Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
The morning of the 6th showed its face, and much like all the days previous in Brisbane, it was a beautiful day, if a little windy. The night previous, Jess had suggested the idea of visiting a famous local Koala sanctuary. There was a boat trip down the Brisbane river that takes you direct to the sanctuary and we thought this was a great idea!
We got up early and headed to the jetty from where the boat trip began. We payed onto the boat and began sailing down the river. Completely unexpectedly, over the megaphone a tour guide began announcing the famous landmarks down the river as well as some history of Brisbane, with particular attention to its numerous severe floods.
I was very glad to get this experience, as we did not expect it at all and really learned a lot about the suburbs of Brisbane. Around an hour after starting off we arrived at the sanctuary and entered. Although it was called a koala sanctuary, the place actually had a few different native animals in addition, including crocs, kangaroos, and various lizards etc.
After making our way around to the kangaroo area, we entered and headed across a field to a collection of roos. They were all completely placid, and many were being fed by other visitors to the sancturary. Not wanting to miss out, Jess and Lauren dashed off to get some feed and Scott began snapping away.
We spent almost an hour with the roos before moving on around the sanctuary, past the crocs and arriving at the koalas. All the guys wanted to hold a koala and get their photo taken, so we stopped and did this. Whilst we were waiting, I noticed some of the famous visitors to the sanctuary. Many of my favourite bands had visited, including Matchbox 20, Paramore and All Time Low.
After spending a few more hours at the sanctuary (by the end of which Lauren was just about ready to hijack all the baby koalas and take them home to Britain to start a family) we headed back to the ship. We sailed back upriver in the sunshine and disembarked. We got back to the hostel and noticed a poker tournament was on for free in the evening. Myself, Stu and Scott decided to sign up for a bit of fun, unaware of any prizes.
Lauren was amazing and cooked yet another fabulous meal for us. However the tournament was just about to start so we were worried we would have to forfit our spots. Thankfully the owner - Dan 'the man' allowed us to eat at the table quickly at the start. We sat down and Stu proffesed 'I dont want to do this too long, I dont want to win' - he wanted to still spend time with the girls chatting etc, and me and Scott felt just the same.
However once the game started, we found ourselves doing very well. In fact, by the end of the evening some 5 hours later, out of 30 players, we all eventually ended up on the same table with 2 other people. I took a player out before finishing fourth, leaving Scott, Stu and a guy called Ryan to determine the top 3. Scott managed to beat Ryan in an all-in, meaning we collectively finished 1st, 2nd and 4th.
It was only afterwards we discovered we won numerous prizes for this including a free skydive from 9000 feet, $65 worth of free bar tab and a free breakfast. The evening ended up becoming one of the greatest nights of our lives, as we invited everyone to share in the beer we had won and got to know everyone at the hostel. We woke up the next morning somewhat stunned at what had happened the day previous, and more than a little hung over!
- comments