Brisbane
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22 hours of travel and still ticking. Joan after landing in Brisbane from Los Angeles
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Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is pure tourist venue, but was a lot of fun for Joan and me. It isn't the place for people who think that wild should be left in wildlife. The animal exhibits are excellent and if you want to see Koalas, hundreds are on exhibit.
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Rainbow lorikeet at Lone Pine
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Joan and Peabody
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Sea Eagle on exhibit
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Black kite on exhibit
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Barn owl on exhibit
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Barking owl on exhibit
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Joan finally finds a live kangaroo after much searching on highway roads and in national parks.
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Snoozing young koala
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Koala exhibits and talks were excellent for learning about and even touching/holding koalas.
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Noisy miner bird on Lone Pine grounds
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CityCat ferry provided convenient, relaxing, inexpensive transport from our motel near the airport to downtown sites. We loved taking the ferry out to dinner at great restaurants along the river and to South Bank venues.
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Modern condos/apartments and older homes had a good view over the river.
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Dining on South Bank
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Extensive construction under way at South Bank
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Entrance to the Queensland Museum. Both the Queensland Museum and the nearby Art and Maritime Museums were a full day of discovery and revelation for Joan and me as non-Australian visitors. The history of many notable explorers, settlers, and air pioneers gives testimony to the courage, inventiveness and tenacity required to establish the country/state in its present form. Exhibits on aboriginal peoples were excellent (and disturbing). The biologic diversity exhibits were overwhealming. Several days of visit would be needed to do a thorough tour.
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Robert Burke and William Wills led an early expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north in 1860-61. At that time, most of the inland of Australia had not been explored by non-indigenous people and was completely unknown to the European settlers. Misjudgement, miscommunication and misunderstanding of inland and northern terrain and of indigenous cultures plaqued the expedition and resulted in all members of the expedition except one dying. The museum had several exhibits of early explorers and air pioneers whose prominent record of exploration and pioneering ended abruptly in suffering and death. Early Australia was not for the weak or timid at heart.
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Wheel of Brisbane ferris wheel at South Bank. Joan and I took a ride at sunset.
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Brisbane downtown along the Brisbane River after sundown. Photo taken from Ferry dock on South Bank (site of 1988 World Expo).
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South Bank at sundown from the CityCatferry boat deck.
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Vegetable dishes at The Jelly Fish at the River Bank ferry stop along the Brisbane River.
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Jelly Fish gets Joan's high approval rating.
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After 11 days in Australia, a much rested and relaxed Joan gets ready to board the Quantas flight back to the USA to start the Fall semester of teaching at the UF College of Nursing.

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