Though we didn’t have the weather on our side, today will always remain special to me, because I finally was able to something I have wanted to do for years...hold a koala. I. Was. Thrilled!
This was one of those very few days in this winter’s cruise calendar when we had specific plans in place, and an early start was imperative. Once again I set an alarm for 6am; once again I didn’t need to. We were awake around 5am, but watched videos on TV until 6, when the full Horizon Court Buffet opened for breakfast. It was our first meal in the buffet, and there was plenty to keep both of us happy. Thanks to a re-model, the buffet is now bright with all new seating (really nice quartz table tops and the chairs are beautiful, too). As has been done on many Princess ships, the buffet was expanded with desserts and pastries available on a side buffet area. It has really helped with traffic inside the original buffet. I chose oatmeal with peaches and asked for warm soy milk with it. Then, still hungry, I had All Bran with a banana and soy milk and was finally full enough to leave the ship for several hours.
In Brisbane, the Golden Princess, due to its size, must dock at the Fisherman Island freight area. That the morning was grey and threatening rain didn't add to its appeal. We debated for quite awhile what to wear, with G opting to go for warmth with slacks and hat and waterproof jacket. I was optimistic, and chose instead to wear shorts and a fleece. The day provided a reminder of why I am not a gambler.
At 8am we met a group of Cruise Critic members to share a taxi to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, about a 30-40 minute drive from the freight port. We ended up going in two taxis. The cost per taxi was $100 each way, regardless of whether the taxi was a maxi, that holds 10 people, or a car that hold 4, though we were able to negotiate the cars down to $80. I can’t say that Brisbane looked all that appealing. It is very large city with the inherent traffic and construction, and, of course, the weather didn’t help. It wasn’t raining, but we knew it was just a matter of time.
G and I had already purchased our tickets to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary online: $32.40 AUD and $21.60 for seniors. It’s possible to take a boat ride from near downtown Brisbane to get there, but that would have had us arriving at the sanctuary later than we wanted to. Today, it would have had us arriving in a pouring rain. As it was, we had a few good hours there before the skies opened up.
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary houses many kinds of animals native to Australia...koalas, obviously, but kangaroos and wallabies and wombats and Tasmanian devils and crocodiles and several types of birds. We chose a trip to the sanctuary over one to the Australia Zoo, founded by Steve Irwin, because it is one of the only places in Australia where it’s permissible to actually hold a koala. The sanctuary is home to hundreds of koalas, but we first headed to the kangaroo and wallaby feeding area. We paid $2 AUD for a bag of pellets and spent quite a bit of time as soon as we arrived to feed the kangaroos while they were still hungry. My husband was in heaven, and I took some great pics that will provide lots of memories, including one where the kangaroo was stretching his head way back so G could scratch the underside of his neck. One little joey took a particular liking to me, and would stretch to put his front paws on me (though I wasn’t the one with the food) so I would pet him. I was surprised that his fur was not wiry, but soft like a kitten’s.
He was enjoying this...both of them!(That’s a battery backup cable in his pocket.)
Love those little paws
The larger kangaroos keeping watch
A little competition for the foodWe visited the birds and wombats and Tasmanian devils (nasty creatures, those) before we finally spent the rest of our time with the koalas.
There’s a baby snuggled in there!
It was just about then that the rain that had been threatening all morning started and we were caught in a downpour. Soaking wet, dripping with water I paid the extra $20AUD and queued a few minutes for my turn to hold a koala. I held a male named Melvin who was not quite two years old, and he was a doll. As proof:
That mission complete, I realized how drenched and cold I was. Though we had planned to go into downtown Brisbane for a look around before we returned to the Golden Princess, the rain dissuaded us, and we joined another couple in heading directly back to the ship by taxi. Well, not so directly; our taxi driver was new on the job and had no idea how to get us back to the freight port on Fisherman Island. Thankfully, with T-Mobile, I was able to download a map and show him exactly where to go. It’s confusing...small ships can dock at the Port of Brisbane, which is where he took us initially, but we were about 9 miles away.
We were hungry, but were more filthy and cold. I put our clothes together to send out for laundry (turnaround is taking just one day), we both showered and then had a very light, very late (3pm) lunch in the buffet. There was just enough time for a short rest before we needed to dress for the the PES Lounge and the evening. For dinner, I had spicy garbanzo bean and tofu soup made not so spicy just for me (yummy) and vegetarian korma made vegan just for me (also delish). I ordered watermelon sorbet for dessert, which is usually my favorite, but that was disappointing.
The primary entertainment tonight was British comedian/singer Jo Little. We had seen her last year on the Pacific Princess, but then, in front of a largely American audience, she was not at her best. Tonight, with a mostly Australian audience, she was wonderful and was very well received. It was also Country Western night in the Vista Lounge but by then it was 9pm (and 10pm Sydney time that we were finally getting used to) and bed held more appeal.
We now have basically two sea days in a row, and Captain D told us, in his welcome back on board announcement, that tonight and tomorrow will be rougher than last night. When he said that, other passengers in the dining room exchanged glances and groaned. G and I just smiled. Our idea of rough has been forever re-set after that North Atlantic crossing in December on the Pacific Princess. Unless it can surpass that, we are really not all that impressed. ;-)