Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, AustraliaWe set off for Lone Pine Koala sanctuary
which is located just outside of Brisbane. They have over 130 koalas ranging
from babies to retirees and these are separated into various enclosures. To
feed all of the koalas, the sanctuary has 4 eucalyptus plantations around
Brisbane; each day they cut ¾ of a tonne of leaves!
We had written down the schedule of events
for the day and had a rough idea of which shows and talks we would see when. As
the first one didn’t start for a bit, we headed off to see some of the animals.
First up we visited the Mary River turtle which Rhys enjoyed watching swim
around.
Next there were assorted birds before we arrived at the main Koala
exhibit. The talk was going to start shortly so we enjoyed watching them while
we waited. These koalas were quite active for the 15 minutes or so that we were
there and then they started to doze off again. Eucalyptus leaves are very low
in nutrition and so koalas sleep for 18-20 hours per day to conserve energy.
We then headed off to see the nearby wombat
(sleeping) followed by the lace monitor and perentie lizards. We got a much
better view of the cassowary this time round and learned that it is the
heaviest bird out of the emu and ostrich.
We arrived at the raptor show in time to
give Rhys some lunch while we watched. They had a white bellied sea eagle, a
barn owl and a hawk.
Each one did some fly-overs while they talked about their
habitat, diet and hunting technique among other things. We made sure Rhys kept
his hands down and he was quite fascinated with the birds flying so close.
We decided to give the sheep dog show a
miss since it was really busy and try again in the afternoon. Instead, we had
lunch in turns while Rhys climbed and then jumped down the steps a ton of
times. We walked through the kangaroo enclosure with rather tame wallabies and
kangaroos lounging on the lawn. You could buy pellets to feed them, but people
seemed to be getting close even without food. We then arrived at another wombat
enclosure with more active wombats. They are much larger animals than I had
originally thought!
We also saw dingoes, a tawny frogmouth, and a Tasmanian
devil before stopping off at the platypus display. They have two male platypus
who were so active we couldn’t get a photo! They were swimming and diving
around having a great time. Each one was in its own tank since they are
venomous and would kill each other if in the same one. We really enjoyed
watching their antics while listening to a brief talk about them. There were
also a few different snakes in displays near the platypus, but they were not
nearly as interesting!
Anoop then headed over to the Tasmanian
devil talk while I went back to take a few more koala photos. Luckily I noticed
that the sign by the koala photos had changed to the “by donation” sign. They
had only had a 30-minute window earlier in the day and we had missed it when
having lunch. The line was quite small since it was unscheduled and so I zipped
up to find Anoop, not wanting to miss out on such a great chance!
We waited for
only a few minutes before Rhys got to pat his first koala! He was rather unsure
about the whole thing, but was very gentle when patting its back. We were able
to take a few pictures before the next person’s turn.
The last sheep dog show was scheduled next
so we walked back over to the demonstration area and found a spot at the front
to sit. We didn’t have to wait long before they began. They had two different
dogs, a border collie and an Australian kelpie, to do their demo. Each dog
behaved in a different way towards the sheep and it was interesting to watch.
These sheep had been here about 6 weeks and so were quite familiar with the
routine by now. The person giving the demo had to keep switching it up so the
sheep didn’t go to the final enclosure right away!
On our way back to the car we spotted a
kangaroo nearby and got a few pictures.
Anoop then decided that since they were
so approachable, this was his chance to pat one. It happily munched on the
grass while we all took pictures and gave it a pat. They were much softer than
I had imagined! We said goodbye to the koalas on the way out and then headed
home. We really enjoyed our day and were glad we had chosen to go there rather
than a zoo as all of the animals were Australian!
2025-05-22