BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

 

In 1823 Governor Brisbane of Sydney sent out a party to the north to find some remote land to make a new penal colony for the worst of the convicts.  The site that was named Brisbane seemed idea.  It was on a very winding river and it could be colonized on each side of the river.  The penal colony was in existence from 1823-1842.  After that it was open land to free settlers. There are now four million people living in Brisbane. 

 

It is in the State of Queensland and is its capital, a different one than Sydney, which was New South Wales. The bad thing about living on the river is they have had some very bad floods in 1893, 1974, and 2011.

 

In 1927 a man found two Koalas that had been abused so he nursed them back to health and decided to start a Koala Sanctuary so they don’t become extinct. They have expanded it to include barn animals, sheep dogs, birds of prey, snakes, crocodiles, platypus, kangaroos, and Tasmanian devils.

 

 The highlight of my day was when I got to hold a Koala bear. His name was Bagel and he was 11 years old.  They are so sweet. He was hungry when he got to me so his handler gave him some eucalyptus leaves which are the only thing they will eat. They sleep about 20 hours a day and wake up to find food to eat.  They are really slow and sluggish and they sleep in trees. They have their babies in a pouch like the kangaroo.

Bagel was hungry and his handler had to give him some

eucalyptus leaves to while I held him.

Bagel is happy eating his leaves.

The Brisbane River winds through the city.

View of the city from above.