First full day in Brisbane! We are in the middle of the big city instead of being in the quiet tourist section as we were in Sydney. We arranged a tour right off when we arrived yesterday, something I had been looking forward to for a long time- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I was finally going to get to hug a koala. I know, I know, their claws are sharp and they generally aren't as cuddly as they appear, still...something so very appealing about an animal that cute that eats for 4 hours a day and sleeps for 20 hours...seriously...
So in this tour, a river cruise was included. It was interesting in light of the horrible flooding that happened here after X-mas this year. We have not seen any flood damage so far in the city, but along the river itself, there are remnants. While cruising along, we saw a restaurant on the water that was basically a shell now and most of the homes along the river in the suburbs showed some kind of damage whether it was eroded beach/riverfronts or damaged or missing docks. Construction is still ongoing here definitely...
The city itself is pretty impressive though...quite a few different bridges crossing the river as well...
The day started out rainy and dreary as a couple here have been in the morning. The river cruise was a bit wet and chilly...once we arrived at the sanctuary however, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. It was a perfect day for hanging with the kangaroos...
and lizards...
and of course, the koalas...
I think Randall (the koala) was a bit intimidated by Mike.... :D
It was fun to hold this little guy even though he managed to poo while I held him (which Mike thought was hilarious).
Yep, more koalas, at least 200 in the sanctuary.
We traversed through the small sanctuary taking in all of the sights and enjoying the warmth and sun.
"Hey baby, how you doin'?" hahaha...these guys are so funny!
Mike's new friend, Mr. Emu...
So yeah, it was an awesome 2 1/2 hours at Lone Pine- we headed back to the boat that took us back to the city. The cruise back was pretty mellow and we headed back to our hotel from the boat, walking by an awesome opal shop (how did that happen? ;) ) and a good coffee shop. I am becoming very fond of long blacks with one sugar...
After catching up on my blogging, we headed to the bar for a cocktail and on to an awesome Japanese restaurant- Oshin. Lesson for the evening: everything tastes good when covered/fried with tempura batter...
A bit of a sleep in tomorrow and more city exploring and another tour planned. :) G'day mates!
Nikki says,
ReplyDeleteI know, I know, their claws are sharp and they generally aren't as cuddly as they appear, still...something so very appealing about an animal that cute that eats for 4 hours a day and sleeps for 20 hours...seriously...
Were you talking about the Koala's here or Mike??????