Brisbane - Lone Pine Sanctuary

LONE PINE

What better introduction to this post!

The adverts say, "Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Australia, is the world's first and largest koala sanctuary, with over 130 koalas. Cuddle a koala anytime, handfeed kangaroos and encounter a large variety of Aussie wildlife, all in beautiful, natural settings." So what do we think...

Well there certainly are Koalas.

The layout is functional, immaculately maintained and amusing. There are enclosures entitled, 'Kindergarten', 'Cubby House', 'The Boys', 'Ladies in Waiting' and others we can't remember.

...'The Retirement Home.'

As the blurb says, you can cuddle a Koala.

But the Koalas themselves often find it a bit too exciting ...and have to rest.

There are other animals in the sanctuary including Wombats...

Echidna...

Kangaroos - some with joeys

and some with tourists!

...and wallabies which, we were informed, can sit on their tails, whilst kangaroos, having much thicker tails have to hold them permanently aft. 'Not a lot of people know that!'

This emu was wandering freely in the Kangaroo enclosure.

But Dingos must be kept on a lead!

But the stars of this show are undoubtedly the Koalas.

There is little left of the day, but just time for a quick visit to see the panoramic viewing point overlooking Brisbane City.

The Planetarium is an interesting building and makes a fine backdrop

...for the wonderful statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the Russian 'Father of Cosmonautics' who died in 1935.