It's 5:15 am and yes I'm up-and showered and dressed and drinking tea

Those of you who know me, know I am not a morning person.  But this is an instance where what little jet lag we have does us good as we get up at 4 or 4:30 and get on our way for birding.  The sun rises about 4:30, but sets early, and we need to get on the road.

We are currently in Warwick, Queensland, where the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and there are roses blooming directly in front of our room.  I'm sitting outside with my cup of tea.  It's hard to get better than this!

It's going to be hard to catchup without the world's longest blog entry.  This may need to be bits and pieces.

Monday, December 9

We landed about 8 am, took forever to get through immigration and customs.  A lady in front of us had a chicken sandwich in bag,  off she went.  This could have been us as we later discovered that Steve had accidentally smuggled a LOOK bar into Australia for me.  I enjoyed it for dessert two nights later.

As on prior trips to Australia, we were pretty perky, but a shower at the airport helped even more, and soon we were on our way.

Except Google Maps failed us again and we spent a lot of not so quality time in downtown Brisbane, which has a plethora of one-way streets and a singular lack of parking spaces (so one can stop and ask directions or buy a map).  At last I found the correct motorway and exit, and fairly soon we made it to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

The minute we stepped out of the car, Steve spotted a Pacific Baza and filming commenced.  I admit, it is a pretty cool looking bird.  I left him there and headed in to the park.  I had a koala to cuddle.

The koala cuddling is highly regulated, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity.  He was placed in my arms, trailing a strong scent of eucalyptus.  Surprisingly heavy, and a little wiggly as he tore through his leaves and wanted some more.  I think I got to hold him a little longer because it took them awhile to get him to stay still for the photo opp.  I enjoyed every minute.

There are lots of koala "nurseries" and some of the koalas were very active, running about and leaping from limb to limb.  Certainly there were some sleeping as you would expect, but many were more active than I thought they would be.

More later!  Have to go birding now.

Holding a Koala at Lone Pine Nature Sanctuary

Okay, I'm going to give posting one photo a try.  After 27 hours of travel, and another hour wandering the streets of downtown Brisbane, we finally made our way to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

I look a little worse for the wear, but the Koala looks great.

Koalas, Kangaroos, Dingos and a Cassowary too

We arrived!  And I would love to show you pictures and tell you all about the last two days, but a lack of speedy internet access prevents that at this time.

While Aaronlee Retreat (our lodging for the first three nights here) is absolutely lovely and peaceful, I can only get wifi by sitting at a big white picnic table out on the grounds.  It's achingly slow, and if more than one person is on it, it is more so.

So, picture if you will, me huddled over my ipad in the dark.

So, more later!

Sad Face, Sitting at Home Instead of on a Plane

The Weather Gods Laughed

Man plans, God Laughs.

The best laid plans of mice and men...


*&*^%%&^R

All appropriately apply to the current situation.  Who would have thought that flying through Dallas would bring weather issues?  Ice storm in Dallas, flights cancelled, just can't get there from here.

So, instead of my nicely planned route of MCI/DFW, 3 hour layover, then 16 hours straight on to Brisbane, we fly to Chicago tomorrow, layover, fly to LAX, layover, then fly to Brisbane, arriving Monday instead of Sunday.

Boo.

Thank you Weather Gods for making it easy to leave tomorrow

Five Days, that's right 5 - Wait, now it's 4!