Brisbane Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

[snickerdoodle7]

We will be in Brisbane on the Soltice this month. The ships tour to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is pricey (Oh surprise, surprise You can actually hold one and have a picture taken! My question is, how hard would it be to take public transportation or the price to hire a cab for the trip? Thanks for any information.

[Marytutor]

We loved Lone Pine. We took a shuttle (22AUS$). We took a boat ride to and from Lone pine. Check out Mirima Cruises Brisbane.The day was delightful. We cruised through the wealthy area and saw some wonderful things. We left the dock at 10 or so and arrived at 11:15 and left LP at 1:45 arriving back in Brisbane at 3:00PM. One can purchase a light lunch on board. I think my sandwich was 5$AUS.

The basic charge was 65$ AUS but they have discounts for age and we got a group discount in addition to the above. We saw the Celebrity group and they did not have a long time at Lone Pine. Go to your Roll Call and you might be able to get a group together.

I agree with the cost of Celebrity tours. Good luck,

Mary

[CathyCruises]

If you have ANY CHANCE of getting to the Australia Zoo I would do that instead. It's the one created by Steve Irwin (and in fact we saw his wife and daughter while we were there) and it really is the best zoo I have ever been to. Koalas everywhere, but also every other kind of exotic animal. You can walk amongst the kangaroos, feed the elephants, etc. I have no idea if it's even possible as a port stop because my daughter lives there and drove us but I really recommend it.

[4774Papa]

The Solstice docks at a port several miles from the city. It is the site of a grain elevator complex. That is why the shuttle costs 22$Australian.
A taxi would be very expensive.

[Pangoulis]

http://www.mirimar.com/site/daily-cruises

Please post the time you can leave the ship and the time you need to be back .

[keiki40]

We took the public bus to and back the Sanctuary and arrived way ahead of the crowds! Best decision we could have made.

[keiki40]

From the koala.net webpage:

Bus

There are regular buses to and from Lone Pine operated by the Brisbane City Council.


Brisbane City Council Bus number 445 leaves from stop 40 Adelaide Street
Brisbane City Council Bus number 430 leaves from Platform B4, Queen Street bus station

Adult fares are $6.70 and children, pensioners and students are $3.40 (with valid I.D.). Prices are subject to change.

For updated information on public transport please visit: translink.com.au or call 13 12 30

[snickerdoodle7]

Thanks for all your helpful replies. The shuttle and taking the bus or cruise both sound like good options. Now I just need to use Goodle Earth and figure out the bus departure point and/or the location to jump on the cruise. I will post any pictures of the cuddly Koalas when we return

[Pearl64]

We were on the Solstice on the Feb. 22 cruise. Yes, the ship docks way out of town. We were fortunate to have a fellow cruisemember who also lives in Brisbane set up his own tour. He rented a bus for all 25 of us. We headed to Lone Pine ahead of the other tours. It take some time to get there like over a half hour. He told us to get in line first if we wanted pictures with the koalas. You have to get the tickets for the koala holding across the path (Celebrity did not tell its passengers to do that and they got in line only to be told to get the ticket. By that time the line was very long.) It costs $16 but others can take pictures of you as well. Also, you can get another picture if there are two of you--only one gets to hold though. This was a smart move due to the lines and the torrential downpours that occurred right after we got our pictures. This is the only place where you can hold the koalas. We got the group rate but I think the cost to enter Lone Pine is around $30 AUD. You can also walk among the kangaroos and emus. Just watch for poo!

We also had a city tour of Brisbane with all its unique bridges. We got to see the cricket stadium which for us Americans was unique. We were going to see a lot more but cut it short by an hour due to the floods. Streets were like what you see on the Weather Channel. Brisbane has some unique architecture. We enjoyed our tour and was most appreciative to Flipper for arranging it.

Others have gone to Lone Pine on their own. Perhaps a search might reward you with some suggestions.

Pearl