Lone Pine Sanctuary, Brisbane

In Brisbane our next adventure took us to Lone Pine Sanctuary. What a way to get up close to Australia's amazing fauna. The largest group of residents there were the koalas-- over 130 of them! Many sat nestled in the crotch of eucalyptus trees riding out the rain showers that passed through that day.




Koalas are quiet yet fascinating little guys. The combination of their facial features and style of movement remind me so much of Yoda! I almost expected one to turn towards me and say, "When nine hundred years old YOU reach, look as good YOU will not, HMM?!"


We even got the chance to hold one of the koalas! I interlocked my palms as I had been intstructed to do by the trainer, and a koala named Misty was lowered gently into my arms. She instinctively reached her paws up to grab hold of my shoulder.


The koalas seemed quite content in whomever's arms they were plopped into.



After our time with the koalas we headed through a fence that enclosed a couple acres of grassland dotted by sporadic trees. This was the home of the kangaroos, wallabies and emus! Just over the crest of the first hill many kangaroos were grazing happily on a patch of grass.



I was taken aback by how tame they were. At first I approached one of the kangaroos cautiously-- I knew how strong those back legs were and I didn't want to startle the fellow. My slow approach paid off as I got close enough to touch his wet but soft fur. Eventually he meandered to another patch of grass, propping himself up on his tail to move forward a step or two, or rather a 'hop' (as you can see above).


There were also many little wallabies about as well!







We were also greeted by an emu who had quite the crazy hair-do due to the rain!



Ben dared to get much closer to the emu than I deemed was appropriate if you wanted to keep all your limbs intact, as you can see...


Another bird that was arguably even more spectacular than the emu was the cassowary. I have never encountered a creature that reminded me so much of a dinosaur as this one did. The great horn-like crest on her head is called a casque, I found out! That, coupled with her bright colors and sheer size made for quite an impressive animal! Whoever once dismissed the idea that birds did not evolve from dinosaurs had probably never been to Australia! ;)


Also, here is a little video I shot of the kangaroos... enjoy!