After our arrival Saturday morning, our walking tour to QUT and Southbank, and our initial City Cat trip down the river to our cookout at the O'Donovan's, Sunday was our big touristy day.
We began with a visit to the MacArthur Museum, where we connected with Sally, one of Rumintha's students. Everyone took the elevator to the 8th floor, where MacArthur's Office was during the Second World War. The elevator only held small groups, and the leadership team went up last where we discovered our American students chattering very loudly in the reception area. This building was essentially the Pentagon of the Pacific during the war. It was chosen for this purpose partly due to its size, and all floors were occupied by offices supporting the U.S. and Australian armed services. The building as also deemed to be more secure in case of bombings - a genuine concern - because it wa constructed with new techniques using brick, steel, and reinforced concrete.
Our excellent volunteer tour guide Paul kicked off our visit with a film about Brisbane during the war, which he stopped a few times to add supplemental information about what we're were seeing and the wartime experience of the Brisbanites. We then moved to the very large table where MacArthur and his staff met to plan the Allied actions for the war in the Pacific. Paul presented a fascinating history lesson about the geopolitical history of the region, the significance of the South China Sea, the connections between Japan's ambitions and strategy in relation to the war in Europe, and the various bombing campaigns and attempted attacks on Australia.
We didn't have time to read and digest all of the museum displays, but we did get to visit MacArthur's actual office which is outfitted with a replica desk, period furniture, and the General's actual chair, table, and cigar box. Paul also took Roberto and me into Lieutenant-General Richard Sutherland's office across the hall, which is not officially open to the public. There, his actual desk is still in use by museum staff today.
After lunch we took a bus from the hotel to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Lone Pine is more than Koalas. It is a little zoo-like, with environments for many native Australian animals. Aside from Koalas, we saw wombats, dingo, Tasmanian Devils, crocodile, kookaburra, emu, other birds, and - of course - kangaroos. I realized after I left that I completely missed the platypus.
We watched some Koalas sitting in trees, watching us. They seem pretty stoic and sedentary, which might not be true, but it looked like they were lazily enjoying lounging around in the eucalyptus trees. We later got to hold a Koala to have our photo taken, and it was fun to see all of the celebrity photos of those who had been there before us doing the same thing.
We bought food to feed the kangaroos, but they weren't really that hungry after having tourists feed them all day, day after day. A couple of them ate from my hand, and we had some good photo opportunities and a chance to pet some kangaroos as they lounged around. One of the highlights was when we discovered a kangaroo with a small on in its pouch. The little one climbed in and out, moved around, and generally looked cute. Little children were delighted interacting with the animals, with one little boy bravely (or naively) petting, patting, and pulling on ears and whiskers. He wasn't too rough, though, and the Kangaroo was permissive.
Before leaving, many of us watched a demonstration of an Australian sheep dog doing its thing. That dog was full of energy and an expert at moving the sheep around the pen, over bridges, and through gates at the guide's command. As we left, it was lorikeet feeding time. The staff set out foot in holder that visitors could pick up, and then everyone was swarmed by a brilliantly colored flock of screening birds, fluttering around the crowd, landing on people's heads, on the feeders, on shoulders... we had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun taking some great photos.
Earlier today we all went through customs and indicated that we had not touched livestock or walked in pastures... well, not recently anyway.
After Lone Pine, we went up to Mt. Cooth-Tha, the highest hill in the area, in a national park, where there is a magnificent lookout point. From there we had a great view of several sections of the river, the surrounding hills, the distant port and the ocean, and - most spectacularly - the tall buildings of the CBD reflecting the golden sunlight of the sunset behind us. It was a beautiful way to end our day as tourists in Brisbane.
As I wrap up this post, we are approaching Bloomington's North Walnut Street exit. We still have six students with us, and although everyone is tired we have been talkative and relatively energetic. Some of the students have mentioned they cannot believe the trip is already over - it seem like the just applied to go, and now the class and the immersion tour are behind us. In spite of some tension and glitches, I know everyone learned a lot, and I'd say that on balance we had a great time. More Posts to come, including photos. But first, a reunion with Barry and our dogs, a shower, dinner, and rest. Our 30 your travel day is nearly compete.
