Brisbane and Forster, Australia

After Magnetic Island I headed to Brisbane.  I LOVED the city!  There are so many parks; each one just a bit different, so every day was something new.  I went to the city botanic garden and barely got in the front gate when I spotted a few trees filled with fledgling birds, just out of the nest and learning to fly.  They were noisy miners and the name fits.  All the babies were squawking like mad, like kids in a pool all yelling “Mom, watch me!”

 

The park had many areas, all with a different look.  I wandered by the river next to a mangrove swamp; took a path that led to a rain forest; other paths took me to flowers and a more open area.  As I was leaving someone pointed out a group of bats hanging in a tree.  They turned out to be flying foxes, a relative of a bat, but they look pretty much the same. 

I also found a wonderful pedestrian area, with shops, a mall, many different restaurants, and people just hanging out.  I was there on Christmas eve and I was struck by how different it was to the US.  Here, people were just enjoying themselves; laughing, talking to friends, having a bite to eat.  Almost no one was shopping and those that were had maybe one small bag.  There were very few Christmas decorations; mainly one large tree in King George Square, the beginning of the pedestrian area. In the US, the malls and shopping areas would be packed; everyone walking around loaded down with shopping bags, many people looking stressed. 

 

I stayed at a really nice house for most of my Brisbane stay, I found it on Airbnb.  They had a great studio on the ground floor.  One housemate lived downstairs across the hall and the other 3 lived upstairs.  They all left for Christmas and I hung out with a beautiful friendly cat called Mojito.  I had a very nice stay and the homeowners were great to be around; the kind of people I would totally be friends with if I lived in the area. 

Brisbane sits on a river, so one day I hopped on the ferry and rode along for the entire route.  The city itself only had a few stops, but the ferry went pretty far out in either direction.  It seemed mostly residential, but also quite a lot of green space.  I did get to see some great city views, especially with several unique bridges in the foreground. 

I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the oldest and largest koala sanctuary in the world.  Along with the obvious koalas, they had 2 huge fields you could walk through to feed and pet kangaroos and emus.   They also had sheep and a sheep dog demonstration as well as bird shows.  The rest was more like a zoo with your typical Australian wildlife; various birds and reptiles, dingoes, wombats, and Tasmanian devils.  The koalas of course are so adorable.  They had just been fed when I arrived, so everyone was awake.  They have to be the easiest animal ever to photograph because they just sit and look cute.

I heard about another place in Brisbane where you could see bats, Indooroopilly Island, so late one afternoon I headed out to find them as they woke up and started hunting.  It looked like a 45 min walk from the house, through a large park by the river.  I arrived at the Google destination only to find the park I wanted was across the river with no bridge or ferry in sight.  Thanks Google!  The next day was Sunday and I decided to try again, this time by bus.  I had to go to the city center to catch another bus, so I took advantage of the proximity of restaurants and had Vietnamese for lunch, yet again.  I’m sure there were other types of food, but since it’s my favorite, I had it every time. Luckily there were literally a dozen Vietnamese places in a 3-block radius, and I thought I should try them all.  

OK, back to the park.  The bus dropped me off in a residential neighborhood with a green space across the street, which was Thomas Park Bougainvillea Gardens.  I planned on visiting this one first, but after walking around a bit, there really was not much to see; it was basically a green space with very large trees.  The park I wanted was behind the golf club next door, so I headed off in that direction.  The day was very hot, the golf club seemed to go on forever, and I just wasn’t seeing the park I wanted.  Quite frankly, I lost the motivation to find it.  I happened to be walking along the street where the bus ran so, I stopped at the next bus stop and checked the time.  Ugg, I had almost an hour to wait.  OK I decided to keep looking for the park since it was headed in the same direction the bus was coming from.  I walked for another 15 minutes and checked the time at another bus stop.  I figured the time till the next bus would be less.  Nope, it was the exact same time as the 1^st stop (how was that even possible) and I still had no idea where the park was.  What the heck, OK I’ll sit and wait.  I checked my phone and realized I had no data left.  OK I won’t be entertaining myself that way.  After waiting 45 min, finally, the bus came…and went.  The driver drove right past me as if I didn’t jump up and hail them.  (Insert the bad words those of you who know me, know I said!)  The next bus wouldn’t come for another 1.5 hours, I had no data to call Uber, or to get directions from Google as to the fastest route to walk out.  I had a general idea where I was and luckily, eventually found a train station. Which was closed for construction.  There was a bus to take you to various other train stations, but again, no Google maps to know where those stations were, and of course no one around to ask.  Finally, help arrived and told me which station I wanted.  Of course, the bus I got on went in the exact opposite direction despite me standing right next to the sign saying it went to my station. Yea, I know, I should have asked the driver, but it seemed so obvious.  In the end, I got home around 6pm, not at 2:30 which I would have if the 1^st bus had actually stopped!  Well, that’s just one of the hazards of travel.  On the plus side, I did make friends with some magpies at the bus stop and had one eating out of my hand. 

I had reservations at a resort near Forster in New South Wales, so I rented a car and drove.  I sure wish I had done a bit more research; the resort was a 7-hour drive from Brisbane, but only 2 from Sydney.  It was a free week, from buying the week on Magnetic Island, through the Armed Forces Vacation Club.  Its a great military benefit for those who are eligible and haven’t tried them yet.  They run ‘buy one week, get one week free’, a few times a year.  It was a beach resort with nothing else around.  To be honest, having 7 days of just laying around was a very welcome change and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I did find a nearby hiking trail that was nice, and I went into the various towns nearby.  All were typical beach towns; in one I came to a fish cleaning station with 2 dozen or so pelicans hanging about, waiting for handouts.  They were in luck; 3 different people came over to clean their catch.  There was one pelican in quite a predicament.  Somehow, it had a long piece of fish skin wrapped around its bill with part of the fish itself in its mouth.  A woman and me tried to catch it to no avail.   I guess the pelican had never seen the videos of kind people helping wildlife.  Even the other birds were trying to help, they kept trying to grab the part of the fish they could reach.  It didn’t care for their assistance either.  Eventually it was able to untangle itself, but it was very frustrating watching it and not being able to help. 

There was a family staying in the apartment next to mine and we shared some wonderful evenings sitting on the porch chatting.  It was a mother and daughter with 2 kids.  One night one of the kids came to get me, they had found an owl and they knew I had been photographing birds.  How they saw it I’ll never know.  It was sitting on a post next to the pool and it blended in so well, the girl almost had to touch it before I could see it.   It was dark enough that I had to use the flash, but I didn’t want to blind the poor thing, so I just took 2 photos.  It didn’t seem to mind, it just sat and stared at us.  I had mentioned I still hadn’t seen a wild kangaroo.  They said they had seen them in the field behind us, that I should be patient.  One evening they asked if I had seen the one just a few minutes ago, hopping right through the parking lot.  No, no I didn’t!  Another time they came to tell me there was a kangaroo out back.   Sure enough, it was just standing there looking around.  Finally!  The drive back and forth to Brisbane was unremarkable, but it did give me more practice, and confidence, driving on the other side of the road. 

Link to photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sREmRJcqnDcTPsFL7

Link to purchase photos: https://throughlisaslens.zenfolio.com