Since my departure on the 6th of december, I have visited two big cities. The first one was massive, Hong Kong. Then I flew to Auckland, which was nothing compared to Hong Kong, but still a big city. After that I haven’t really seen any big cities in the mean time. I’d say Wellington doesn’t count and Christchurch was a ghost town.
Cairns wasn’t big either, and all the places in between have been quite small. So arriving in a proper city again, was good. I believe 1.8 million people live in Brisbane. Out on the street you mostly see business men and women. Everyone’s suited up and talking on their cell phone. But I liked it, had enough of these small towns.
So I met up with Marcel, who was on my Fraser trip. We headed down to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It’s a place where they have a lot of Koala and other Australian animals. Took about 40 minutes with public transport. We made our way down to the Koalas, did I mention that they are super cute? You just want one. They are all chilling in the tree, hanging out, eating some leafs. Yeah, I’m pretty sure you want one as a pet. Unfortunately, you can’t.
What you can do though, is holding one. So you pay extra and get to hold them. So it was my turn, stand on a spot, and the keeper walks over with a Koala. His name was Scott, but he didn’t really like me. After three tries, he still wouldn’t sit/hang on me, so they got a replacement. I’m afraid I forgot the name of the Koala, but let’s just call him Mike. So Mike didn’t dislike me as badly and did hang on to me.
They are very soft and fluffy. Only thing that isn’t nice about them, are their claws. Long sharp nails which they use to hang on to stuff. Not very painful, but definitely far from comfortable. So my smile isn’t as broad as it was supposed to be, but still a very nice experience to hold one. Did I mention that they are super cute? I think they are the only thing in the world that will beat kittens on the official level of cuteness.
After admiring the Koalas we got to see the next cliche Australian animal. The Kangaroo. There was a field that was fenced off and for 2 dollar you could buy some Kangaroo food. So in to the gate, put some on your hand, and they will come. Which to be honest is quite frightening, especially the massive ones. Cause they want your food. I’m not a hero, but I managed to feed them anyway. At some point we got surrounded by four of them.
We’ve had enough of the local animals and made our way back to the city. Headed out for a couple of beers at the bar below the hostel which had some good deals. The hostel it self was pretty shitty. It was packed and not a nice vibe to it at all. But, apart from sleeping there I haven’t spent much time there anyway. But I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone really.
Every night I ended up meeting with someone I met earlier in my trip, which was nice. The last night I saw Ruth, one of the nurses on Whitsundays who told me to suck it up. We both made our way down to Surfers Paradise the next day. Last night went for some drinks in town, very busy. Unfortunately due to the lack of sleep the last few days, and the heat, I wasn’t feeling too well. Had a good night sleep though, it is better. But still the heat is something that is difficult to get used to.
I’m currently sitting on the balcony, in the shade. It’s about 28 degrees today. After posting this, I will make my way down to Surfers Paradise. it’s one of the suburbs of the Gold Coast, my hostel is a bit outside the area. I’m staying here for another night, then I might try to do some Couch Surfing here for a few nights. Haven’t sorted out an address in Byron yet unfortunately. Anyway, I’m off. Enjoy the snow back home!
