When I was in seventh grade, it was a great fashion at Hollis Middle School, to wear a small koala. There were springs in its paws so you could clip the toy onto a sweater or a collar. I held onto that accessory for a long time, only purging it when I had to pack up the last boxes before Mark and I married. So, when we planned this trip, we started by researching good places to see koala. We came to Brisbane because the oldest koala sanctuary is here. Founded in 1927, it houses many of Australia's native animals.
To get to the sanctuary, we took a river cruise on the Brisbane River. The riverbank is low and accessible. It is prime real estate for river front home, and they were all unique and expensive. While we were suffering through a rough winter, Brisbane suffered through its third worse historical flood, leaving many without power or homes. Evidence of the damage is still apparent. Until recently, the river bed was dredged every few years to support a cement producer. The city council has banned dredging now because of fear that the dredging was making the water cloudy-- easy to imagine that and more as an impact of regular dredging. Power to all the graduate students who can earn degrees studying the recovery of the river bottom ecosystem.
When we arrived at the sanctuary, we looked for koala first. Koala, like the kangaroo and wallaby, are marsupials. Wherever they were when Gondwanaland broke up, Australia has the diversity. In the Americas we have only the opossum to represent this order of mammal. Not quite so charming.
So, what does it feel like to hold a koala? Like holding a sleeping baby. They are a little bottom heavy and have long nails on their claws the entwine in clothing. Only when the staffer transfers the koala can you see the fuller abdomen where the pouch is. The koala did always look up at the person holding her. I anticipated a menthol eucalyptus smell, but there wasn't really any scent at all. The koalas can be held for 30 minutes a day tops, and get every fourth day off, by law.
We headed off to the kangaroo and wallaby enclosure after our photo session. Alan's enthusiasm won over the clerk at the gift shop and she passed him a complimentary bag of kangaroo food. JR found a bag on the grass on the way to the enclosure, so we were well provisioned for these animals. I remember petting zoos from my childhood as has having really aggressive goats, dirty sheep and spitting llamas. The kangaroos were nothing like this. They were pretty slow moving, willing to eat and be petted, but also enjoying rest in the shade. They had an enclosure away from people if they wanted to retreat. John Roy spent quite a lot of time patiently with one particular wallaby. Alan and I made friends with everyone. There were also two emus in the field. They are like ostrich and had narrow and rather greasy feathers. I think we spent about half of our time with these animals.
In the more zoo like area, we were pretty fascinated with the Tasmanian devils. I called these "ugly beautiful," and Alan got offended. We also spoke to a zoo keeper who told us about the effort to save the Tasmanian devil by removing them from the wild for a time to let a tumor causing pathogen die out. It's a tricky business, but it may be the best chance for this animal. Because they are scavengers, they may be better able to return to the wild with the skills necessary to survive, even if they have been reared in captivity. But the black footed ferret, in the US, had trouble understanding how to mate when that species was returned to the wild after its captive breeding program.
The other awesome Australian animal is the duck billed platypus. We'd never have had a chance to see this in the wild because they are so retiring. It was impossible to still photograph them with my little camera, but I did get a quick movie.
After our return cruise, we set out to cross a fascinating Kurilpa pedestrian/bicycle bridge into the city of Brisbane in search of a couple of cell phones. We met success and you can now call us in Australia--if we give you the number. Really, we are just anticipating Melbourne when Mark will be at meetings and the boys and I will have a different schedule. So far, Alan hasn't lost any either phone, but we have only had them for 12 hours, so we'll see.
We also got a recommendation for a place to eat steak for dinner. The young clerks at Vodaphone store were very helpful and enthusiastic about our visit. They recommended that we eat at the Caxton Street Hotel which has 2-4-1 steak dinners on Tuesday night. Apparently it is a famous place where what looked like a pretty hip, mostly 20-something crowd, dressed in black, white and gray, goes to eat, drink and watch Rugby. Sometimes they go out in the streets and have riots after the rugby matches. ("Like after your Stanley Cup," the clerk took pains to explain. "That was in Canada this year," I returned. "And they thought the riots were mostly out-of-towners." The clerk then reminded me that in the famous kiss photo, the man was an Aussie. OK.)
We had a long walk to Caxton Street, ate a nice steak dinner at a 2-4-1 price, and took a taxi back to South Brisbane and our beds. No riots. Just a few good night kisses.
