Last week I finally got to visit the koala sanctuary that I have been trying to go to since the first week in Australia. Lone Pine is the world’s first (and largest) koala sanctuary and is a 40 minute bus ride away from my apartment. I went with my roommate, one of our friends from out apartment building, and his girlfriend who was visiting from the states (they both go to U of I too). We were able to cuddle koalas, feed kangaroos, and see other really cool Australian wildlife. Needless to say, it was a really fun day!
We saw many beautiful birds like lorikeets, parrots, kookaburra, emu, cockatoo, cassowary, and a crested hawk.
We made sure that we went to see the lorikeets during 'feeding time' which was insane! The birds were so loud and flying all around you it was unlike anything I have ever seen. They would land on your head and fly right by your face. It was actually really overwhelming but a very cool experience.
The coolest part about the day was getting to play with the kangaroos. There is a 5-acre Kangaroo reserve with more than 100 kangaroos and wallabies hopping around. We were able to feed them with some kangaroo food we bought at the gift shop, once they noticed you had food they would hot right up to you. They would also just let you sit or lay with them and pet them and just hang out. It was so cool! We did not see any Joeys, which I was disappointed about. Some of the kangaroos were really big which kind of scared me a little when I felt like they were bigger than me. They were not aggressive at all though and seemed to not even really care that we were there besides getting to eat our food.
Then, of course, we saw the koalas. It was so cool to see them up close and being able to hold one was amazing! Koalas are much more fragile than kangaroos, so you can only touch them with the help of an expert. You have to just stand still and can only really hold them long enough to get your picture taken. They are very calm animals, they really don't do much besides eat and sleep and they spend almost all of their time in trees but it was very cool to be so close to one.
After the koalas we went back to the kangaroo reserve because we had so much fun the first time. I would have hung out with the kangaroos all day if I could. It was a great day and I was so happy to finally make it to Lone Pine. Australia has such amazing and different animals and it was so cool to se them up close. 
That sounds so fun and awesome!! The Kangaroos just walked right up to you when you had food? It is also really cool you got to hold the Koalas. I would love to do that! It would be so cool!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was awesome Sophie! The kangaroos weren't too food-crazy, you did sort of have to walk up to them yourself with food but once they saw that you had food they were all over it.
ReplyDeleteIt was also really cool to hold to koala! There was a little boy and girl in front of us in line and it reminded me of you and Ethan. The boy was too small to hold the koala's weight on his own so he had to sit down in a chair, but it was really cool because he wasn't scared at all. And the girl was very good at holding it and the koala was very calm and kept looking at her as they were trying to take a picture.