Day 43 - A Koala-ty Day

​After the disappointment of the cricket, I figured that I needed some koala therapy, so set off for Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary this morning. Lone Pine is the oldest and biggest koala sanctuary in the world, and just a thirty minute or so bus ride from the centre of the city. I should warn you now, there are a lot of photos in this blog, and these are only some of the ones I took!

I have visited Lone Pine before, but it was ten years ago, so I was definitely due another visit.


There is a LOT more than just koalas at the sanctuary, and my first encounters were with various birds and fruit bats. I think the fruit bats are kind of cute…


After a slight detour to see a manatee (no photos possible, I’m afraid), and some Tasmanian devils…


it was time for the stars of the show - the koalas. There were loads of the cute bundles of joy! Most were sleeping (they do that a lot…) - some in rather entertaining positions.


I decided that it was definitely worth shelling out for a ‘koala moment’ - essentially a couple of minutes stroking a koala and getting photos. My moment was with Jester, a nine year old koala who was born at the sanctuary. He was really soft and lovely. 


I obviously had not yet had enough of the koalas, so went to a talk about them. I didn’t learn much new, but the pictures and videos were super cute! 


After a cup of tea to recover from all the excitement, I figured it was time to see the kangaroos. I got a small bag of kangaroo food, and very much enjoyed being able to feed some of them. Not quite koala levels of cute, but definitely up there! 


I continued my way around the park. The snakes, lizards and crocodiles were definitely NOT cute. But they were interesting still! The dingoes were kind of cute…. 


Next up for me was the raptor show. I did not expect to be wowed as much as I was by this, as four different birds of prey swooped around the area and showed off their skills and impressive wingspans. 


Finally, I went to the sheepdog talk. An adorable border collie (whose name I have forgotten - shocking!) showed off her skills shepherding merino sheep around a field as a very knowledgable trainer told us lots of information about sheepdogs. It was another rather unexpected highlight of the day. 


After a quick detour for a couple of nearby geocaches, I then got the bus back to the city centre. I particularly enjoyed the Christmas decorations in one of the malls near the bus stop.


I then had a very delicious slice of chocolate cake at a cafe before setting off on a geocaching mission. I actually found lots (mainly AdLabs, but with a couple of others too), and it was great as I was able to use them to guide me around the river area, including up to the Skydeck, which gave me lovely views of the city (and a chance to stand on a rather high glass floor!)


It was then a short bus ride up the hill and back to my hotel for some downtime and dinner. Overall, a top day!

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