After 10 weeks of school, I finally got a week off and on the Monday and Tuesday of that week Neil and I headed for Brisbane. The capital of Queensland, it’s about an hour or so from the Sunshine Coast (by car) and about 2 hours by transit. We took the bus and train to get there; and the trip there wasn’t too bad. It definitely didn’t feel like it took forever to get there!
It’s strange when you enter a major city and you can literally feel the buzz once you enter it. There was a definite buzz in the city and as Neil pointed out when we entered Brizzy from the station: ‘It’s good to be back in a big city. Tall buildings, rude people and angry drivers. I missed that.’ Now, I don’t know if he was being serious or sarcastic, but I couldn’t disagree with that statement. *lol*
We walked through downtown Brisbane and through a strip (along Queen St.) that holds close to 700 stores. IIt’s definitely different than what we’re used to in Toronto. In the middle of the ‘walkway’ you have little ‘restaurants’ that are outdoors. Some of the seating is covered, but for the most part, the tables are outside. (I’m beginning to see this as a theme here in Australia. *lol* Everything is outside!) And on either side of this walkway, are a bunch of different stores. We stopped at a Visitor Information station to check out what attractions we would be interested in taking in. We decided on taking a trip to the Lone Pine Sanctuary, which includes a ferry ride along the Brisbane River. We decided to do this on the Tuesday.
After booking that trip, we walked towards the river to stop for a quick lunch before heading to the hostel we would be staying at. It was a warm day and it was a good thing that there was a pool in the hostel because it was quite refreshing!
*We then headed back to the city and hopped on one of the City Cat Ferry, which are catamarans that take you along the Brisbane River. It’s basically a ‘bus’ on the river and there a bunch of different stops that it’ll take you too. After that, it was dinner at a restaurant called the Pig and Whistle, which is also here in Mooloolaba.
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On Tuesday we headed back to the Brisbane River to hop on a ferry that would take us to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Currently there are about 130 koalas at the sanctuary!! But it’s also a sanctuary for different types of wildlife like kangaroos, wombats, various kinds of reptiles and birds, and farm animals (mainly pigs, chickens, and sheep).
To get there, we took a ferry on the Brisbane River called the Miramar, and it took about 1 ½ hours to get to the sanctuary. During the cruise, we learned a bit about Brisbane’s history and we were able to see some of the historic buildings and the newer waterfront properties along the river. We also passed an island called Indooroopilly Island which is home to one of Australia’s largest bat colonies. This was kind of freaky because these bats are HUGE! It was actually kind of freaky to see these bats hanging from the trees.
Once we arrived at the sanctuary we got to take a look around. One of the first animals we saw were two cockatoos. They were playing in the corner of display, but as soon as they saw Neil and I standing by the front of the cage they walked over and started to climb up the fence in front of us. They both stopped at about eye level and the one cockatoo said ‘hello’. It was the funniest thing. Neil said ‘hello’ back to it, which the bird repeated with ‘hello, hello, hello’. It was hilarious! It did that for awhile and then it stopped. Unfortunately, I was so surprised that I forgot to try and take a movie of it. I guess you could say they were the official greeters of the sanctuary!
After that, we checked out some more of the different birds they have and then we caught a glimpse of some of the koalas that they have. It’s kind of neat because they have them all separated, with the older koalas and the younger koalas in their own separate areas. They even had a display with a mother and joey. So we were able to see a baby koala in its mother’s pouch! It was the neatest thing. I’ve seen the kangaroos at school with the joeys in their pouches, but seeing a koala with her baby was incredible! The mother was eating some of the eucalyptus leaves and the baby poked its head out and even tried to get some food at one point. Nature definitely provides us with some of the most spectacular events.
Next we headed to a fenced-off area that holds a bunch of kangaroos (I think it’s called a ‘mob’). Anyway, we finally got to feed the kangaroos, which was great! It was so cool having them eat out of my hand. I even got a chance to feed one of the joeys, although it wasn’t that hungry. *lol*
It was then time for us to head back to the ferry. Unfortunately, we only had 2 hours at the sanctuary, but it was just enough time for us to take everything in.
We headed back to the city and after a short walk through Queen St. Neil and I boarded the train and headed back to the Sunshine Coast.
Lots of new buildings being built in the downtown area, you can also see the highway that they have build over the river to help get the cars out of the city fast
Just outside of Brisbane on the City Cat
Downtown Brisbane
This guy was just standing there watering the plants...is he using a garden hose? you be the judge!
The Cockatoo...HELLO HELLO!
Look at the little Joey poking his head out for some food!! AWWWW!
(you can click on the picture to make it larger)
Eat up little Joey!
This is a red Kangaroo, he would grab my hand with his claws and pull it closer so he wouldn't have to stretch
The most expensive house on the Brisbane river...only 11 million bucks
Tried to get a a shot of the Red Fox Bats hanging from the trees..if you look closely you can see them hanging.
Seafood restaurant that overhangs the river, the bottom of the place is actually a boat hull and will float should the river flood!
That was our boat! The oldest all wooden boat in use in Brisbane, i think it was built in 1932
