I'm ready! Koala! (Spongebob Squarepants reference)

March 30th/31st - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

I was so excited about the next day as we were going to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Before going to Australia I had been excited about seeing the kangaroos and wasn't too fussed about koalas, however, after seeing them in the wild I changed my allegiance to loving koalas. They were just so cute.

The Lone Pine sanctuary had lots of other animals there as well and it took ages to walk around and see them all. I might as well just show all the pics...

Fruitbats - these are what we saw flying over our heads at dusk in Sydney

Kookaburra - actually quite scary when they try to steal your food, but more of that later

Tasmanian devils - not pretty. There is also a contagious facial tumour disease affecting the species at the moment which was quite sad

Turtles - one in particular was being quite amorous towards a female, but it was more disturbing than romantic to watch...

A little gecko

There were different enclosures for the different ages of koala - an area for the mums and joeys, a 'kindergarten' for the kids, an enclosure for the men (who apparently have a fluffy white bit on their chest that gives of pheromones to attract the females) and then one for all the rest. One of the male koalas was making a call (not sure if he was trying to say 'stay away from me' or 'ladys, come to me') but it sounded like a motorbike engine revving up!

So, here are loads of photos an videos of gorgeous koalas (of which I have hundreds)...

There was a show where they explained about koala behaviours, threats to them, etc. BUT, the best part, and what I had been looking forward to for throughout the whole of Australia, was getting to hold one. I got to hold one of the less cute ones (!) called Sumo, and he lived up to his name - he weighed a ton! Their fur isn't as soft as you would think either, so not all-in-all not quite as cuddly as I had anticipated. It also became apparent how big their claws are as they are brought towards you with their hands outstretched...

Me and Sumo

If you didn't quite catch my look of horror in the video, here is a photo...

After lunch we bought some 'Roo Feed and headed for the kangaroo enclosure. There was a bit that was separated off that was just for the kangaroos, but otherwise they were sleeping under the trees and bouncing about, it was awesome. We approached the ones chilling under the trees and fed them and gave them a stroke. Mike was quite proud of the fact that when he had been here as a kid he managed to put one to sleep by stroking its head... They were also sooo soft, much softer than the koalas. But you also realised how big they were when the older ones stood straight up which was quite scary. There was a moment when a toddler broke free of his parents and ran right into the enclosure bit. We were quite afraid for him but his chilled parents were just laughing?!

You can see here the difference between a wallaby (right) and a kangaroo (left)

Mid-bounce

All at once they would set off bouncing away together - not sure if something spooked them or if they had a leader or what, but a few would set off, and then more would join, and all of a sudden they were bouncing everywhere!

Kangaroo excitement

An emu

Cuddles

Lastly we went in search of the Cassowary bird, a rare dinosaur-like bird native to Oz. They are bizarre looking...

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was amazing and we would definitely recommend it for anyone visiting Brisbane. There was also a reptile bit and a water enclosure with weird and wonderful fish. There is Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo nearby which is similar, although much bigger I believe, but it was also pretty expensive so we didn't go - there was more than enough at the Lone Pine place. 

Finally, a reminder of just how far we were from home...

The next day we left Brisbane to continue our journey north. On our way out of the city we detoured to visit the Glasshouse Mountains. They are a collection of mountains that jut up out of the flat ground; there is a legend regarding their origins - something about 2 are the parents and the others are the children, and I think they were all running away from the sea and then got turned into mountains? Or something... The weather wasn't great but we managed to climb to the top of one of them which only took about 45 mins. Great views from the top.

So, we headed on to Noosa and Fraser Island... But in the mean time, just in case you hadn't seen enough already, here is one more koala photo...

A Series of Unfortunate Events...

