We sailed the Coral Sea on our way to Brisbane. Australia is a large country as we sail at 17 knots per hour and still take over a day to arrive.
Thursday
We docked at 8:30am on a cool sunny day. A machine, like an airplane corridor you walk over to get to the plane cabin, moved to the correct spot on the ship so we could walk directly into the terminal. Apartments were right across the street. We are on the dock side of the ship.
We saw a sheep herding demonstration first, then went into the fenced area where you can play with the kangaroos. There was also emus. We also saw a platypus swimming really fast in his zoo home. The tasmanian devils were hiding inside hollow logs.
Curious kangaroo
Kangaroos having fun with the little kids
Huge lizards
David and I and Butch
It was a lovely day, maybe about 60 degrees out and sunny.
Emu
A beautiful pink Galah
The dingos looked just like dogs. A white one and the two yellow ones growled at each other
They just hop on their hind legs. Very strange gait.
Brisbane from our ship moving to the dock
Our tour today is to Brisbane and Lone Pine. My knee is getting better with the pills and cold therapy. Our coach took us through Brisbane pointing out the important buildings which were mostly built around the time the first prisoners came to settle here in 1823.
One of the interesting modern buildings here.
The population of Australia is only 22 million, 1 million in Brisbane, the secret of Australia. It truly is a beautiful city. The streets are clean. there are many many parks. There is a bike trail all along both sides of the river which is the center of town life. There are many spots with river front restaurants and apartment buildings. There are bike stands where you can pick up a bike and ride it for free. the city used to be swampy. In 2013 there was a huge flood that went over the banks of the river into homes.
Johnny Depp is in town filming another Pirates of the Caribbean. He brought his two dogs, Boo and Pistol on his private plane. Like Hawaii, dogs are not allowed to be brought to Australia for fear they may bring rabies. Depp has been given an ultimatum to send his dogs home or put them down. The headline said"Star's terriers told to 'bugger off' back to LA. Another news story is about a killer Amtrak train that derailed headed to New York. Over 200 passengers were injured. "Killer train twice the limit". Also, the royal baby girl was born last week and named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
We went to the Lone Pine koala preserve for the rest of our tour.
The dog proudly brought the sheep into the pen and then stood on them.
A darker Kangaroo
Crocodile
We had our photo taken with a koala named Butch. We never did see the wallaby, but I loved seeing the kookabura for real.
Kookabura pair. They didn't make a sound. Someday I want to hear them laugh
Tasmania devil
Red tailed parrot
Australian bat
After our tour the coach left us off downtown behind the casino. We walked in the shopping area. There are a couple streets blocked off just for pedestrians. David found a rubber tip for his walking stick and I got an official knee brace. Then we walked to the dock for the CityCat, which is a ferry that goes all along the river. It took us to our port.
City cat on the river
Beautiful Brisbane skyline
We were back in time for trivia. We came in first today in spite of Marlene, who is Canadian, forgetting the number of points on the Canadian flag. It is 11, not 9.
I worked on this magic puzzle during this time. I love this ap and have completed pictures relevant to our trip.
What's up with your knee? You haven't mentioned it before. Are you wearing out? If you go to Sydney and go to the zoo (you two like zoos), ask for senior discount. It's about 33% off admission. Admission regular was $46 AUS in October 2014.
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