FEB. 9th -- BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, MATE!!

G'Day!!

I stumble from bed at 7:00ish AM and head outside to the balcony.  I am thinking "Yay, we're here!  We're in Australia, finally!!" and as I step outside I am hit in the eyes with a bright, glaring ball of sunlight.  🎶"Blinded by the light..."🎶 to quote Manfred Mann!
I head back inside, put on my darkest, wrap sunglasses and head back outside.  I take some pictures that didn't turn out too badly considering my dark glasses & the sun spots, but you can be the judge.

Very bright out here.

First sighting

We have arrived in Brisbane, Australia and the city has a population of 2.3 million people and with the surrounding areas it is 3.4 million.  This is about the size of Toronto, Ontario.
It is 87ºF/31ºC...so, it's hot.
Our excursion today is called "Highlights of Brisbane & Lone Pine".  We are seeing highlights of the city and then going to a koala sanctuary to see koalas, kangaroos and other animals.
We are leaving around 9:00 AM.

We have arrived.

Barry with the Big Koala

Look at this little guy...I called him "Jondalar".

Barry with an Emu.

"The dingoes ate my baby..."

Borrowed this shot from a postcard.

Also, borrowed this as well.  Too, too cute!!

 After the kangaroo pen, we also saw emu and flying red fox.  Actually, the flying red fox were just really big bats.  We saw them hanging upside-down in their pen and they were fanning themselves with their wings.
It was really hot at the Sanctuary...I could feel heatwaves coming up from the ground in the kangaroo pen.  I think this heat is getting hotter!
After about an hour, we went to the cafe and ordered an Australian beer -- it is called "XXXX Gold". It was really good...very similar to Canadian beer.  Anyway, it really hit the spot.

Tonight, in La Veranda, there is an Australian Buffet from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM.  So, this afternoon we were feeding the kangaroos and tonight we're gonna to eat 'em!
I took some shots of the buffet.  It was great.

Kangaroo meat served with toast & Vegemite!!

Australian Leg of Lamb.

We turn the clocks ahead one hour tonight.