Noosa and the Koala Sanctuary

For the latest pictures, click on the link here (there are two different links):

http://www.flickr.com/gp/16718975@N00/UaC82k

http://www.flickr.com/gp/16718975@N00/1Lt32S

So we are now in our exchange home in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast. Buderim is about 1 hour north of Brisbane. Our exchange home is nice and we do have views of the ocean from the two terraces. I haven’t taken pictures of the home yet, but I will do that later.

Yesterday we went to Noosa Heads, which is the northern part of the Sunshine Coast. Noosa is regarded as the Nice of Australia. Lonely Planet describes it as an exclusive area where the “glammed-up fashionists and wealthy do their holiday”. “The trendy café latte landscape has been cultivated without loosing sight of simple seaside pleasures”. Indeed it is very nice and the nature is still very much present. We started the day visiting Sunshine Beach. It was very windy and the surf was extremely rough and messy. We managed to stay a bit and wade in the pounding surf. Afterwards we went for a trek in Noosa National Park, which has some koalas (there are yellow warning diamond road signs with a koala in it, with a smaller sign underneath saying “we live here too”). We did not spot any. We saw some peculiar trees with some-type of flower with something that resembles mussels growing on it. Afterwards we explored Hastings Street in Noosa Heads…a chic boulevard with cafes and trendy boutiques. Just behind the street is the main beach of Noosa.

Today we went to the Lone Pines Koala Sanctuary, near Brisbane, which is the largest koala sanctuary in the world. so we were able to see koalas after being nearly a week in Oz. No wonder why we did not see any yesterday in Noosa National Park...koalas sleep most of the time high in the trees and they blend in very nicely to their environment...you really have to look to find them. This sanctuary also has other Australian animals…kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and lorikeets. We got to hold a koala...mine was called Pepsi… and she was adorable. We also got to walk with the kangaroos and wallabies (wallabies are smaller than kangaroos and have more color). We also got to feed lorikeets…what an experience.

Tomorrow we head up the coast to the Town of 1770 (five hour drive from here), from where we will take a boat to Lady Musgrave Island, one of the first islands at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. After that we will head off to Rainbow Beach, from where we will go to Fraser Island for 2 days.