Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Today has been, so far, one of the most memorable moments in my life. Today was the day that we visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. In the state of Queensland, the only one of the six states, people are allowed to hold and touch koalas. So, of course, that was something that everyone, including me, wanted to do.  The bus ride getting there was a little bumpy and sort of like a roller coaster, with all of the twists and turns at high speeds, but we all got there in one piece. The first show I saw was the sheep dog and sheep shearing show. The short haired boreder collies that are utilized as sheep dogs are very fast, very friendly, and very eager to work. One of the dogs had its eyes on the herder the whole time. It was amazing to see how they can wrangle up the sheep and funnel them into a small paddock. The wombat was interesting to learn about, and since it's nocturnal, I was able to see them in the daylight.  The time had come, and I was finally able to get in line to hold a koala. I had bought a package deal to hold a snake and a crocodile too, but it was the koala that held the most interest for me. It was much heavier than I anticipated, and definitely not as cuddly as everyone imagines. It was attempting to crawl up my chest using its 3-4 in long claws, so the animal caretaker had to distract it with some eucalyptus leaves. A BBQ lunch was provided for us, and it was quite tasty since the chicken and the steak had been cooked on the grill.  Next on the agenda was to venture into the kangaroo and wallaby paddock with my bag of food. I had the most fun during that hour and fifteen minutes in that paddock than I had had all day. They were so eager to come up to you because they knew you had food. One red kangaroo even followed Jen and I around for at least a half an hour. It was so friendly and would climb up on me to get food.  The emu was an interesting creature because its feathers were not very soft, as are most feathers that people think of (down feathers). As I fed it, it pecked at my hand until it got all of the food, and my hands suffered a little bit from that. While over in the area where the majority of the kangaroos were, I was petting one on its neck/chest, where it's assumed that they like to be petted, but apparently the one I was petting was not a fan. It growled very loudly at me, so I stepped away because I didn't know what growling means in kangaroo world. The birds of prey show was alright, but it was nothing compared to the bird show at the Taronga Zoo.  There, the birds are more well trained and put on an actual "show" for us, grabbing money from people's hands and other such things. I was very tired on the way back, as were most of us, so the hour bus ride back to the hostel was filled with sleeping college students.  Overall, this was one of the best days that I've had here thus far, with the Opera House/Botanical Gardens/Manly Beach day close ahead in first place. It's only a week into the trip and I feel like I've been here for my whole life. The opposite driving on the road, the accents, are all just coming natural to me now. In 21 days, it's going to be very hard for me to leave. Fraser Island is next on our agenda, so there are new and exciting things in store during our visit to the largest sand island in the world. Til next time =)

Shelby