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Monday, October 13, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane
I'm a little slow getting this post up (our visit was Easter this year) but I hope once you see all these cute, furry faces you'll forgive my tardiness.
The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is located here in Brisbane and is the world's largest and oldest koala sanctuary.
They have 130 koalas in a multitude of display enclosures, which makes for great viewing.
Normally, whenever we see koalas in a zoo, we only see this:
Or this:
Not unexpected given koalas need to sleep about 20 hours a day.
At Lone Pine we were delighted to see plenty of koala goings-on:
The koala presentation (given twice a day) should not be missed for all sorts of interesting info on the life of these little critters. (Did you know you can identify koalas by the patterns on their bottom fur?)
You can have a cuddle with the koalas too, and have your photo taken. The koalas only spend about 10 minutes 'on duty' giving cuddles before they are swapped back to their enclosure.
Here's one of the keepers collecting a fresh koala for cuddles.
She explained that because it was lunch time, they were all expecting her to give them their lunch:
Another keeper brought their lunch (huge bunches of fresh gum leaves) moments after this photo.
There are plenty of other Australian animals to see, not only koalas.
We attended the Bird of Prey demonstration:
There's a large walk-through park area with emus:
And lots and lots of kangaroos:
They are very tame and love a scratch behind the ears:
You can also buy a bag of feed which they will eat from your hand:
Joey in mama's pouch:
If you're very lucky you'll get a special show:
Ahem.
Our older kids were in stitches over this, and I'm happy to report that every single tourist, of all nationalities, raced over to take a photo. Global unification through kangaroo nooky.
Because nothing I can write could possibly top that, I'll say goodbye. (And don't forget to visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary when you come to Brisbane.)
À bientôt!
The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is located here in Brisbane and is the world's largest and oldest koala sanctuary.
They have 130 koalas in a multitude of display enclosures, which makes for great viewing.
Normally, whenever we see koalas in a zoo, we only see this:
Or this:
Not unexpected given koalas need to sleep about 20 hours a day.
At Lone Pine we were delighted to see plenty of koala goings-on:
The koala presentation (given twice a day) should not be missed for all sorts of interesting info on the life of these little critters. (Did you know you can identify koalas by the patterns on their bottom fur?)
You can have a cuddle with the koalas too, and have your photo taken. The koalas only spend about 10 minutes 'on duty' giving cuddles before they are swapped back to their enclosure.
Here's one of the keepers collecting a fresh koala for cuddles.
The black sleeve protects the keeper's arm from the koala's claws.
She explained that because it was lunch time, they were all expecting her to give them their lunch:
No wait, come back!
Sob. Where's my lunch?
Luuuuuuuuuuunch!!!
Another keeper brought their lunch (huge bunches of fresh gum leaves) moments after this photo.
There are plenty of other Australian animals to see, not only koalas.
We attended the Bird of Prey demonstration:
Sea Eagle
Barking Owl has just seen Nicki Minaj's latest album cover
There's a large walk-through park area with emus:
And lots and lots of kangaroos:
They are very tame and love a scratch behind the ears:
You can also buy a bag of feed which they will eat from your hand:
Joey in mama's pouch:
If you're very lucky you'll get a special show:
Ahem.
Our older kids were in stitches over this, and I'm happy to report that every single tourist, of all nationalities, raced over to take a photo. Global unification through kangaroo nooky.
Because nothing I can write could possibly top that, I'll say goodbye. (And don't forget to visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary when you come to Brisbane.)
À bientôt!
Monday, July 14, 2014
Brisbane French Festival
Bastille Day, the Tour de France and this weekend's French Festival in Brisbane...it's hard not to think about France today!
We enjoyed another beautiful sunny winter's day here on Sunday at the Brisbane French Festival.
Lots of market stalls, French food, dressed-up folks and activities for the kids.
As close as I've ever been to Tahiti:
Churros with a warm caramel sauce:
What happens after you say 'no more churros':
And the grand finale - Pepper the French Bulldog:
We enjoyed another beautiful sunny winter's day here on Sunday at the Brisbane French Festival.
Lots of market stalls, French food, dressed-up folks and activities for the kids.
As close as I've ever been to Tahiti:
Churros with a warm caramel sauce:
What happens after you say 'no more churros':
And the grand finale - Pepper the French Bulldog:
I hope you're enjoying your Bastille Day, wherever you are!
