May 2015

Hello everyone,

It's raining kangaroos and koalas on the Sunshine Coast

As spring approaches in Europe - at least I wish you it does - here in Australia, it's autumn: the Sunshine Coast today receives a downpour, and sheltered inside Banana Split, we expect the return of better days.Yet we've had splendid days in Brisbane, where we'd found a very urban mooring (a rare occurence for us) but very beautiful, and welcoming, planted with beautiful trees, along a pedestrian / bike lane following the banks of the Brisbane River: a friendly marina, where a few long-distance sailors have settled, some of them for many years ; to describe the atmosphere of this tiny community: every Saturday morning, a resident of the marina, a baker, brings back from his work a full cardboard box of breads of all kinds, he deposits it on the dock in front of his house boat, and cruisers moored in the marina come and help themselves for free!

Kangaroos and Emus

The city is very pleasant, nice, the river crisscrossed by "city cats", fast catamarans painted in bright colors, and the small "City Hopper", which is free. Due to the strength of the Australian dollar (or the Euro's weakness), life is rather expensive here, but the friendliness of Australians is impressive. In addition to beautiful rides on our bikes or to the city, we have -,after the Queen Mother, the Pope, Eric Clapton, Cher, Mariah Carey or Muse, visited one of Australia's most famous zoos, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, and we've approached kangaroos and emus . Here are pictures of these two animals ... Be aware that Australia, kangaroos - which are absolutely not a vanishing species- are commonly eaten in stews, and it is possible to buy in Queen Street's best souvenir shops a keychain, made of a kangaroo's scrotum!

Go like our koalas : And where are the koalas, I hear you sat say? They are on our Facebook page! Go and check it out, it's not so often that one has the opportunity to "like" two koalas at the same time.