We arrived in Brisbane on a Monday night via an express train where Kieran taught me all about Irish politics’…hey it’s a good way to pass a train journey I assure you. We checked into Palace backpackers. It looked like a cool enough place based on the reception alone. However, there was a nightclub underneath it and when we got to the room we encountered a few problems. It was very stuffy inside the room and with only one window this did not help. Later we had to hold up the window with Conor’s vitamin box!! The top of the door was just open so we could hear everything that was going on! When we eventually hit the hay we discovered that when anyone turned in their beds it would make the most annoying “squeaky” noise!! So when you did get to sleep, you would be wide awake two minutes later because Kieran or Conor would turn and the squeaky noise would instantly wake you. People coming home form a night out and the fact that anyone could walk across our balcony added to the drama!! The following morning we looked like death as a result of no sleep although Mike seemed grand…the guy can sleep through anything!! It was a great day though and when the weather is good you got to smile! We went to the Botanical Gardens and Kieran nearly got bitten by an eel in the water. He nearly took his finger off (pure exaggerated by Kieran)!! A little Turtle could also be spotted. Brisbane is just like any other city really and we were not overly impressed by it. A man made beach is in the process of re-development so I assume that would have been cool. One thing we did like was the man made pool in the city centre. We spent a while in there with on lookers thinking that we were crazy because it was so cold. We are typical Irish though; always keen to explore these things!
On one of the nights out we had in Brisbane, Kieran and I met a lovely bunch of Australian girls who invited us to Breakfast the following morning. We joined them the following morning at a posh restaurant and discussed where we had been in Australia so far and they gave us tips on what to see and do on the rest of our travels. It’s great to meet really genuine people. The Koala sanctuary was the highlight of the Brisbane trip. We booked a tour going to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. It is the world's first and largest koala sanctuary, with over 130 koalas. Conor, Kieran and Mike got to cuddle and get a photo with a koala at a price of $20. Mike’s original attempt at holding the Koala didn’t go so well…in fact it didn’t go well full stop because they had to get him a different Koala!!! We all got to hand feed the kangaroos, which was one of the things I was most looking forward to doing in Australia. You can’t come to Australia and say you haven’t done this!! We encountered a large variety of Aussie wildlife all in a beautiful, natural settings. Kieran got to hold an Owl in a spectacular wildlife show as he volunteered to do so. There were birds flying in all directions during this show, it was crazy!!! Once the Koala sanctuary was over our driver brought us to the Mount Coot-tha lookout. The mountain is 287 meters’ above sea level and forms the eastern extent of the Taylor Range. It’s definitely a good way to view Brisbane but all Kieran and Mike were interested in was their Ice Creams. One of the Hostel tour operators was very helpful and assisted us in booking the rest of our trip. We got a price of $600 (€300) which included buses, hostels and Fraser Island. Overall Brisbane was a good laugh and the Koala sanctuary was definitely worth the trip alone.
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