When I am in Italy and it is discovered that I am Australian, the first question is “My cousin lives in Melbourne (or Sydney) do you know him? The next one is always to do with kangaroos and koalas.
I decided to be a tourist in my own city of Brisbane and visit Lone Pine Sanctuary to see some of our gorgeous native animals up close. Lone Pine was founded in 1927 and is the oldest and largest koala sanctuary anywhere.
The best way to go to Lone Pine is by river on the Mirimar which leaves the Cultural Centre in the city every day at 10.00am. The boats have been taking visitors to Lone Pine for over 70 years.
There are lots of koalas at Lone Pine, most of them fast asleep.
They occasionally wake up, yawn, eat eucalyptus leaves, have a scratch and go back to sleep again. They sleep for about 20 hours every day.
There are lots of kangaroos too. They have mastered the art of relaxation.
They occasionally wake up, yawn, have a scratch and a dust bath and allow people to hand feed them.
The joeys (babies) are especially cute.
Emus wander about expecting to be admired although it would be difficult to describe them as beautiful.
They have their own special places to eat.
They have an interesting way of resting.
The Tasmanian Devils were resting comfortably when I walked past their place.
Boris the wombat had been for a walk when I spotted him returning to his home.
There are 2 echidnas asleep in this log.
The red tailed black cockatoo is gorgeous. The spectacular red feathers are under the tail, you can see them when the birds fly.
There are lots of incredible looking reptiles, lizards, crocodiles and turtles.
There are kookaburras, including regular, blue winged and babies.
I think the cassowary takes the cake for the most incredible looking bird I have seen. It was about my height and looked me in the eye ( take a look at his eyelashes). It appeared to have been hand painted in brilliant colours.
There are many more amazing things to see at Lone Pine…you will have to visit.
I have been before. This photo below was taken almost 60 years ago. That’s my Dad holding me and a koala.
The Mirimar cruise along the Brisbane River to Lone Pine was excellent, but this post is very long already. I’ll tell you about that another day.