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Published: January 20th 2006
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Ron feeding the Rainbow Lorikeets
These are photos from the Lone Pine Sanctuary in Brisbane. Don't you like Ron's co-ordinated hat and T-shirt ensemble? He's always the fashion master!! After our great time in Surfers Paradsise we rented a car and drove up the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast to Noosa. We stopped at various places along the way. The first one being Brisbane. This is a nice city along the river and a bit away from the coast. Consequently, they have utilized their river very well. There is a riverwalk that is approximately 14 miles long. Along the walk there are a variety of parks, a Tibetan temple, a huge sandy beach swimming pool, restaurants, and cafes. All this is very nice, but our favorite destination in Brisbane is the Lone Pine Sanctuary.
The sanctuary is located on the river and it is possible to take a boat from the city to the sancturary. Along the shore of the river there is a huge bat colony of approximately 250,000 bats. They are really black or grey headed flying foxes. We didn't get to see them here because we drove to Lone Pine. But we will get to see them in Noosa. More about them later.
The rainbow and green lorikeets are a riot and we managed to arrive right at feeding time. There were about 50
of them competing for the food. They have no fear and are loud and aggressive. The colors of their feathers are beautiful and even more vibrant when they fly. Having them land on your head and dig in with their little claws is interesting and a bit unnerving. At least they behaved themselves and didn't leave anything behind!!
The kangaroos and the koalas are the main stars at the sanctuary. The roos are quite docile and people are encouraged to go into their area and socialize with them. It is great fun and there are so many to visit.
It's possible to hold a koala and get a photo, but since we have done that in the past we just visited the others. They are divided into several areas with the following categories: Nursery, Kindergarten, Teenagers, New Brides, Bachelors, New Mothers, and Retirees. The only baby in the Nursery, with mom, was the first artificially conceived koala. He was doing very well and was no longer in the mother's pouch.
The photos will give you an idea of the other residents in the sanctuary. This sanctuary has been in operation since 1920. It is the major site
for the rehabilitaion and breeding of the major Australian animals. They do an excellent job, the entry cost is very reasonalble, and the grounds and pens are well maintained.
From Brisbane we continued up the coast toward Noosa. We stopped at two nice beach towns, Colundra and Coolum. Both towns are quaint and have beautiful beaches. However, they are NOT Noosa and so we continued north.
How can I accurately describe Noosa. The town and beach are located on a large triangular shaped peninsula. The Noosa River runs behind and to the north of the Noosa Beach area. The main part of the peninsula is the Noosa National Park. There are numerous hiking tracks and koalas in the park. On the other side of the peninsula is a long stretch of cliffs and beach called Sunrise Beach. Noosa Beach is a crescent shaped beach on Laguana Cove. North of the inlet where the river empties into the ocearn there is another national park with miles of pristine beach and an area of wetlands. This area is reached by a ferry and four-wheel drive vehicles. Simply put - this is an absolutely beautiful area!! I found a very cute
Pam and the Roos
Notice the roo's hand in my purse checking for food. interactive website about Noosa for those of you that want to check it out further. The address is: www.tourismnoosa.com.au We were at many of the sites and restaurants that they have in their collection of photos.
We stayed in the area called Noosaville which runs along the river. The river is like an extension of the beach. There are sandy shores, swimming areas, boat rentals, a local river ferry, restaurants, and a long park running the length of the river through the town. Our flat was one block from the river. It was a great place to walk at night. We copied the locals, ordered take away, brought our own bottle of wine, and had dinner by the river on one of the many picnic tables.
One night on our walk, at about twilight, we noticed this HUGE line of birds overhead. They weren't birds they were large bats commonly known as flying foxes. They have a wing span of about 3 feet. For 30 minutes or more they passed overhead. They were coming from 3 different directions and heading for the national park north of the river. After awhile the sky was black with them. It looked
like a huge swarm of gnats in the sky. The trails of bats went on for over 10 miles. Ron estimated that we probably saw a quarter million bats in that 30 minute time span. It was incredible!!!!! My photos don't do them justice. I was really stretching the limits of my little digital camera. Hopefully, you will be able to get a sense of the multitude. Some things stay with you when traveling and this sight will definitely be one of them.
Speaking of flying creatures the lorikeets in this area are also quite plentiful. They make their presence known every morning and evening. They fill the gum trees and squawk and screech for ever. You can hardly hear a person talking when they are right beside you. The noise is incredibly LOUD!!!! They loved the tree in front of our balcony. It was fun and noisy bird watching in the morning and evening.
Every day we got up early and did a long hike along the beach and into the Noosa National Park. There are many tracks to choose from, but we always seem to end up on the Coast Track. On one side you have
the great views of the beach and the surfers and on the other side is the forest and the koalas. It doesn't get much better than that. We were able to spot koalas on 3 different days. One koala was very cooperative and was not so high in the tree. He even woke up for us and climbed down even closer to feed on a clump of eucalypts leaves. He put on quite a show for everyone on the track.
On that same day we saw something that we didn't expect to see there. Right along the boardwalk there was an 8 to 10 foot python!! According to the locals it was an indigenous species. They kept telling us that it wasn't venemous, which confused me because I didn't think any pythons were poisionous. Who knew???
So, now we are back in Surfers Paradise and the big city aspect of this beach town is harder to ignore after leaving Noosa. It has rained a lot the past few days. We have walked the beach as much as possible and made some future travel plans. Isn't that a surprise that Ron is always planning ahead.
We fly to
Cairns tomorrow, Sat. 1/21. Our plans are to stay for 5 days if the monsoon rains don't chase us away. I don't know how much snorkelling on the Barrier Reef we will be able to do since the box jellyfish are out in force. A seven year old girl recently got stung. She walked into the shore and dropped dead. They are nothing to fool with and we will be staying out of the water if there are any around the reef.
We will be in the northern Queensland area for a couple of weeks. After that we will fly to Adelaide. The caption on the route map states that we will fly in 6 days. Well, that's wrong. I don't know what I was thinking and it won't let me revise the caption, so disregard that piece of information.
Thanks to all who have written. I feel like we are up to date with everyone's news and that's a good thing. We love to get mail!! G'Day till the next time. Pam & Ron
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Abby Pettigrew
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Magnificent photos'!
Pamroe and Ron, Love the photos as always! I am just amazed that you can get so close to the animals! Do you care if I print the Blog up and send it with Carlea to share with her teacher? Carlea did great on her recent report card. she and 7 other kids are in a reading/computer class( where she reads us a book and answers questions on the computer! Look forward to your next blog! love, Abby, Carl and Carlea