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We left
Santiago, Chile, at 11:50pm on 17 November 2005, flew for thirteen and a
half hours and yet did not land in Auckland, New Zealand, until 4:20am on
19 November 2005, a whopping twenty-eight and a half hours later! Where
did Friday 18 November 2005 go? How much does that mess with your brain?
We then had to wait until 8:15am for our next flight and three hours later
we landed at 8:15am in Brisbane, Australia! The same time that we took
off from New Zealand! Who says there is no such thing as jet-lag? We
didn't know whether we were coming or going! A couple of our friends did
a similar thing last year, but the other way round. They had a night out
in Auckland on the Saturday, flew on Sunday morning to Tahiti and landed
Saturday afternoon, having themselves an eight day week, with two Saturday
nights! How cool would that be!
After a
couple of days of doing absolutely nothing, but sleeping and chilling out,
we decided to go and visit Australia's oldest Koala Sanctuary, The Lone
Pine Koala Sanctuary.
This
was our first experience of Koalas and all we can say is, "Please, please,
please can we have one!" They are the most adorable, cute, cuddly little
guys you have ever seen! Their pee might have the strongest, toxic smell
we have ever experienced, but then when you eat nothing but Eucalyptus
leaves what do you expect!
One of
my favourite bits was watching an Aussie Sheep Herder working his three
Border Collies in the field and then his two Kelpies in the yard. We went
on a very quite day and were at the show a long time before anyone else
turned up. We got chatting to the farmer and he introduced us to his
three Collies, apparently they were very shy and Phoebe, his oldest dog,
didn't like men in particular. Imagine his face when a thirty strong
crowd of people turned up just before the show was due to start and as he
was on the other side of the fence, the dogs, including Phoebe, all
clambered around me to hide from the other people! He put it down to the
fact that dogs, like kids, just know!
Watching the dogs work was great, the control and understanding between
them was incredible. When he "penned" the sheep he then brought out the
Australian Kelpies, who basically run on top of the sheep, balancing on
them to get them moving around the yard and through the gates as the
farmer wants. It was amazing to watch these dogs balance on top of the
sheep and fencing, herding the sheep, without worrying them in the
slightest.
As
usual, Angela's favourite bit was feeding animals! This time however, it
was Roos! Kangaroos to the rest of us! Although cuddling a Koala
probably won the day for both of us! Did I mention how gorgeous they are?
We also
got to see a lot of other rescued animals including the following:
Wombats, Tasmanian Devils, Laughing Kookaburras, Frilled Lizards, Dingos,
Shingle-back Lizards, Eastern Water Dragons.
When we
were booking our accommodation in Queensland, we very nearly booked into
the Gold Coast, as this is what every Aussie had recommended. Thank God
we didn't! It was "Schoolies" week and just about every kid in Australia
descends on Surfers Paradise to party for the week after finishing school
and before going to college! Thousands of kids each night go out and in
general having a good time, but probably don't worry too much about the
chaos they cause!
We did
however venture to the Gold Coast to see what all the fuss was about, and
whilst we were there we visited Seaworld. This was one definitely like
Florida! Although it was good fun, it was a poor runner-up! The
highlights were great views of their Polar Bears, their Shark Bay Aquarium
was spectacular and lunch. For lunch we had what was basically a Pukka
Pie, but with a huge mashed potato and grilled cheese crust on top of it
and it was delicious!
In
summary, Australians really should stick to being Aussies and not try to
be "American" when putting on a show! As Aussie blokes, they are
hysterical, albeit not intentionally all of the time, but trying to be
"American" just doesn't work!
Brisbane, although the people were great, the most interesting part we
found was Southbank. This was a huge complex, consisting of many
different bars and restaurants, but the coolest thing was definitely the
Street Beach. In the middle of the city they had built an artificial
beach around a long, winding swimming pool.
One thing we must mention
was the "Happy Hour" they have on Thursday evenings at the Brisbane
Holiday Inn. The beer and wine are free between 6pm and 7pm to all guests
staying at the hotel who hold a Priority Club Card! Imagine how much beer
and wine we consumed in that hour! They even come round with free hot
nibbles! It is the best "Happy Hour" we've ever seen! |