May 25 - Sunday - Explored Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

We met Paul Martin from University of New England and Paul Curtis from Cornell and his son Brian for dinner at 7 pm May 24.  Following a pretty good night trying to get over jet lag Walt and I met these three for breakfast. Paul and Brian were taking a boat ride on the Mirimar 1 and 1/2 hours up the Brisbane River to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Walt and I decided that sounded like a great idea.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is a 4.6-hectare (11-acre) Koala Sanctuary located in the Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket in Queensland, Australia.
Founded in 1927, it is the world's oldest and largest koala sanctuary.

Wildlife in the sanctuary includes: koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, wombats, echidnas, and various species of reptiles, as well as a platypus which arrived at the sanctuary during 2010 from Healesville Sanctuary (near Melbourne).

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These are Fruit Bats. There is a colony along the river, but it was nice to get to see them up close.

This guy is a Tasmanian Devil. They were all sleeping but since
 they are very aggressive carnivores I was glad they were in a fence.

 

I like this pic of a Kangaroo and Joey. The Joey
reminded me of a young colt, Gangly and clumsy.

There were lots of Koalas. You could even get you pic taken
holding one. Most of them were sleeping.

Walt and I on the boat ride back down the river.

We are meeting up with some more Aussies for dinner at 7 pm. Tomorrow we will be getting ready for the conference

 

May 24 - Brisbane 36 hours after leaving State College

Arrived in Melbourne at 5 am. Got to the hotel by 7 am and since we couldn't get into the rooms until 2 pm we decided to wonder around the city a bit.

We grabbed a bite to eat in Queens Market and wondered around.

We finally got to our rooms about 1 pm and it was so nice to finally get in the room and get a shower and a nap!

Ready to leave for Austrailia

I'll be heading to the airport in about 30 minutes. I'll be in Australia in about 27 hours after stops in Philly and Dallas. I plan to post about my work with community engagement and my travels around the country.