Arriving in Brisbane, Australia Zoo & Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Wow when I stepped out of Brisbane Transit Centre, the heat hit me!

I was staying at Brisbane City YHA, not far from Brisbane Transit Centre but I felt like it took forever to get there what with the heat and heavy luggage. I learnt from it though!

When I arrived there, I got told my room wasn't ready. I felt and looked crap so I was dying to fresh up and have a wee sleep. I then got told I could get a day pass to get access to TV room and bathrooms etc till my room was ready. I was happy about that! I was so tired and sore so I went to the bathroom to fresh up and stayed in TV room till my room was ready.

By the time I arrived in my room, it was the afternoon already. So I unpacked a bit and went out to explore the local area and shops. Had some food. There were a big supermarket nearby I was so pleased with the location as I wanted to be near the shops and good transport links. I also checked out the rest of Brisbane CIty YHA which has a roof pool, fabulous views! I of course took lovely photos :) I then went to my room and crashed for 9 hours straight!

The next day, 16th October, I went to Australia Zoo - opened by the late crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. It was a long journey to get there, approx an hour by bus from Brisbane Transit Centre. It was a great day! I knew it was a big zoo and was relieved to see a free shuttle bus so I didn't have to walk around the zoo. Knowing that I get tired easily, I picked certain animals to visit so I checked the map to see where the shuttle bus go and made sure I was in the right place to see certain animals. I wanted to see the tigers and did see one. There were staff in tiger homes but the tiger was friendly so I guess the tiger were used to certain staff members. I did something I never thought I would ever do in my whole life! I held a huge snake and that was scary but admittedly it was really cool :) I ended the trip by nipping to the gift shop and bought a few gifts. Another long journey back to Brisbane, got food and slept.

I went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary the next day but went on a river cruise before that. You can drive to the sanctuary or take a cruise. I picked the cruise option as it would have saved me plenty of energy and time seeing I was on the river cruise for the tour of Brisbane then got to the sanctuary by the same ferry :) The tour staff were so nice, having learnt about my deafness and realising I won't be able to hear them explaining about Brisbane, they gave me papers to read and explained that what they will say about Brisbane will be in the papers so I won't miss out. I thought that was nice of them. I learnt few facts and found the tour cruise so interesting!

When we got closer to the sanctuary I got excited knowing I could cuddle koalas! I loved the whole trip! Bumped into kangaroos, saw funny wombats sleeping and bats upside down! I had a cuddle with one of the koalas, I of course, had some photos taken! It was so cute but it's claws stuck into my arms! Haha. It was an experience! Then again, back to Brisbane city for some food and sleep!