Lone Pine and Mt Coot-tha
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Brisbane,
Australia
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
It is pleasant to have a real bed again. Not that I didn't enjoy camping on Fraser, but a tent, sleeping bag and mattress is no substitute for a real bed, with blankets and four solid walls. And no dingoes playing at being aliens.
I do miss the campfires though, and sharpening my marshmallow sticks, and the toasted, or in most cases, mainly burnt, marshmallows that we had around the campfire.
We went out ot the Koala sanctuary at Lone Pine in Fig Tree Pocket today, pretty much because I wanted to cuddle a Koala before I left Australia and this was the best place to go to do it. Vi was very happy when we arrived as her pensioner's card, which she has only just got, entitled her to more dicount than my backpacker card. I think everyone got a good laugh at that.
It turns out that Koalas are actually in quite serious trouble in Australia, their numbers are in decline due to logging, road building (which cuts through their habitat) and sexually transmitted infections, which seems slightly bizarre, but there you go. They were also hunted extensively during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century for their fur. Not to be used as a coat or a hat, but purely as an expensive early form of bubblewrap for china and silverware, because their fur is so thick and cushioned. It was quite a shock to discover this bizarre and horrible trade, and the decline of the koala in Queensland because both Australia zoo and the sanctuary seemed to have masses of koalas. No one really talks about their decline and as they spend most of their time sleeping, they don't appear as the kind of animal that would be in danger as road kill. But they are. They are quite surprising little creatures too. They have two thumbs on each hand, four in total, which gives them a really tight grip, and they can cause serious injury to humans because of this, they just don't know their strength. I had no idea that cuddling a koala was quite such a dangerous pastime. Though it may explain why I founsd this sedate sounding experience enticing...
My cuddlee was getting toward the end of his shift and was a little bit grumpy. He was more interested in his Eucalyptus leaves than giving me a hug, and I think that having been thrust at differnet people for a while so that we could get our hug, he had quite good reason. But I have no scars, and he did pose eventually, so it all worked out okay.
The Kangaroos were more forthcoming, though their friendliness was also food related. If you had food, they wanted to play, if you didn't they were more interested in someone who did. The yalso had their own break room, which the majority were taking advantage of. I really think I could do with being in the Kangaroo Workers Union, they seem to get a fairly good deal from their day jobs. Their fur was surprising too. It was very downy and soft, not at all what I was expecting from them.
Afterward we went to the Mt Coot-tha lookout over the city, and I have to say that I must revaluate my positiong on the highrise nature of Brisbane. The CBD is surprisingly compact, and the whole takes up a very small cection of the city itself, which is actually predominently low rise. It feels so big when you are in amongst the towers and apartment blocks, and yet it is actually a fairly small section of the city. When space is not a problem I can see why the city woulds develop as it has but I was still surprised to see it. As I say, the city CBD feels big when you are in it. We didn't stay long. The sun was setting and the temerature was dropping, and I will admit that I am getting a little soft because of all the warm weather that I have had in Australia. It was long enough to see that Bribane, as with the other Australian cities I have visited has a unique character - which probably centres on the apparent duality of its size. It is good to see that not all cities are the same.
