionery – Croc Chocs and Zoogle Jellies – which come with wildlife collector cards.
A percentage of sales will go towards the zoo's wildlife conservation projects.
The launch, which followed Bindi's school holiday Crocoseum Show, underlined the differing wildlife conservation strategies that are now believed to have sparked the family rift rumours.
As Mrs Irwin nibbled chocolate for the cameras with a friendly baby alligator, Bob Irwin was probably hammering in fence posts at his new wildlife property near Kingaroy.
What you see is generally what you get with Mr Irwin Sr. Which is why this week's ABC TV Australian Story focusing on him as the "Father of the Man" was curious in that it probably posed many more questions than it answered about Australia Zoo and recent public speculation about an alleged rift.
While it was clearly difficult for such an intensely private man to open his heart and home to the world – apart from the revelation that it had been Steve who stopped Bob following through with his plan to commit suicide after his first wife's tragic death in a car accident – there was little in the program that most people did not already know.
There were no new interviews with Terri Irwin or with Bob Irwin's daughters – Mandy; and Joy, who runs Australia Zoo's food court and is married to the zoo's general manager Frank Muscillo.
Nor was there any direct mention of grandchildren Bindi and little namesake Robert from the man who was named Queensland's grandfather of the year seven months ago.
Zoo director Wes Mannion, Steve's best mate who has frequently described Bob as being "like a father to me", was simply featured in a news clip from a press conference saying: "No, it's not a rift. Look it's like every . . . Bob has decided to go his different way."
And while Bob and his wife Judy delved into his terrible hat-trick of grief – the death of his first wife Lyn, then the death of his only son and the breaking of his final ties with his beloved zoo – any exploration of the dreaded "rift" word was conspicuous for its absence.
All a visibly restrained and dignified Bob would tell Australian Story was: "There's a lot of bad things happening now, there's the media and there's people talking about this and that – some of it's true, some of it's not.
"The problem I had was that the management and I didn't agree on certain aspects of Australia Zoo after Steve's passing.
"Because most of the times I went into Australia Zoo, I would have a different sort of opinion with somebody or we would . . . or I may have an idea and it would not be listened to – fairly minor things on their own but I just felt it was better for everybody concerned if I left Australia Zoo and Judy and I and all our friends were able to continue Steve's work the way I believe it should be done."