Brisbane - August 2007

Day 1: Flew in from Sydney, and had to make the adventure to my B&B...not quite as dramatic as Sydney, however, i am always the last person dropped off at my hotel. It was also quite warm there, and i was struggling with my big bag (can anyone teach me the tricks to packing lighter?!). The B&B is great, but the the hostess Faye was very strange. When i arrived, she asked who i was and seemed surprised i had shown up and she wasn't ready yet - so i asked if i could leave my bags - which she then just kept saying oh yes, sorry, i have so much to do, etc. So i just wandered around the main shopping area and acquainted myself with the city. I wandered over to the South Bank area - the Brisbane River runs through the middle of town, which has a lovely river walk area next to it. Someone recommended trying the Fish and Chips and sit down by the River to watch the sun go down. So i ventured over to the fish and chips place, and they had calamari on the menu. Well since it was fresh thought i'd try it - oh my god - they were as big as onion rings and so chewy with this gross bit of something string-like around them. I did manage to gulp down about 4 and with no homeless people around had to toss about 8 of them, i did feel bad. But they were fresh. So it was just chips for me. Then an early night back to the B&B and my "friend" Faye...who when i wandered down to check out the house and the lounge area asked me if "did i want something"...in a not very inviting manner so i just escaped to my room.



Day 2: At breakfast, who should appear but Faye - who asked me where i was from and had been to SF as well as NY and DC. So I mentioned that DC had great museums - "yes, if you are into that sort of thing", the holocaust museum was a well done and moving - which led to a tirade of "not sure why anyone would go to that museum, why would would anyone want to relive the past, can people just move on from the depressing history and who cares what Hilter did" so tried to change the subject to Hawaii "yes, i've been there 3 times (same island only) and i asked if she had been to any of the local islands like Fiji or Cook Island - "oh no, i'd never go there as there is drug trading going on" - did want to burst her bubble that there's drug trading everywhere. So I quickly gobbled my breakfast and departed...
Today's destination was to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. OH MY GOD - it was amazing!!! As many of you know I just love animals and this was in heaven with all Australian animals up close and personal - they have about 130 koalas, literally koalas everywhere in all sizes and different areas like: the nursery, retirement home, bachelor pad. Hilarious! I took some amazing photos (which at some point i'll be able to post so stay tuned!) This was definitely one of my highlights of my trip so far. There was a yard where you walked around and hand fed the kangaroos...now i could do that all day long! They are hysterical and will just nibble out of your hand and come hopping over. There were mom's with baby joey's in the pouches - some of the joey's were really big and their feet were almost as big as the mom's, so it's probably time some of them cut the cord and push them out into the real world. But they didn't mind you touching their baby's and they have the softest fur - softer than a cat's probably more like a rabbit. The roos were great and have so much personality and their tails are very hard and muscular - of course i had to have a touch. The males can be quite big and tall. In addition to these two animals, they had a little family farm with a sheep dog show - poor sheep were terrified of this very hyper dog which not only penned them in but then ran over the tops of them. They looked really scared! He was a sweet dog if you weren't a sheep. Then i got to feed two baby goats some milk in bottles - pushed the little kids out of the way to do this (no, just kidding, well - sort of!) They also have these miniature horses, but they are like half the size of miniature horses I've ever seen. The were also wombats, echidnas (spiky creatures like a porcupine) and cassowary (these large ostrich looking birds) - all of their birds are so colorful and have the most amazing birdsongs. These very colorful lorikeets are these common birds that congregate in the trees at dusk and just chirp away! I had a hard time tearing myself away from this place!

Day 3: Today was the typical tourist day - i did the hop on/hop off bus thing. It was fun and a good way to see the whole city without wearing out my feet, which have walked non-stop since i arrived. They have a neat botanical gardens that has a fern house and Japanese bonsai trees exhibit. I had a horrific nature moment, when while crossing a bridge into the Japanese gardens i saw frog sitting on the bridge. I poked him to see if he was real - and there were 2 crows at the end of the bridge licking their lips. I tried to warn the frog to jump but he wouldn't move and moments after taking his picture i was chased by these Lyar birds (state bird of Australia) and the crows took him. It was horrible. But at least i captured him right before he died. They have a very large Chinatown, 2 huge cathedrals and some interesting historical architecture. You could also ride the river ferry for free, which gave a great view of the city and felt really nice on the water. This night i treated myself to the movies - saw License to Wed, if you havent' seen it - despite the predictable ending it is hysterical - they did not show all the funny parts in the previews.

Day 4: Today is my whale watching adventure - and the biggest part was just getting down to the gold coast. The guy on the phone made it sound so easy, which is was, but only took 2 hours and i held up the boat because my bus was late. The crew was really knowledgeable, some having worked at their sea world type park. The east coast of australia is home to the humpback whales from antartica waters to have their calves - so they hang out there before they migrate back home to the cold waters. We saw about 10 whales. But the coolest was that these 2 whales just loved our boat and just swam around and around, rolling over and waving their flippers. They were so close we could almost touch them. And there was this trick to slap the water with this orange floater ball which mimicks their communication to each other of slapping the water with their fins. We had actually called over a whale from a distance of about 1 mile. He thought we sounded like an interesting whale. They are so curious and bored, so they appreciate any distraction (hey, don't we all) - so they have you hoot and holler on the boat because they are attracted to the noice (probably wondering what these strange things are having a fit over!) So worth the long trip, I've never seen whales so close.

Off to Cairns...