Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Stradbrooke Island

I hope you all had a wonderful first week back at work of the New Year!
While you all have been busy working, I have been equally as busy exploring.

A few days ago, Amy and I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the world's largest sanctuary for koalas. They were everywhere! Their exhibits were arraigned according to age- so all of the little koalas were in their clubhouse together, the old retired ones were off to one side and the rest were in perches located around the park- we ate lunch in an enclosure surrounded by koalas! In the wild, koalas only live about 12 years, but in the koala sanctuary, they survived much longer- the oldest recorded koala had lived there, and lived to the age of 23!

Also really cool was the kangaroo enclosure- it was this huge field where you can enter and get right up close to the kangaroos. And they were everywhere! some were sleeping, some would come right up to you looking for food or a good scratching, and others just ignored people completely. It was awesome! I kept waiting with my camera ready for some to start boxing, but unfortunately these were very mellow kangas. The park also had native birds, such as the cockatoo and kookaburra, as well as wallabies and even dingoes.

After the park, we embarked on a mini road trip to world renowned Surfer's Paradise. We walked along the beach, careful not to step on the blubottles, tiny blue jellyfish that wash up with the tide. The water was really rough, not anything like the calm waves of Santa Barbara. We posed for a picture with the Surfer's Paradise sign, an Aussie must see, but other than that I wasn't too impressed. The place is really built up with massive high rises along the strip, and every form of chain restaurant you can imagine. I felt like we were in a theme park. It was fun to vist, but definetly not a place I need to go back to.

Yesterday, however, we did find that Aussie feel I was looking for. Amy and I drove here car out to the nearby port town of Cleaveland, where we caught a ferry over to North Stradbrooke Island, but just barely. None of the information we could find said how much it cost to take a car over. Turns out it was $150 buck, so we said no thanks, and then had to book it to catch the passenger only ferry, a much better deal at $17. They were nice enough to hold the boat for us, and the ticket collector gave us some tips about what sights to see on the island. Upon landing, we caught a bus to Cylinder Beach, a family friendly bay that had some sweet waves for surfers and boogie boarders, but also a calm bay for small children to play in. We caught some waves for a bit, and even stayed in the water during a sudden downpour, it was that warm. From there, we followed the coast north, along some scenic coastline, and up to the North Gorge walk- a planked walked that traversed the side of a huge gorge, where the ocean slipped inland about 100 feet. We found a way to get down into the calm waters of the gorge, where we hung out for a bit before heading onward. From the cliffs, we saw some small sharks and rays, close to where the fishermen were casting their lines.

Our next big adventure is going to take place on Tuesday, when we head over to nearby Moreton Island for an overnight tour, complete with shipwreck snorkeling, 4 Wheel Driving, and Sandboarding the world's largest sand mountain.