A brief overview of the place
Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, and unlike other Australian cities, Brisbane does not have beaches. Instead, it lies on the Brisbane river that runs through the city.
Being the 3rd largest city in Australia you would imagine it to be hectic, but actually, I found Brisbane to have a very laid back, hipster vibe.
With lots of greenery and 280 days of sunshine throughout the year, Brisbane is a wonderful place to explore and my favourite city in Australia.
What I did there.
I have spent a total of 6 days in Brisbane over 6 weeks as we would stop here once a cruise.
One of my favourite things that I did was to visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was home to a lot of different animals and they seemed to have lots of space to live in. After walking around for a while and admiring all the animals, we came to the kangaroo enclosure where you can sit with the kangaroos, feed them and stroke them (if they will let you). I spend a good hour in there just watching them and enjoying being able to be so close to them.
The koalas weren’t too far away from here. Me and my friend joined the queue to have our picture taken with the koalas. While in the queue I was watching all the people have a lovely hug with a koala and couldn’t wait for my cuddle.
My friend went before me and just like everyone else, was given the koala to hold like a baby. They had a lovely cuddle and picture and then the ranger took the koala back.
My turn had finally come. I was so excited. I stepped on the ‘x’, and waited excitedly for the ranger to give me the koala. I could see her walking towards me with the cutest koala who was called Bruce. I held my arms out and took Bruce under his arms and lifted him onto my chest.
When I had watched everyone else do it, the koala used their arms to hold your shoulders and sat comfortably on the person’s forearms. Bruce, however, did not seem so familiar with this concept, as instead of holding my shoulders, he kept throwing his arms above his head and leaning backwards. I was holding his back to stop him falling.
The ranger gently pushed him closer towards my chest in the hope that he would hold on, but every time she stepped back, Bruce threw himself backwards. My friend was in the corner laughing hysterically at this.
I could tell he wasn’t happy so I said to the ranger not to worry and gave Bruce back to her. She asked me to wait while she went and got Tilly who was supposedly a more friendly koala. I waited for Tilly to come, hoping she would be happier with me because, I really wanted a hug, and secondly because the 30 people in the queue were all looking and laughing and just like me, wondering if Tilly was going to do the same.
Sure enough, the ranger brought Tilly towards me and instead of just taking her I stroked her for a bit and then took her off the ranger hoping to try and ease her into it. She came over, everything seemed fine, she was perched on my arms. The ranger was just guiding her second hand to my shoulder and then just as the flash from the camera went off, Tilly threw herself back.
The queue and my friend were all in hysterics and so was it at this point that I could either laugh or cry.
I carefully handed Tilly back to the ranger. The ranger offered to go and get Bella (another koala) but I told her not to worry. I didn’t want to make another koala miserable.
So, walking off feeling bad, more than anything for making the poor koalas distressed, we went and looked at birds. We spend a good 20 minutes watching a bird eat a small snake which was little gruesome, but kind of interesting to see it for real and not through a TV screen.
Although I didn’t get the cuddle I was after, I had a wonderful day at Lone Pine with the kangaroos and all the other spectacular animals. So, remember if you go, and you get Bruce or Tilly to hold, and they start throwing themselves backwards, just know it’s probably not personal.
Most popular excursions
Queensland’s gallery of modern art
The gallery Showcases art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific and is a must-see for art lovers
Mt. coot-that
This is the tallest mountain in Brisbane and from here you can get an incredible view of Brisbane city.
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Lone Pine is the biggest Koala sanctuary in the world, being home to not only Koalas but also Kangaroos, snakes, birds and wallabies. you have the opportunity to sit and play with kangaroos, hold Koala bears and see some of the most incredible bird life in Australia.
Free things to do
Free Brisbane Greeters Tour
There is no better way to see a place than to be shown around by a local, and this is what this tour provides. Locals have volunteered for this Government programme to show tourists the city for free. You can choose where you want your guide to take you, or let your guide decide.
ANZAC Square War Memorial
ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) monuments around Australia pay tribute to everyone who served in Australia in previous wars.
Currency
Australian dollar
Language
English is the main language but 1% speaks Mandarin or Vietnamese.
Population
2,004,262 people.
