Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Aussie Adventure Day 9
Brisbane, QLD Australia
Monday morning in Brisbane, I'm up at 5:30 a.m. without an alarm. WHY?
I check email and the weather back home-it's snowing again. It's supposed to be 89 F here in Brisbane with chance of thunderstorms later in the day. They need rain here. There are 80 fires burning in New South Wales right now. Fire danger is high to catastrophic.
Today we're taking a river cruise to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Miramar Crusies makes daily trips on the Brisbane River to the Sanctuary and we thought it would be fun to see the river and koalas in one trip.
We cross over the river via the Kurilpa Bridge, a walking and cycling bridge. Our ferry is docked at the Culture Centre Pontoon near the State Library.
The Miramar II is departing at 10 a.m. and we head out onto the river. We get a recorded commentary as we make our way down the river. Explaining about the various neighborhoods along the river and the devastating flood they had recently.
We cruise by some pretty serious real estate.
At 11:15 a.am. we dock at Lone Pine and have until 2:15 p.m. when the ferry heads back to the city.
I want to hug a koala so we head right for the Koala Cuddle. I'm given Cordelia and get to "cuddle" her for a few minutes. Koalas are sluggish during the day because they eat eucalyptus leaves that are highly toxic. But if they rest quietly during digestion, they don't get sick from the leaves. That's why they are slow moving and look like all they do is sleep in the trees.
After the photo op we walk around the park and take in all the animals. There are koalas everywhere.
There is a large fenced in area that people are allowed into so you can interact with the animals. The kangaroos are a big draw.
The animals have a shady area that is their safe zone, when they get tired of humans they hop behind the barrier and hang out without humans bothering them, but you can still take pictures.
This one has a joey in her pouch nursing.
They offer demonstrations with birds of prey.
And sheep dog herding. It was so hot that the trainer went really easy on the dog-Hunter the border collie and Rex the Kelpie.
More photos from our river cruise and the Koala Sanctuary: CLICK HERE
Back on the ferry and we cruise back towards the city trying to stay out of the blazing sun and trying to catch any breeze we can off the water.
Instead of crossing at the Kurilpa Bridge we take the Victoria Bridge this time. Stopping at the Woolworth's and BWS to gather up room food supplies. We're hot and sweaty, a shower is in order.
After we freshen up we head to The Gresham on Queen St., Jay found it online. We just barely get in the door and the skies open up with a horrendous thunderstorm and downpour. The beer selection is lacking so we head back over to The Embassy Craft Beer Bar.
Jay orders the White Rabbit beer and the veggie nachos. I have a dram of Port Charlotte Whisky with the coconut lemongrass chicken salad.
We climb up the red stairs to Wickham Terrace from Edward Street and hit the Busy Bee for ice cream. Jay crashes but I'm still wide awake so I surf online a bit. Folks back home are posting pictures of the snow storm. It looks mighty nasty. The forecast says more snow is coming too.
Glad I'm not in Vermont.
Next up, an easy day at the City Botanic Gardens because we have Bruce Springsteen night 1 Brisbane Tuesday tonight. We have pit tickets so we'll be standing for 4-5 hours from pre-show pit entrance to the end of the performance. Bruce will be on stage for about 3 hours. He's amazing!
And it's Valentine's Day! So we're expecting some pretty varied songs from the Boss!