If you are in or near the Brisbane area when visiting Australia, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is a must-see. It was one of the first things we booked, knowing our 6 and 9 year old daughters would love it. It ended up being one of my top favorite things we did as well! Let’s dive in!
Tickets to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:
To get tickets to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, check out their website here. The main draw of this sanctuary is that you get to hold and pet koalas! You also get to pet and feed kangaroos and wallabies! When you first enter the sanctuary, you are free to look around before or after petting koalas. You do get a slight deal on tickets if you are family of four. I got us day passes for $135, then added the $15 “touch a koala” pass and 3 $29 “hold a koala” passes.
In order to hold a koala, you have to be 130 centimeters (for us Americans, that means roughly 4’3″.) If you are under that height, you can touch a koala rather than hold one. Unfortunately, Winnie was under the height requirement. We were afraid it would devastate her that she could only pet one while the rest of us got to hold one. However, she was still happy because she got her own time to pet a koala and ask questions to the guide helping us. After she got her turn, we had to get back in line again for our turn to hold a koala, so be prepared for that!
Professional Photos at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:
You have the option of getting professional photos taken of your family with each of you holding a koala. The catch is, you get only 3 professional photos in that package. So we had a family shot of Vince holding the koala, a family shot of me holding, him, and one of Lila holding him. I then took plenty of photos of Winnie petting her koala.
What else you can do at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:
After we all got our turn to hold the koalas, we wanted to check out the rest of the sanctuary. They have a little café on site where you can grab food and drinks. There is also a gift shop too, which of course our girls had to hit up. Then, we went to pet some kangaroos and wallabies!
You can buy little bags of food to feed to the kangaroos and wallabies. When we first walked in to the gated area where they are, we met Bailey, the emu. Bailey hangs out with her kangaroo and wallaby buddies. The guide told us that the kangaroos are so used to being fed, that they’re lazy and just lay there waiting for you to come to them! She wasn’t wrong, we had to walk right up to them and they’d eat right out of our hands.
Amphibian and Reptile Habitat at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:
We ended our voyage in the amphibian and reptile habitat. They had all sorts of poisonous snakes, frogs, and even an adorable platypus! If you want to make an entire day out of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, I strongly suggest taking in one of their demonstrations! The show times are on the calendar on their main site here and include: A free flight raptor show, sheep dog show, crocodile talk, snake photos, dingo photos, and wild lorikeet feedings on top of the koala holding/petting.
To read my blog about the Sydney Opera House, click here. Read about Moreton Island/Tangalooma Resort by clicking here. To read about our trip to the Australian wineries in Hunter Valley, click here. And to read about our time at the Sydney Aquarium, click here. I will be adding more Brisbane activities soon, and as always, thanks for stopping by!
