January 7-Brisbane, Australia

We are in Brisbane- the capital of Queensland- today. This large city has grown and grown in population because many people have moved here looking for better jobs and cheaper housing. Recently they have had a terrible drought and are under very strict water restrictions. No one can water their lawns or wish their cars. Many people collect the rinse water from the clothes washing machines to water the lawns. Showers are limited to 4 minutes....but I don't know how that gets monitored. 

The city itself is filled with a mixture of modern glass skyscrapers and lovely old colonial style sandstone structures. Large sculpture pieces dotted the landscape downtown.

The city is on the Brisbane River- named for Sit Thomas Brisbane who developed the area. 

We visited Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and saw lots of lots of the furry little creatures. Each one eats 2 shopping bags of fresh eucalyptus leaves every day. If you have a eucalyptus growing in your yard the government can come and harvest some of your branches if they need food for the Koalas.

We saw kangaroos, dingos, beautiful birds, large lizards, wombats, and some really big fruit bats. It was a fun place to spend the day. We also saw some fresh water crocodiles. 

They made some tea for our group that was boiled in a tin can like you might do in the outback but we decided we were way to hot to drink that and we had icy cold water. 

Very interesting place.