Brizzy - Part 3 (aka Marsupial Overload!)

Tuesday, October 2

Shortly after I learned that we would be moving to Australia, I read about the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.  Visiting this zoo immediately went to the top of my “Australia To Do” list.  I mean come on, you get to HOLD A KOALA and pet kangaroos- who wouldn’t want to experience that?!  I was seriously obsessed with the idea of holding a cute, cuddly koala from that moment on.  And when the day finally came for us to visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, I was 5-year-old-child-on-Christmas-morning GIDDY!  I’m fairly certain that David thought I was crazy.

As the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is about 30 minutes outside of the city, we opted to take a boat cruise down the river that drops you off right at the zoo.  The tour took about an hour, and it was interesting to see the sights along the way and hear some of the history of the city. 

 

 

 

I could go on and on about how much fun we had here and what an amazing experience it was, not to mention what a nice and well-maintained zoo it was, but I will try and refrain from doing so, and just let the pictures do the talking.

 

 

Birds 

 

 

 

Dingoes

 

 

 

Tasmanian Devils (Tazzy Devils)

 

 

Wombat

 

Kangaroos

The kangaroo habitat was this HUGE, open field area where there were literally at least 50 kangaroos and wallabies just hopping around.  You were allowed to go in and out of the enclosure as much as you wanted, and you could buy kangaroo food for $2.  I was totally surprised at how docile the kangaroos were. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered by the crowds of people wandering around.  They would let you pet them without any hesitation or fear.  Even the mama kanga’s would let you pet them and their joey’s- which really surprised me.  You’ll see a little joey in one of the photos below, AND if you look closely in another photo, you’ll see a mama kanga with a bulging pouch.  It was cah-razy to see a pretty decent sized joey climb right in there.  It was a truly amazing experience- they are SUCH beautiful and unique animals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Koalas

And now, my favorite- the koalas!  First of all, I must tell you that they are NOT Koala BEARS. Aussie’s do not like it if you call them bears, and are very quick to remind you that they are not bears.  J  There were seriously probably over 100 koalas in the sanctuary in various pens and exhibits.  And you better believe I paid the $16 to have my photo taken holding a koala.  As my friend Kayli said, “$16 for a lifetime of happiness is a small price to pay.”  I totally agree!  The koala I held was named Finn, and as you can see, he loved me very much.  They really are very cuddly, and when the handler handed him over to me he kind of “sighed” and then just cuddled right up.  I had serious thoughts about trying to get one home with me, but was unsuccessful.  I did, however, take so many pictures of the koalas that the camera battery died (no joke!), and I had to resort to cell phone photos.  Yes, I went a little overboard… I just couldn’t get enough koala cuteness!  It was neat to learn about the koalas- how they sleep about 20 hours a day, that their cute little koala bums are speckled to camoflauge them when they are up high in the trees, that they are one of the only creatures that can digest eucalyptus leaves and that it takes a ton of energy to digest which is why they sleep so much, and that ALL baby marsupials are called joey’s- not just baby kangaroos. 

 

 

 

They look so awkward walking on the ground 

 See the joey on the mama's back above?

 

Me and Finn!!!

 

WHEN you come to visit us in Australia ;-), you MUST visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary!  I definitely already can’t wait to go back. 

Brizzy - Part 2

Monday, October 1

This was the day we had dedicated to exploring Brisbane and hitting all the tourist spots.  Unfortunately, the weather was not the best- overcast, windy, and actually kind of chilly, but that didn't stop us. One thing I loved about Brisbane is that it is situated on a river (The Brisbane River – imagine that), and they have some really great public transportation for the river – several different options for ferries, some even free.  So we started the day by taking the CityCat ferry across the river to Southbank Parklands.  This is a neat area of the city that has lots of parks (crazy, I KNOW!), restaurants, shopping, and even a man-made beach.  We spent most of our time walking around the parks underneath the beautiful bougainvillea-covered overhangs.  These flowers were so pretty, and we weren’t even there when they were in full bloom.   

 

As you can see in the picture above, I was clearly famished by this time- so it was time to eat.  Of course, I would find the one Spanish/Tapas restaurant Ole, and that is where we ate an amazing meal.  We even had a legit Spanish waiter, and after a couple glasses of sangria, I was even brave enough to speak some of my now broken Spanish with him. 

 

 

 

 

 Our next stop was the Wheel of Brisbane Wheel of Brisbane.  Ever since my trip to visit my sister in Seattle and my ride on the new Great Wheel of Seattle, I’ve been obsessed with Ferris Wheels.  So now, any place I travel that has one, you can bet I will be on it.  The neat thing about this Ferris Wheel is that there is a recorded “guide” while you ride around that points of interesting locations and information about the city.  Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy, so the view was not the best. 

To end our day exploring Brisbane, we took a night Ferry on the river.  The views of the Story Bridge and the city at night were so pretty! 

 

Up next: The last installment of our Brisbane Trip- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary!

Season Affective Confusion

Earlier this week I received a very exciting shipment in the mail.  I had placed an order from a website here in Australia called USA Foods that sells nothing but American foods that you can't get here in Oz. You don't even want to know how much the prices were marked up, but really, it's irrelevant.  These are necessities, people (especially the Hot Tamales). Here is my loot:

One of the things I was most excited about was the pumpkin puree.  Don't worry, they were only like $7 a can. But so worth it to just have that little bit of "normal" and comfort that makes a strange place feel more like home. In anticipation of the arrival of my 3 sacred cans of pumpkin puree, I have been pinning pumpkin recipes like crazy, so today I decided to make these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, called Pillows of Pumpkin-y Love.  If I were Australian, I would say, "they turned out just lovely" or that "they are quite nice."

