Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

"Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - Come meet the Koalas!"

You'll love visiting this Koala sanctuary - the animals here are well looked after and its one of the only states where you can still cuddle a Koala. So it's a great chance to get a picture of yourself cuddling one of these soft fury creatures.

You'll also get to see some other classic Australian animals too like kangaroos, tasmanian devils, lorikeets, platypus, echidnas, wombats and snakes.

Getting to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

You can certainly drive from the city to the park but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a sat nav - there's a few twists and turns.

You can get a bus if you like - Bus number 445 leaves from stop 40 Adelaide Streetor Bus number 430 leaves from Platform B4, Queen Street bus station.

By far the best way to get here is by boat. The Mirimar Boat Cruise will give you a 1hr 20 min cruise along the Brisbane River. It departs every day at 10am from the Cultural Centre Pontoon near the state library.

The boat then heads back to the city at about 1.30pm giving you about 2 hours at the sanctuary which was plenty of time.

The ticket includes entry to the park too and costs about $50.

What To See And Do?

You'll have a great time meeting some of the 130 Koalas that they have here. There's lots of facts to learn about these lovely creatures too. For more information on Koalas you can head to my Australian Animals.

Having your photo with a Koala means you get to cuddle one. You have to pay extra for this but they will take a few extra pictures on your own camera for you too - I guess it's just one of those experiences that you can't do in the rest of the world.

Attending one of the Koala presentations is also informative and interesting. They usually do this at at about 11.15am so if you are taking the boat cruise, this should be the first thing you do when you get here.

Visit some of the other classic Australian animals- don't miss the platypus, wombats and tasmanian devils. You should however have plenty of time to visit them all including the lorikeets and the kangaroos.

If you are into reptiles then you can get up close and personal to these creatures too - they even do similar photo holding opportunities if you really want!