Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary- Brisbane

Our first full day in Brisbane, we decided to head over to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary just outside of the city. Our showers at the hostel weren’t working, so we figured we might as well dirty ourselves up even more by holding some koalas. We caught a bus from Adelaide Street and within about 40 minutes, we were there.

One of the first things we saw when we entered the sanctuary was a staff member taking a dingo for a walk. She let us take turns petting it and taking pictures with it. The dingo wasn’t really bothered by the attention and mostly just kept grazing on the nearby grass. I didn’t realize until later that it wasn’t very common to be allowed to pet the dingos in the sanctuaries and zoos around here (unlike being able to pet koalas and kangaroos, which is much more common).

We headed over to a seating area for the advertised “birds of prey” show. The trainers would have the birds fly across the open area to where we were seated, and then show us how they can catch their food in the air. They also pointed out a lot of physical features on the birds and their significance- like the spots on a female barn owl’s chest makes them more attractive to males. This was my favorite show that I have seen at a zoo or animal sanctuary, because we were able to get up close and personal with the animals without feeling like it was too invasive to the birds. 

Next we headed over to take our pictures with the koalas. We had heard this was the only place in Australia to do this (although apparently the Australia Zoo offers it as well), so we didn’t want to miss out. They had us create a cradle with our hands that the koala could sit on, and then it would hold onto you with its claws. Koalas have much bigger and stronger claws than I expected. They are also even more adorable in person than in pictures. 

After exploring the rest of the sanctuary, we took our turn feeding and petting the kangaroos. When I walked over the crest of the hill with my little bag of food, this kangaroo came bounding towards me. First of all, I had never really seen a kangaroo run in person. Secondly, I wasn’t quite sure if it was going to stop, but I just decided to trust that it would. Luckily it came to a halt right in front of me and looked up as if saying, “I know you want to give me that food”. Clearly kangaroos know a sucker when they see one. This was probably my favorite thing that I got to do at the sanctuary. I think what I remember most about being able to pet them was how soft their fur was. The experience was simply unforgettable.