Brilliant Brissy

The past three days have been so busy there's barely been any time to write about them! After our first day exploring the city we had another busy day on Thursday, which was an absolute scorcher. After a trip to the supermarket to pick up picnic supplies, Chris and I headed off to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which was established in 1927 for the conservation of koalas and other native Australian animals. There we saw kangaroos, dingoes, emus, laughing kookaburras, platypuses, wombats, pythons and crocs. The zoo had lots of opportunities for visitor interaction, and we saw the bird of prey show and the snake show, the latter of which we stumbled upon when looking at the koalas. The show consisted of a very Aussie lad in khaki with reptile tattoos all over his arms and legs bringing a huge olive python to the koala enclosure and plonking it down on the low wall that surrounded the trees the koalas were eating and sleeping in. The animals looked on with little interest in the beast that we were assured could finish one of them off in under a minute. A big attraction of the zoo was petting a kangaroo. The animals occupied a large field with plenty of trees which visitors access through a set of gates. Inside there were as many tourists as kangaroos lolling around on the grass, sharing kangaroo pellet snacks and, most of all, taking selfies. The kangaroos were so domesticated they didn't even flinch.

Unlikely room-mates

Despite the headaches we were both developing from spending so long under such a hot sun, we made a visit to Mount Coot-tha on the way back to the city, which offers brilliant views over Brisbane and a good spot for an ice-cream. By the time we got back to the hostel we were both worn out; added to our jetlag, all we then wanted to do was to sleep all evening. But we had already arranged an activity that couldn't be re-organised: a climb of the Story Bridge that crosses the Brisbane River. It was Chris's birthday present from me and we knew we couldn't miss it although we really weren't feeling like doing any adventurous activities! With some difficulty, we got up and left the hostel to walk across the bridge to the meeting point on the other side. Luckily the fresh air revived us a little and by the time we arrived I felt ready for the challenge. The climb wasn't hugely physically exerting but for me it was very nerve-racking! Chris, who has no such fear, strode ahead behind our guide, Brie, who was delivering a commentary of the history of the bridge via radio. We ascended the bridge at dusk, when the sky was a pleasant pink and the air was cool. When we reached the top, darkness slowly began to fall and the skyscrapers of the CBD lit up, as did the lights of the cars passing beneath us, one half of the traffic red and the other white-gold. The lights on the bridge itself were a different colour every day, we were told, and today they were purple to celebrate the return of Peter Greste, the Brisbane reporter who had been held in an Egyptian prison for 400 days, and had returned to the city earlier that day. We were even lucky enough to see fireworks from the top of the bridge. The views were spectacular and we had our photograph taken on the top as a souvenir. But after the steep descent in chill darkness and even a threaten of rain, I was glad to be back on solid ground, and also to be out of the boiler suit and harness we were obliged to wear. We celebrated our achievement with a Pizza Hut takeaway back at the hostel.

Views from Mount Coot-tha

Our bridge climb picture

After such a hectic day I was glad to take it a bit easier on Friday. Chris had to work in the daytime so I came along with him and read my book while he had appointments. In the evening we decided to act like locals and went for a jog along the elevated river walk that runs parallel to the bridge, and up through the New Farm suburb with its lovely sunset views of the city and the river. To reward ourselves for our hard work, we ended our day at a burger joint eating burgers and chips.

On Saturday we set out again, this time headed to Tambourine Mountain just south of Brisbane and directly west of the Gold Coast. As it was the weekend, the mountain was absolutely chocka and was essentially a big resort. We had come for the waterfalls and pools where you can have an outdoor swim, but we hadn't expected it to be a huge resort with shops, cafes, motels, mini-golf and all sorts of other attractions crammed in. We spent most of the day driving around trying to find where the waterfalls were, as there were several different falls on the mountain but you couldn't swim at all of them (as we discovered trekking through a muddy forest to Curtis Falls in our thongs and swimwear with towels draped over our shoulders, passing people wearing walking boots). We arrived at Cedar Creek Falls around half past four and it was worth the wait. It was a lot quieter than it presumably would have been earlier in the day, and the setting was gorgeous, with a series of small waterfalls leading down to deep pools that were lovely for swimming. There we met an Australian family with four children who were having a great time in the water. The dad seemed like an absolute nutter, sitting in the waterfall with one arm round a distressed-looking little boy and with the other hand taking pictures of himself. Later he discovered a steep slippery slope that was perfect for sliding down, which the two older girls joined him in doing. Meanwhile a little girl of about four was struggling to get out onto the rocky banks where Chris and I were sitting; we helped her out and, with her parents fully occupied, felt responsible for looking after her for a little while until she joined her mum back in the water. We said a cheery goodbye and headed back to the car- I for one couldn't bear to watch the crazy family clambering around on rock ledges much longer. I suppose Aussies are more comfortable with dangerous environments than we are!

Curtis Falls

The waterproof camera comes in handy

Cedar Creek Falls

So we have had a lovely few days in Brisbane and the surrounding area, which I have enjoyed thoroughly. Today we pack up the bags and head north to the Mooloolaba in the Sunshine Coast for a few days to visit friends- I'm looking forward to a bit of beach very much!