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Teneriffe Festival, Brisbane
Hey, you guys, did you have a good weekend? Was it warm? It's winter here but we managed 24℃ (75℉), which is not too shabby.
We had a fab weekend, due in part to attending the Teneriffe Festival on Saturday.
Several streets are closed off in the trendy inner-city suburb of Teneriffe and all sorts of attractions and activities are set up - from food vendors, markets, displays, music, petting zoos, fashion parades....the list goes on.
We arrived early and were treated to free popcorn for the kids while we wandered down through some nostalgic car displays.
I was very keen to catch Betty and the Betties, an acapella, boogie-woogie style group, who were performing at 9am. I was not disappointed.
Have you ever heard Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know done Andrew Sisters style? I have now, and it was fantastic.
We browsed through some of the market stalls:
Next we headed down to the kids' area.
We gave the petting zoo a miss and instead secured a front row spot for the piglet races.
Talk about cute. Here they are snoozing in the sun before the race (I love how they're all snuggled up together.)
Then the announcer played the racing call and they jumped up and ran over to the start line all by themselves - they were keen to get into it!
The course took maybe 90 secs for the piggies to run, at most. And of course, it wouldn't be Australia if there wasn't a sweep to participate in.
The winner was the first piglet to navigate the gates, tyres, hay bales, pipes and ramps and make it to the feed bucket.
Once their little tummies were full they went back to lazing in the sun. Not a bad life for a piggie, considering the alternative:
After the big race, the mister and I were in need of refreshment. Low and behold, we happened upon a wee caravan selling boutique beer. There were high fives all 'round.
It was midday and very warm, so a cool beer was just the ticket.
There were deck chairs and leis and even Pimms for those not so keen on beer (such people actually exist, I hear.)
Sitting back in a deck chair with a beer, looking up at the lovely old converted buildings in the area:
This lasted a good 12 seconds until a child ran away and had to be retrieved. Oh well.
The Festival went on well into the evening and included many more things than I'm showing today (particularly for the grown ups). This 2 minute video on the Festival's website gives a great overview of it all.
We really had a most splendid day and we'll be noting it in our diaries for 2015. If you happen to be in Brisbane in July I hope you'll do the same!
Linking up with Design Mom's Love the Place You Live series.
We had a fab weekend, due in part to attending the Teneriffe Festival on Saturday.
Several streets are closed off in the trendy inner-city suburb of Teneriffe and all sorts of attractions and activities are set up - from food vendors, markets, displays, music, petting zoos, fashion parades....the list goes on.
We arrived early and were treated to free popcorn for the kids while we wandered down through some nostalgic car displays.
I was very keen to catch Betty and the Betties, an acapella, boogie-woogie style group, who were performing at 9am. I was not disappointed.
Have you ever heard Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know done Andrew Sisters style? I have now, and it was fantastic.
We browsed through some of the market stalls:
Why yes, I'd love a sample. Erm, what is it? Never mind: irrelevant.
Next we headed down to the kids' area.
Face (and hand) painting
Spin-your-own painting
We gave the petting zoo a miss and instead secured a front row spot for the piglet races.
Talk about cute. Here they are snoozing in the sun before the race (I love how they're all snuggled up together.)
Then the announcer played the racing call and they jumped up and ran over to the start line all by themselves - they were keen to get into it!
The course took maybe 90 secs for the piggies to run, at most. And of course, it wouldn't be Australia if there wasn't a sweep to participate in.
The winner was the first piglet to navigate the gates, tyres, hay bales, pipes and ramps and make it to the feed bucket.
Once their little tummies were full they went back to lazing in the sun. Not a bad life for a piggie, considering the alternative:
Oink. (To be fair, I think these sausages say Moooo.)
After the big race, the mister and I were in need of refreshment. Low and behold, we happened upon a wee caravan selling boutique beer. There were high fives all 'round.
It was midday and very warm, so a cool beer was just the ticket.
They drank the beer and the beer was good.
There were deck chairs and leis and even Pimms for those not so keen on beer (such people actually exist, I hear.)
Sitting back in a deck chair with a beer, looking up at the lovely old converted buildings in the area:
This lasted a good 12 seconds until a child ran away and had to be retrieved. Oh well.
The Festival went on well into the evening and included many more things than I'm showing today (particularly for the grown ups). This 2 minute video on the Festival's website gives a great overview of it all.
We really had a most splendid day and we'll be noting it in our diaries for 2015. If you happen to be in Brisbane in July I hope you'll do the same!
Linking up with Design Mom's Love the Place You Live series.
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