#koalas

koalas at the edge of a riparian eucalypt forest 💤

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Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

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Since John is here for a conference, the conference organizers designed some optional daytrips for their participants. We paid for the five of us to attend a bus trip to Currumbin, a suburb in the Gold Coast of Queensland. The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary was about an hour and a half from the convention center.

We started our trip with water and a sandwich upon entering the bus. There was some traffic on the freeway to Currumbin, so it took us a bit longer than anticipated to arrive. Normally, when we travel, we go at our own pace. So, this guided tour with an established time frame, took some getting used to for the kids. We spent about 3 hours at the wildlife sanctuary. Some of the activities we participated in were viewing the raptor show, watching an Aboriginal dance troupe and Digeridoo player perform songs important to their culture in the Queensland area, and feeding the lorikeets.

Now, this is the hilarious part. P really wanted to feed the lorikeets (the rest of us were fine watching the others). So, she chipped in some of her coins as a donation to obtain the man-made nectar that was offered on a pie plate. The participants held up the plates in the air, hoping a lorikeet would land on the plate. The volunteers said that usually the higher the plate, the more likely they would land and feed on your plate.

The sequence of pictures demonstrates how P was feeling waiting for the lorikeets to feed. If you know P well, her facial expressions are something you’re quite familiar with. Notice that she is smelling the nectar - I guess she's checking that it's fresh?

Sadly, it started to downpour. We were supposed to go to the ocean for some pictures. This didn’t happen (and P was especially disappointed), but the bus drove us by the ocean, so we were at least able to see it. Let’s hope we can go to the ocean another day once John’s conference is completed.

After the wildlife sanctuary, it was time for the dinner. C and P chose pizza (surprise, surprise) and G chose a Wagyu beef sandwich (Bougie much?)! After dinner, it was back in the bus for the ride back to Brisbane.