Three Adventures in Brisbane

As I mentioned before “Brisvegas” wasn’t a patch on Melbourne as a city. I don’t even think you can compare the two. There were shops, pubs, bars, and we had meals and Christmas drinks. (These were complete with Santa hats for the girls and reindeer antlers for the guys. It was a desperate attempt to try and feel at least a little bit festive. There are the odd decorations here but not nearly enough, and anyway, a man dressed in full Santa attire or fake icicles hanging from trees in 35 degrees heat is just stupid). But after all the normal city activities, we sought out three things that made my time in Brisbane very memorable.

Firstly, holding a Koala has been a life long dream ever since they became my favourite animal at the age of three. We visited Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the first and biggest Koala sanctuary in Australia, and I got to see a lot of Koalas and hold a rather heavy one by the name of Yaba. Secondly, we found an old style theatre, which had been turned into a cinema where you could take your own food and drink. We went to watch “The Loved Ones”, a Melbourne Film Festival flick (which was unnecessarily gruesome) and huddled under scarves with bags of Maltesers and bottles of wine. It reminded me of a coffee bar I liked in Melbourne, which contained old red and peeling cinema seats. Thirdly was my Skydive. I’ve always wanted to do a Skydive and Lorna wanted to conquer her fear of heights. The guy I was strapped to was called “Fully Sik” and was a little bit mental. The jump was from 14,000 ft out of a small plane, free falling for about a minute and then the parachute opens and you drift the rest of the way down. Because you’re strapped onto someone else (and nothing is your responsibility) a Skydive has never worried me that much. I think if I’m not in charge that can only be a good thing. As we were climbing higher and higher, however, I was pretty petrified. It only really hit me when I fell out of the plane. Falling through the sky from that far up was a pretty incredible feeling. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone.