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Living the Australian Dream

My next stop in Aus was Brisbane, to reunite with one of my high school besties. Kelsea recently moved there for grad school so when I was making my itinerary I knew it had to include a visit. Coincidentally, this is the territory in which you can hold koala bears so as sad as I was to leave Sydney I was pumped for the next part of the adventure.

Kels picked me up at the airport and it was SO good to see a familiar face from home. At this point I have been traveling for over a month alone so it was amazing to be somewhat back in my "comfort zone". The first night in Brisbane Kelsea and Matt took me to the West End which had a nice hipster vibe. I had my first Indian food experience and now I am absolutely hooked! The next day we went into the center and Kelsea gave me a tour of her new city. This place is so cool! It's definitely smaller than Sydney but it still has so much to offer, including a beach in the middle of the city 😎

While Kelsea was at grad school I took a trip to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to live out my dream of holding one. You can't even imagine the disappointment when I got there (after an hour bus ride) and they told me the Koala encounters were sold out. I like to pride myself on being a go with the flow traveler..delayed flights? no problem. lost bus ticket? I'll deal with it. However for some reason, this was enough to bring me to the verge of tears 😂The next day you better believe I was there right at opening, determined to hold a damn koala. I got there before the encounters started so I spent an hour exploring the zoo and hanging out with the kangaroos 
Finally, 10 AM rolled around and it was time to meet my beloved Koala 😍

I think the smile on my face says it all! His name was Okanoro and to be honest this was one of the best moments of my life 😃

I thought the day couldn't get any better but then my friend Elise came to meet me. We were reuniting for the first time since meeting in Edinburgh over the winter. She works in a zoo so it was like having my own private tour guide and I learned all sorts of facts about Australian animals! She even took me to the stunning Sunshine Coast and it was amazing to get to see another part of this beautiful country!

It was amazing to catch up with old friends and new, and although it is sad to say goodbye I am beyond exciting to be on my way to the Great Barrier Reef! 

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