Work & Travel New Zealand 2008/2009

September 10 - 19, 2008

On September 10 ist was time to board a plane again and head off to my 5 weeks holiday in Australia. Was hard to say goodbye to Andy but I was also looking forward to my adventures, especially the Whale Research Expedition.

On my first day in Brisbane (after I arrived, at 10 am) I went to explore the Roma Street Parklands which were close to my hostel and right next to the Roma Street transit centre. A huge park with some very nice plants and waterways. I also had a look at South Bank, the city beach in Brisbane which is pretty unique. There are swimming pools that can be used for free and a really nice parkland around.

On Thursday, September 11 (horrible date...) I went to the LONE PINE KOALA SANCTUARY near the city, where I already had a great day with Simone 6 years ago. Despite being on my own this time, I really enjoyed the day because I met some very nice friends

The Rainbow Lorikeets live in the trees around the sanctuary and they get fed there once a day. If you wait long enough after the food was put into the bowls, you can see them coming from the trees. Very pretty birds.

I spent some time in the huge kangaroo enclosure where the roos can hop around (it's a big area) and the tourists can join them. No, I didn't hop around myself

As the name of the sanctuary says, there are lots of koalas around the place. Most of them are sleeping, most of the time, but I came across some pretty active little fluffys It was nice to watch them climbing the trees and looking around.

And then there is this opportunity to hold a koala! I thought about it a lot if I should do it or not because I hate stressing animals. But then the curiosity was stronger and I also got my photo taken with a cute little koala. Her name is "Serenity".

From September 15 to September 19 I spent 3 great days on North Stradbroke Island, also called "Straddie", not far from Brisbane. Go to the next chapter to see what I came across there