Day 12: I love Koalas and I hate Car Accidents


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Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Brisbane » Indooroopilly
April 16th 2014
Published: June 2nd 2014
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Me and MaxMe and MaxMe and Max

#2 on my bucket list
Everyone should have a bucket list. A list of things you swear to do before you die. #2 on my bucket list is hugging a Koala. To do this I would have to head to Queensland state in Australia. Most other states in Australia allow you to see Koalas and get close but not touch them. So I did some research and located Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary near Brisbane. They allow you to hug them but keep strict limits on how long the Koalas do this in a day. So the key is to get there early so you don't miss your opportunity.

The hostel has free breakfast so I helped myself to some toast and jam. I was planning on taking a bus to the sanctuary and the train to the Gold Coast. After some discussion with the hostel manager I opted instead to rent a car. Rental was with a company called and Abel and they picked me up to get the car. I got a 2013 Nissan Pulsar. Australians drive on the left hand side of the road and Canadians drive on the right hand side and top of that the driver seat is on the other side of the car. This was a bit of an adjustment for me and would require constant focus.

I had gotten a gps with the car as well and it gave me good directions to my first stop which was the Koala sanctuary. I got there just as it was opening up and I got in ahead of the crowd. Tickets $30 for adults and there are various discounts you can get if you are a backpacker or in a family. The sanctuary is actually a large zoo that includes many of the of the unique animals of Australia. The cost of hugging the Koala and the picture is $16 and they instruct you to cup your hands down and hold very still. My Koala was named Max and it took a few tries before he latched onto me. It was a surreal experience and I will say one of the happiest moments I have had in my life. So after crossing off that my bucket list I went off to see the other animals. After the Koalas my next favourite animal were the Kangaroos. I will say they behaved a lot like people especially on how they relaxed and scratched themselves. They even let you get up close to them and take pictures. They were fairly docile animals except for one in particular which hissed warningly to anyone who got close to it.

Along with Koalas and Kangaroos I saw wombats, dingos, kookabooras, miniature horses, Tasmanian devils and many more. I will say the level of interaction with the animals makes it the best zoo I have ever been at and worth a visit to anyone who has the time to go to Brisbane Australia.

After the zoo I decided to drive to the Gold Coast. That is a large city on the coast of Queensland. It is about a 1 hour drive to the Gold Coast. It was also a complex train connection to get to and that is largely the reason why I chose to rent the car. I was handling driving on the opposite side of the road fairly well. 30 minutes on the highway to Gold Coast is where I ran into trouble. Strangely enough it had nothing to do with the my lack of experience of driving on the other side of the road. A chunk of metal bounced off a car in front of me scratch my car. I was lucky it had not punctured my tires and I ended up with 2 small scratch marks on the car. To this day I cannot remember if it came off the car in front of me or just bounced off it. Either way I was left to deal with insurance and I was thankful I had insurance with my credit card for car rentals.

Anyway back to the trip to the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is a beach city that rivals Bondi Beach in beauty. I took a couple of trips around the beach area before I could find a parking spot. The beach was long and was crowded as well and I wandered up and down it for awhile. Once I had enough of the beach I went looking for a place to have Calamari. My Topdeck friend Bron loves Calamari as much as I do and told me there was great Calamari on the gold coast. I got some advise on Calamari from the information center and settled down at this outdoor café for a meal of Salt and Pepper Calamari. I will say it was delicious. Flavourful and practically melted in your mouth as well. I would have several more plates if not for the fact it had cost $20 a plate.

After filling myself with Calamari I decided to head back to Brisbane. Thankfully on my way back nothing happened and I returned the car to the rental place. I told them about what happened and I paid the initial damage fee and filled out some paper work to deal with the insurance. After taking a train back to my hostel I went to meet up with my last catchup in Brisbane. Ashley who I had missed last night had some time tonight for a catchup. I met her at South Bank station and after a quick walk around the river we settled to eat at this Chinese restaurant near the river. It was a nice catchup and we had a nice meal of Chinese food. It was a cool evening and we sat outside at one of their outdoor tables. After the harrowing highway ride it was a nice distraction and I had a nice time with Ashley. So after the customary goodbye hug and pictures I was on my way back to the hostel for an early night because my flight the next morning was at 7AM.

Before I went to bed I chatted a bit more with some new roommates including the other Canadian in room Kerri. She was studying in Australia and was traveling around while she had a break. I thought the university she went to in Australia had the funniest name Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. I honestly thought it was a made up place until I looked it up myself. Anyway that is the end of my Brisbane trip. Wakeup time was tomorrow at 5AM to make it to the airport by 5:45AM.


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