Croc Hunter's dad says he misses his GRANDCHILDREN....
STEVE Irwin's father, Bob, has spoken of his heartache at not being able to see his grandchildren because of his failing relationship with his son's widow, Terri.

Bob Irwin told The Sunday Mail that his relationship with Terri Irwin and her children, Bob and Bindi, had deteriorated since he walked away from Australia Zoo at the end of March, following clashes about the zoo's future.

"The family side of things hasn't been great since then, but it will get there," he said.

"That's a bit sad because I don't get to see Bob and Bindi as much as I'd like to, or the other grandkids."

Mr Irwin, who was last year named Queensland grandfather of the year, has two daughters, Joy and Mandy, and four other grandchildren.

Since leaving the zoo, he has set up home in a tent on a 240ha property near Kingaroy, 225 km northwest of Brisbane, where he is building a new wildlife reserve to continue Steve's conservation work.

He is living in a temporary canvas home while awaiting government approval for a new house to be transferred to the property, which could take another three months.

"We've taken a lot of our rehabilitation animals out there so I get kangaroos and things looking in the tent in the morning," Mr Irwin said.

He said working on the new reserve gave him something to focus on during "sad" times, and was a happy reminder of the time he spent developing a reptile park in Beerwah (the genesis of Australia Zoo) with Steve in the 1980s.

Mr Irwin last week was presented with framed permit applications, handwritten by Steve, for the relocation of crocodiles which were later kept at the park. The permits, from 1989 and 1990, were found by staff at an Environmental Protection Agency office in Ingham in north Queensland during a clean-up for renovation work.

Mr Irwin said the gift, featuring a $10 permit to relocate an estuarine female crocodile, held many happy memories. "The thing I really appreciate is that this so easily could have been thrown away or misplaced. It was a time when Steve and I were working side by side, as father and son. It was an exciting time for us."

Mr Irwin said some of the 22 crocodiles he and Steve relocated while working as contractors for the EPA were still at Australia Zoo.

Some of the crocodiles, such as Agro, Monty and Acco, were used in shows in Steve's theatre, the Crocoseum.

Mr Irwin said he would hang the framed permits on a wall in his new house, which was part of a retirement and pension package he received when he left Australia Zoo. The package also included the 240ha property, two cars for him and his wife Judy, a bulldozer and an annual pension of $99,840.