She'll Be Apples...: Visiting Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary AKA Best. Day. Ever.

We got up at 4:30am. While that sounds insane to do on a vacation, that's what happens when you go to bed at 7pm. Besides we were so excited to go to Lone Pine today. We really had little idea what was in store for us; we couldn't have imagined a more amazing day. Today, both of us agree, was worth the flight alone. That's right, I said it. 20+ hours on a plane...WORTH every second.

We caught the bus to Lone Pine from what I can only describe as the most elaborate, organized and perfect mass transit system I've ever experienced. Picture thousands of stops, hundreds of busses, all flowing like blood through your system. Lub Dub. And our bus driver was so frikkin' cool, I can't begin to describe how much I LOVE Aussies.

Upon our arrival, we encountered large reptiles, koalas, kangaroos, kookaburra birds...click this link to see and hear a sample sound clip (thanks Sharon). Totally like what you hear in every "jungle" sound clip of every movie ever.

So... feeding a kangaroo has completed me in a way I didn't think possible. Fuzzy lips and chin, gentle friendly creatures that LOVE to lay in the sunshine, be fed, pet, scratched and photographed! And wow, did we do all of that...A LOT! I was particularly fond of photographing the sleeping roos.

With my lesser-known nickname of Mandaroo...I got to do some "roo" bonding with a particularly sleepy one who let me scratch his head for quite a bit! He must have sensed my "roo-ness."

We also got to feed a Wallaby who was SO friendly and gentle. They are like tiny kangaroos.

Walking about the kangaroo enclosure were Emus. If you know me, you know I really dislike Llamas. And I dislike Emus just as much...mostly because they are scary and one attempted to attack me through a fence once. However, I have pictorial proof that I can conquer my fears (so can Brian):

I look strange here...it's because it took all my moxy to walk up to that bird and pet it. But I walked away with both of my eyes in tact...mission accomplished!

Of course, we were desperate to hold a koala bear.

Here we are waiting on line with our ticket to "cuddle a koala"...

We only waited about 5 minutes and it was so worth the wait. I think the pictures speak for themselves:

Meet Chelsea - she's an adolescent koala. When you stand there, waiting for the handler to give you a koala to hold, you place your hands by your bellybutton, cupping them a bit and next thing you know, you have a koala bum in your hands and their little hands grasp you as if you are their tree. Chelsea looked me square in the eyes and blinked ever so slowly. We stared at each other the entire time, until I was forced to break the connection and look at the camera. As soon as it flashed, we went back to staring at each other. It was such a unique connection. And in fact, koalas have the cutest ears I've ever seen!