Victoria Bridge

Arriving into Brisbane mid morning we collected our hire car for the next ten days so that we can travel at our own pace...and actually decide what we want to do, as our planning became a bit poor at this point!

We dropped our bags off at an Airbnb we were staying at and were greeted by the owners and their friendly cavalier pups. Wanting to make the most of the day we headed straight back out to the nearby Mount Coot-Tha, which has a lookout with views for miles in every direction including over the whole of Brisbane CBD (Central Business District). We had incredible views and enjoyed an ice cream while taking it in, until we saw a rainstorm coming. Just as we got back to the car the deluge began - there's something about us and being in high places when it rains loads!!

After the busy few days we'd had we called it a day there and enjoyed a relaxed evening, accompanied by the dogs (they enjoyed sitting all over us more than we did I think!)

Up early the next day as we had big plans for the day - Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We arrived there shortly after they opened as we knew we had loads we wanted to see there, starting with a predator bird display. The sanctuary takes in injured and recovering animals but all were very beautiful and flew obediently for the crowd, including right above our heads!

Next we went to the open feeding area for wallabies and kangaroos, after buying a couple of bags of feed so we could make the most of the hands-on experience! The enclosure was a large green area with plenty of shade and plant life, and there were in excess of fifty animals lazing around. Although it was only 11am it was already very hot and the animals were making the most of the visitor's enthusiasm to interact with them, mostly lying in one spot while simultaneously being fed and pooping - that's the life!

We dutifully fed a few that were brave enough to leave their shaded beds and as we fed them we stroked them, took photos of them and simply enjoyed being around them. All of them really didn't mind us being around them which meant we could relax and just enjoy it, although we were aware that the smaller ones looked strong and the bigger 'roos looked ripped!

After a while we left the feeding area to walk around the rest of the park and the other animals that live there. Rightly so the zoo is focused on Australian animals so it was great to see some of the (innumerable) varieties of dangerous snakes in a safe way, wombats and then a platypus swimming happily around it's enclosure as it tore apart its lunch of shrimp - they're very difficult to find creatures so it was fantastic to see one while it was so active.

The best was yet to come though. As you guessed by the name the Sanctuary houses koalas, and lots of them. Dozens, of all different ages and sizes, were viewable and even though they sleep for 22 hours a day we saw so many active. The main draw at the Sanctuary is the opportunity to cuddle a koala - yep, we did it!

After a short queue while our excitement built up we stood in position and a keeper handed Cordelia (sister of Hamlet, another resident there!) to Beth. She hung onto Beth happily and as I stood next to Beth she kept looking around at us, obviously not so keen on posing for the photo we had taken, although we got a great photo to remember such a special experience. You wouldn't expect them to be so soft and fluffy as they are, or as cuddly - Beth was ecstatic afterwards and would have happily done it again and again!

Finishing the Sanctuary on such a high note we went for our picnic just outside the park gates, adjacent to a beautiful river. We've had no difficulty in finding places to picnic here, as everywhere we go there are public toilets, water fountains and picnic spots which are all clean and well maintained. This is brilliant as we're taking picnics almost every day to help save money, and it means we can really justify having an ice cream every day too!

In the afternoon we visited Brisbane's Mount Coot-Tha Botanical Gardens, the larger of their two sites. The site didn't feel huge but was laid out very well with themed gardens and lawns, with our favourites being the Japanese Gardens that were built in the '80s by the Japanese government as a gift for the expo hosted there - it was like being transported to Japan for a walk about!

As we strolled around we stopped regularly as the humidity was higher here than it had been for the last couple of weeks in Australia. Everywhere we went there were lizards running about, with some being so brave as to run right up to us - a good day for meeting wildlife up close!

We enjoyed another relaxed evening before we got up early the next day ready to travel north to Noosa, a VERY SHORT 2 hour drive away - we can't forget how big Australia is!

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