 

Now, I also have to admit that while making these cookies, I had my Pandora Christmas Music station blaring.  If you don't already know this about me, I LOVE Christmas music. Since college, I've always started listening to Christmas music right after Halloween. Shout out to my roommate, Hannah, who thought I was ridiculous, but still put up with it :-)  So I figured, hey, it's November, I'm actually a couple days overdue for some Christmas music. But I gotta admit, as much as I stand by my belief in early-Christmas-music-listening... It. Felt. WEIRD. I mean, we're just a few weeks away from summer here. I had the AC on. I was wearing a tank top and sandals. Heck, I even got a sunburn yesterday.  So hearing "Frost the Snowman" and "Jingle Bells" totally messed with me. Even though I have lived in warm climates most of my life (aside from Spokane, Washington) even the weather in those places- Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Houston would still cool down somewhat during this time of year. So this just felt so foreign, even for me.  Australia, you and your backwards seasons and really confusing me.   

Brizzy - Part I

Since nearly a month has passed since our trip to Brisbane, I figure it's probably time to recap our trip. How timely of me!

At any rate, this was David and my first little trip since our arrival in Australia. No offense to Gladstone, but I was definitely ready to get the heck out of here have a change of scenery. I've learned pretty quickly since being here that I am definitely a city girl. I just feel "off" here without any pollution, skyskrapers, traffic, or crowds. Oh and Target too. So this long weekend trip to "Brizzy" was just what I needed.


Saturday, September 29

After getting checked into our Hotel, which was in Brisbane's Central Business District (CBD), we decided to wander around for a while in hopes of finding a place to eat to tide us over until dinner.

Royal on the Park

 

Our inner Mexican food compasses must have been on, because we found ourselves at an amazing Chipotle-like mexican food restaurant. After ordering "nachos" in Gladstone and getting chips with marinara sauce and cheese, I had resigned myself to the fact that Australia just must not have Mexican food. Thank God I was wrong! So of course we did what any good Southwesterner would do and ordered margaritas and one of everything on the menu. Yes, I came to Australia to eat Mexican food.

 

We also found a Starbucks, which I was strangely excited about even though I am not a coffee drinker.  Just nice to see something familiar and authentically American I suppose. 



It was a happy coincidence that the night we arrived in Brisbane also happened to be the last night of the month-long "Brisbane Festival." The month-long festival culminates each year with a huge fireworks show called Riverfire along the Brisbane River. Our hotel was right near Eagle Street Pier which just so happened to be have a great view for the show. Riverfire did not disappoint. It lasted for close to 30 minutes, and was very impressive and so pretty over the water with the Story Bridge in the background.

After the show, we had dinner reservations nearby. I tried to convince David that we should just go back and get more Mexican food, but I was unsuccessful. We ate at a restaurant called George's Paragon. The food was great, and the view was amazing. Oh, and the couple at the table next to us got engaged during dinner- it was so cute!

Our view from dinner

Sunday, September 30

The next day, we had planned to rent a car and drive an hour South to a cute little town called Tamborine Mountain, which is known for wineries and cute little restaurants and boutiques. But most of all, the views were amazing (even though most of the day was pretty overcast). Supposedly on a clear day, you can see all the way to the coast.



Oh, and of course I have to share a photo of this lovely friend that we made on the mountain:

But I digress. Sorry, snakes are distracting. As usual, our first order of business when we arrived was to eat. There seems to be a pattern here. We found the most adorable restaurant/bed and breakfast called the Polish Place. It had AMAZING views and incredible authentic Polish food.  Yes, I also came to Australia to eat Polish food apparently. The restaurant really felt like it was just somebody's kitchen and living room. There was even a cat snoozing on one of the chairs. You also had the option to eat outside at this bar-like table that faced directly out toward some amazing scenery.

Finally, we headed to some of the wineries in the area. I've always loved Australian wines, and even before I knew we were moving here I had always dreamed of visiting an Australian winery. Mission accomplished! We visited Au Winery, Cedar Creek Winery, Heritage Wines, and Tamborine Mountain Winery. I was so excited to learn that on domestic flights in Australia liquids aren't restricted- so we definitely brought home a couple of our favorite bottles.

  Congrats if you made it this far!  Stay tuned for recaps of our time exploring the city of Brisbane and our trip to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.  Oh, and sorry for the wonky spacing, formatting, etc... I'm still figuring Blogger out.  If anyone has any tips out there, PLEASE share!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from David and I!  We hope everyone has a fun day!  I vampire-ified this photo with www.picmonkey.com.  Isn't it fun? 

Halloween for us has already passed. I've never been a big Halloween person as far as dressing up goes, but I love the candy, the decorations, trick-or-treaters, and everything else that goes with it.  Our little neighborhood is over run with Americans so we had a TON (or heaps, as the Aussie's would say) of trick-or-treaters.  It was so fun!  I thought for sure I bought way too much candy, but I actually ended up running out. 

I can't believe that October has passed already.  It is already November 1st here!  Crazy.  In honor of November, Thanksgiving, my love for Instagram, and in an attempt to adjust my bad attitude about not being in the US for Thanksgiving, I'm going to try this little "Thankful" project for the month of November that I saw on the blog eighteen25.  Here is the link: http://eighteen25.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/thankful-book.html

Basically, the project is to create a "Thankful Book" by taking an instagram photo each day in November of someone or something you are thankful for, and tag that photo on Instagram with the hashtag #Novemberthankful.  At the end of the month, you gather all your photos into a fun Instagram Photobook using the Blurb website (www.blurb.com).  Check out their website for a better explanation and for a cute cover for your book that you can download for free. 
http://eighteen25.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/thankful-book.html

If you're not already, you should follow me on Instagram - Meggers315

One last Happy Halloween to everyone, and welcome to November!