Brisbane and Lone Pine

Last weekend I went to Brisbane with the intent of going to the Valley Fiesta. The Valley is ‘the’ trendy place to be in Brisbane. We made it to Brisbane around lunch time on Saturday and ate lunch at a ‘gourmet’ burger place which was actually really good.

We stayed at a friend’s brother’s apartment located just near the Valley which was the best possible location. Perusing the markets was really fun. Retro stuff is really in fashion here which is funny to me because a lot of people dress 80’s style thinking it’s popular. So if you’re dressing like it’s the 80’s, are 60’s and 70’s really that retro? I don’t know.

Brisbane (the capital of QLD) is a fun city. There’s a river that runs at a swirly diagonal through the city. We took the river ferry into South Bank (a main part of the city) and it was fun to see the city from the water.

We had a fun time going out Saturday night, but the best part of my trip to Brisbane though was our trip to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary on Sunday. Located just outside of the city, it’s the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary. It is also one of the few places you can still “cuddle” a koala. Supposedly, they ensure that each animal is handled for less than 30 minutes/day and has every 3^rd day off. I was sort of torn about actually holding the koala, but decided to do it. They instruct you to make a ‘basket’ with your hands and then they set the koala in it and put its paws on your shoulder. Or in my case, my shoulder and my boob. The koala is eating the whole time so it’s sort of oblivious to the fact it’s being held and photographed. The sanctuary employee (koala lady?) told us that they’re indifferent to being held. So that made me feel better. After, we got to stroke the koala’s back. Its fur is a lot more coarse than I was expecting. Still very cute though..

The cool thing about Lone Pine is that it’s almost like a big farm. Very few of the animals were in cages. The Koalas were split up into little areas that had a low fence sort of structure around them and included a few trees. So you could get within 3 or 4 feet of them with no (glass or wire) barrier. It was fun to observe the way the moved and situated themselves in trees. Koalas use up a lot of energy digesting their food so that’s why they have to sleep so much. Some of them were fairly active.

The other fun parts of Lone Pine are the wallabies and kangaroos. There’s a huge reserve where you go through the gate and then you can feed the wallabies and kangaroos. Its really neat to be able to just sit on the grass and watch the animals moving around you. They were so lazy and domesticated though! They knew that people all wanted to feed them so they would wait for the people to approach them rather than hop up to people. I momentarily contemplated chasing them so I could actually see them hop. There were a few moving around towards the back, but a lot of them were just laying down soaking up the sun. I didn’t realize how powerful their tails were and how they use it as sort of a 5^th leg. Very cool.

At the back of the reserve, there was a mama and a joey. Kangaroos have some crazy ability to hang on to a fertilized cell until the first baby is out and then re-instate the second one so effectively it’s like they’re continuously pregnant. Anyhow, it was really cool to see the joey in the mom’s pouch. Oh and there were a few random emus wandering around the kangaroo part too.

Rainbow at the beach

Life per usual

I haven't blogged in a while because... well... no good reason. I just feel like I should only blog about exciting things. But, the reality is that it's life per usual here in Australia. The honeymoon period has worn off. I can go to Wooly's and not spend 2 hours ogling the different products. (The Asian grocery store is still a challenge though). I know which bus I need to take. And I know that the Wednesday night bus driver is on a mission- he gets us back to Broadbeach in 25 minutes while the daytime drivers usually takes 30-50 minutes. I only cringe a little when I hear the word 'jumper' now. The word 'uni' has become a part of my vocabulary. I eat vegemite. And I like it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so stoked to be here. But unfortunately I'm not wrestling crocodiles and hopping around with kangaroos every day. I'm a student trying to make it through my last 6 weeks of law school. I'm a visitor trying to meet Australians and learn what makes them different and also what makes them the similar. I'm a person trying to grow. And perhaps most importantly, I'm an inhabitant of the Earth trying to ensure that it has a future past 2050. This is my life.

A few thoughts on life and being 25.... My birthday was about 2 weeks ago and yes, I survived my quarterlife crisis. I think that the chocolate cake for breakfast courtesy of my roommate was definitely an integral part to overcoming the crisis. My previous study abroad in Spain occured when I was 20 and turning 21-another pivotal time. I find that I'm different aside from just being older. This time around, I knew exactly what I was getting into and did it anyway. With Spain, I felt a little bit like I was tricked into some things. With Australia though, I managed to botch my visa worse than with Spain. Definitely room for improvement in the preparation department! Here though, I don't pretend like I don't speak the language when the oh so pleasant topic of politics comes up. I've come to terms with the fact that most people hate Americans. ("drill, baby, drill" anyone?) It's sort of understandable.

Anyhow, the most important thing I've realized is something I've known all along- that life is a do it yourself sort of thing. I'm the one that is responsible for my happiness. I flip out every now and then about being 25 and not having started my 'real' career, etc. And then I realize that hey, I'm in Australia. In November I will be spending time at the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, people who are waiting until they retire to see it will be too late. In December, I'm going to visit SE Asia. While security is something that humans are always lusting after, I'm ok with my path and the uncertainty that it brings. I'm happy with what I've chosen for myself.

So yes, more adventurous blogs to come. Brisbane this weekend, Vanuatu in a few weeks, 1 book to read, and 2 papers to write. Yup, life per usual