RTW Trip Day #73: Evelyn’s Dream Day: A Visit to The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

andrewsco3
1 day ago
4 min read

Updated: 4 hours ago

10 December 2025

Steps: 14,611

Today has to be one of my favourite days on our trip, as not only did we get to see koalas up close, I also got to see how happy Evelyn was seeing a koala, which for everyone that knows Evelyn, means the world to her.

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is best known for its koalas, but there are plenty of other animals to see as well, including kangaroos, birds, reptiles, and a wide range of native wildlife.

Before heading inside, we checked the app to see which free live shows were running and planned our morning around them.

Wild Lorikeet Feeding

Susie holding a bird feeder for the wild lorikeets

First up was the wild lorikeet feeding, where you could hold up a pot of food and watch the birds swoop in from every direction.

The colours of the birds were beautiful, and one even landed on my head, much to the girls’ amusement!

Free Range Kangaroo Feeding

We bought some bags of “roo food” for two dollars from the concession stand, then headed into the free range kangaroo feeding area, which is a large open space where the kangaroos roam freely.

The kangaroos were surprisingly gentle and not pushy for food at all, unlike the deer in Nara! Feeding them was a lot of fun, and the kids could have stayed there for ages. We enjoyed it so much that we went back again later in the day.

Free Flight Raptor show

Next was the raptor show, although there was more than just raptors, as we also got to see an eagle and owls. The birds swooped down from behind the stage onto the handlers’ arms at the front, which was pretty amazing to watch, especially the falcon with its incredible speed.

An owl on its handlers arm at the Lone Pine Sanctuary

Sheep Dog Show

Coming from England, we’ve seen this before, but it’s always amazing to watch how sheep dogs can herd sheep so accurately.

The Nocturnal Section

Next on the list was the nocturnal section of the park. It’s home to some really interesting animals, such as tree kangaroos, and a Tasmanian devil, and the large enclosures are designed so the animals can move around freely.

However, the enclosures replicate the wild so well that we didn’t actually see a single animal in the whole area, which was a bit disappointing. You can book night time tours though, which we’d love to do if we came back again.

The Koala Talk

At eleven thirty, we went to the free koala talk. It was really informative, and even our resident expert Evelyn learnt some new facts about koalas!

Right next to the area, there are lots of enclosures where you can see the koalas, and this was where Evelyn saw her first koala, such a lovely moment!

Afterwards, we ate our sandwiches that we had brought for lunch, although there looked to be some decent lunch options at the cafe.

The Koala Discovery Tour

At one o’clock, it was time for our VIP Koala Discovery Tour. It started with a ranger showing us around different parts of the centre, including a behind the scenes area where all the eucalyptus for the koalas is prepared and organised.

We then went into one of the enclosures to see the koalas up close, and we ended up with some really funny photos. Koalas really do look like giant stuffed toys!

After that, we were taken to a separate area for a professional photo with a koala and a chance to gently stroke it, which made Evelyn’s entire day.

The tour was great, but it was very expensive. We didn’t want to leave the centre feeling like we’d missed out for Evelyn, but once we added the Koala Discovery Tour, the visit actually cost us more than a day at Disneyland in Japan.

I’ll be writing a blog post about visiting the park, where I’ll share how we’d do it differently if we came back again, especially as a family.

I do want to stress that Evelyn said she preferred seeing the koalas to Disneyland though!!!

Emu Feeding

Once the experience was over, we went to feed Australia’s largest bird, the emu. It’s actually not as scary as you might think, and it took the pellets quite gently, although it was a little more pushy than the kangaroos!

Dingo Talk

Before leaving the park, we went to the 2.45pm dingo talk, which was quite interesting. I even remembered having an encounter with dingos back in 2006 when we visited Fraser Island!

The Croc and Other Animals at the Sanctuary

The last animals we saw the crocodile. There had been a ‘croc talk’ at noon, but we missed it as we needed to have lunch before our koala tour.

There is also a small underwater dome that kids can climb into to view the crocodile, but you couldn’t really see him in there, and he didn’t seem to move an inch all day!

We also saw plenty of other animals throughout the day, but these were the highlights. All in all, it was a tremendous day out, one that we will all never forget, and one of the highlights of our trip!

Dinner on Southbank

After a few hours rest, we decided to go for dinner along the Southbank, via a nice walk in through the Botanical Gardens.

The beautiful tree by the bridge all lit up

The view of Brisbane while crossing the bridge is stunning, especially at night. We had dinner at the Plough Inn and then walked along the Southbank and there was so much going on.

There was music playing all along the pathway, 12 massive elves that have been set up for Christmas, and the streets beach pool stays open late if you want a swim - it’s fantastic.

We were even treated to a firework show as there was a light festival that was starting just as we happened to walk past which rounded out the perfect day!