What a GREAAAAAT day!!!! Oh my goodness, we had sooo much fun. We've been hearing about the very hot temperatures here so we were a bit worried about the weather. However, once again we were very fortunate. The temperature was in the mid 80's so we were able to tour the city without a problem. We started the day by visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which opened in 1927. From its name I expected to see koalas but I didn't expect to see all of the other incredible animals/reptiles that were there. This is the most incredible concept for a zoo (although the park staff would remind me this is a sanctuary, NOT a zoo!!! Although we passed on the opportunity, we could have had our pictures taken holding a crocodile, snake, or koala (as if I would hold a snake - I'll leave that activity for my friend, Jake Roehl :) There were continuous shows highlighting many of the animals, birds, and reptiles. However, we chose to spend our time walking through the park, taking photos and watching the incredible creatures in their habitat. Here's a list of the more interesting and unusual animals we saw: wombat, flying fox (looks like a big bat with a fox head), Eastern water dragon, emu, cassowary, platypus, dingo, kangaroo, and kookaburra. Bob is getting really sick of hearing me singing the Kookaburra Song from my childhood (Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he....etc.). Must have learned it when I was about 5-6 years old, but had no idea what I was singing about. All these years later it's fun to learn what a kookaburra is!!! Another highlight was going inside the kangaroo habitat and walking around with about 100 of them. What a blast!!! We saw one mommy with a baby in her pouch. I think Bob got a picture of it. I was able to pet lots and lots of them. Sooooo fun. The fur of the young kangaroos was very soft but the older ones not so much. We spent the longest time in there taking pictures, petting them and just watching them hop around. Just an incredible experience. Loved it.
Finally, we boarded a bus and took a tour of the city of Brisbane. Although it's very different from Sydney, Brisbane also has some beautiful areas. It is Australia's only subtropical Capitol city. It was the location of the World Expo a few years ago and some of the changes they made to their city to host that event were spectacular. One area in particular is absolutely gorgeous. The South Bank Parklands is a riverfront community bordered by beautiful and bountiful bougainvilleas, exotic flowers and a white sand beach with a salt water lagoon. After the World Expo in 1988 the town leaders planned on turning this beautiful area into commercial buildings. However, the community fought back and won in a battle to keep the parkland. Thank goodness. It is an absolute gem in the center of the busy city. I would have loved to spend time meandering through this beautiful community, perhaps stopping for an expresso. I felt like I was walking through one of the beautiful streets in Paris. It definitely had a European feel to it. Just fabulous.
Well, that's it for Brisbane. I would come back here again, just for the Koala Sanctuary and South Bank Parklands alone. I'm sure there's lots of other wonderful places to visit here (including a great pedestrian shopping street) but we just ran out of time. Feeling really happy tonight after a fun day. Tomorrow we have another relaxing day a sea....ahhhhhh. Get to sleep a little later and have time to read my book. Yay! What a blessed life I'm living.
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