Kayla Smith was disappointed about missing a visit to "Ripley's Believe it or Not."

But after a chance meeting Nov. 12 with the daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, she had her own believe-it-or-not story to tell.

"I was really excited, and it was fun to know that I got to meet a famous person," said Kayla, 9, a third-grader at Periwinkle Elementary School.

Kayla and her mother, Karole Gilbert, had gone to Newport that particular Wednesday with Kayla's grandparents, who were visiting from Montana and wanted to see the coast.

They had been headed for the "Believe it or Not" exhibit, but the bayfront tourist attraction happened to be closed that day. They wandered across the street instead, following the barking of a colony of sea lions on a nearby dock. That's when Kayla spotted a little girl in khakis and recognized her: Bindi Irwin, 10, with her mother, Oregon native Terri Irwin.

"Me and my mom have watched the 'Crocodile Hunter,' and she was on there a couple of times. It looked just like her, and her mom was there, and it looked just like her, too," Kayla explained.

Kayla's mother saw the pair, too. "I kept looking at this lady and I thought, I know that lady from somewhere," Gilbert said. "As soon as I saw the little girl, I knew who it was."

Bindi stars in a children's wildlife documentary show, "Bindi the Jungle Girl." When Kayla approached and asked her to pose for a picture, she told her she was filming but would be happy to if Kayla didn't mind waiting a few minutes.

"A very nice little girl," Gilbert remembered.

A camera crew with the Irwins appeared to be making a show involving the sea lions, Gilbert said, but Terri told her she wasn't sure when it would be broadcast.

A handful of other people were standing around the docks, also watching the sea lions, but didn't seem to notice the Irwins, Gilbert said. "I don't think anybody else really realized who it was."

True to her promise, Bindi came over to Kayla during a break, posed for a picture and autographed an Australian magazine that Terri brought from their car especially for Kayla.

Kayla is thrilled about bringing her souvenirs to school.

"My friends said, 'That's really cool, I wish I could have done that before,'" she said. "I'm going to show (the picture) for show and tell and I'm going to keep it in a safe place so I don't lose it."