Brisbane
Definately not much to see and do in the city itself, this is a business city so when we arrived on Saturday afternoon there was no buzz whatsoever! Our plan anyway was to head out to the coast and go whale watching! This is the time of year when humpback whales are breeding and migrating so plenty of opportunity to spot them. We were lucky enough to see a mum and 3 day old baby swim beside our boat and then some impressive males dive into the water splashing their massive tails - don't think we were quick enough with the camera though!

Then the next most important thing to see when staying in or around Brisbane is to go to Australia Zoo!! Obviously the absence of Steve Irwin is a big deal here but his picture is on every poster and on every leaflet in sight! They invest a lot of money to the protection and rehabilitation of australias animals - especially the Koalas. We were lucky to cuddle one - they are as cute in real life as they look. They need to sleep for around 20 hours a day so they are really dopey and sleepy all the time, they are very cute when they cuddle themselves whilst sleeping up a eucalyptus tree! The saddest part of the day however was visiting the zoo's hospital for animals - they are kept extremely busy with wild Koalas who are injured by either pet dogs or hit by cars. Whilst visiting there was one getting operated on (which you could see clearly through the glass) as it had been hit by a car and had abdominal injuries and another one who had been attacked by a pet dog and its jaw was broken .... very, very sad.

It was lovely to see the kangaroos - they are in a massive enclosure, more like a park which you walk in to and can sit beside or feed the kangaroos. Alot of them had joeys in their pouches which was an added bonus, another 'cute' moment!

We couldnt believe that we were at the end of another leg of our trip, leaving Australia for Vietnam .....