March 26th-29th - Surfers Paradise and Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

From Byron Bay we continued north for a couple of hours to Surfer's Paradise. We hadn't booked anywhere to stay and so went for a cheap campsite a little way out from the main strip. BIG MISTAKE. After we had paid we drove in to find our space and got a feeling that the campsite was in a state of neglect. It had tree branches hanging down and everything just generally looked a bit grotty. There were ants all over our space that coated the van once parked. Additionally, we discovered a number of long-term residents on the campsite, if you know what I mean... However, seeing how we had already paid and were on a budget we decided to stick it out.
That afternoon we went into Surfer's Paradise. We then discovered that we were actually quite far from it and that it was a pain to get to. When we got there though it was a bit of a let down. It looked like a beach strip in Spain, with blocks of flats and apartments built in the '60s, and a street with normal high-street shops and clubs on. It was packed with young people who were there to party and the whole place was generally a bit soul-less and disappointing.
We booked a surfing lesson for the next day - seeing as we were there we thought we should! To make the day even worse (and sadly there is yet even more to come) we decided to try Australian fast-food. They had MacDonalds and Burger King and all the rest of it, but the chain Hungry Jacks seemed to be unique to Australia. It was the most disgusting burger and fries I have ever had in my life, I couldn't even finish it. It made MacDonalds look/taste like fine dining. Never again.
We went back to our lovely campsite and decided to get an early shower and night - we had changed time zone again and it got dark at about 5pm which was quite strange. The shower blocks were grotty and as I was part-way through my shower I saw that I was sharing the cubicle with an ants nest. When Mike returned from his shower though, he confidently said he could beat me in having had the worst experience. He said that as he went in he was greeted with a stark-naked man (who he recognised as one of the long-term residents) who looked like he was on drugs. Mike proceeded into a shower cubicle whereby he trod on something warm and squishy (in flip-flops) that turned out to be human faeces. On hearing this story, we jointly decided we shouldn't stay there anymore and the next morning we left immediately and headed for another campsite which was more expensive but we were only too happy to pay!! We also had to go looking for new flip-flops...
Once we had settled into our new campsite, we headed for the beach for our surfing lesson. The sea was quite rough but we both managed to stand up on our boards and it was good fun. We spent the afternoon by the pool at the campsite. Because Surfer's Paradise was such a let down, we never took any photos and there wasn't even much to take photos of!!

The next day we put the pedal to the floor and quickly headed for Brisbane. Mike had been to Brisbane before many years ago so knew a bit about it. The climate continued to change and it was becoming more hot and more humid still. As we were coming into Brisbane, we turned off the motorway onto a slip road that was 3 lanes wide. Between the 1st and 2nd lane there was an enormous snake, which must have been a couple of meters long, trying to get across the road!! We had to swerve a little to avoid him. He was the size of the ones you only ever see in the zoo. We have no idea where he came from but  hope he made it across the road...

Brisbane is really hilly, which made it a little tricky to maneouvre the campervan. We had a lovely argument as we were trying to park it as Mike attempted a daring 3 point turn on a hill which resulted in us nearly tipping the campervan!! We were relieved that we had paid for the insurance to cover  us if we tipped the van!

We stayed with a young couple via AirBnB and it was a lovely airy, wooden house on stilts. The first afternoon we walked into the city and grabbed some food. It is a small city, more like a large town, and it is quite quiet, with not much of an atmosphere. This feeling is maybe exacerbated by the fact that it is all pretty modern so lacks some character.

Our first full day in Brisbane we explored the city. We walked sooo far I thought my legs were going to drop off. It was a really beautiful Sunday and we walked into town and along the river. There was a market and lots of nice things to eat and drink. They also have a lagoon/pool built into the sidewalk next to the river which was busy with families. We then went up and along the cliff edge that gave great views of the city.

The lagoon next to the river

The lagoon

Brisbane harbour - the trees on the left are the botanic gardens

We walked across the bridge and sat by the river having a drink - it was proper hot. Later we met up with our friends again (Rachael and Liam) and watched some of the cricket world cup final. I was very excited about the next day because that's when we got to see the koalas and kangaroos...

Brisbane