Brisbane

Feeding Kangaroos at Lone Pine.
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We arrived in Brisbane at 6am Queensland time after having had no sleep on the train overnight. We had breakfast at the transit centre before heading to the hostel once it had opened. We dumped our stuff then headed out for a bit of an explore. We were both so tired we ended up spending most of the day at the hostel sleeping. In the evening we went to Chinatown as the Chinese New Year celebrations were beginning. The next day we went to Southbank which is at the cultural centre of Brisbane and has various gardens and interesting little market streets. We ended up at Chinatown again in the evening seeing a Dragon dance, Chinese traditional dancing and a fashion show. All the talk of China made us both look forward to visiting the real thing.

Hannah & Denzel.
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On the third day which was probably my favourite day in Brisbane we went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This is the worlds first and largest Koala sanctuary with over 130 Koalas along with various over Aussie animals. We spent the day feeding Kangaroos and observing the Koalas which were gorgeous. We also got to “hug a koala” which was great. I held Densel and Lynus. Koalas were surprisingly heavy but very cute.

The next couple of days were spent pottering around Brisbanes various sights. We went up Mount Coot-tha which gave good views over Brisbane, to the botanic gardens and up the city hall clocktower.

Koala.
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On our last day in Brisbane we’d booked a trip to a resort on Morton Island called Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort. The island is just over an hour ferry ride from Brisbane and was just like being in Fiji again. It had a very tropical feel. We spent the day on the beach and swimming in the sea. In the evening the resort has a group of wild dolphins that visit the island. These get fed by the marine biologists who study their behaviour but the public can also feed the dolphins.

The dolphins come into the shallows and you walk out to them, hold your fish under the water and the wild dolphins take it from your hand. Both Jon and I had signed up to do this and were glad we did. We both fed Echo, a 14 year old male who had been orphaned when young but had survived even after a shark attack which had left him with a nasty scar on his dorsal fin. After the feeding we got the ferry back to the mainland. The next day we caught the 6.30am train to Port Macquarie.

Brisbane city from Mount Coot-tha.
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H.