Nature Walks & Kangaroos: Brisbane Immersions, Part 1
It has been absolutely wonderful staying in Brisbane these past two weeks. Monday to Friday, the team works at our respective client sites: Brisbane International Airport for Royal Flying Doctors Service and University of Queensland for WWF. The Corporate Service Corp Program, through our partner Australian Business Volunteers (ABV), has planned two weekend day excursions during our month here in Brisbane. Among ourselves, nightly dinners are planned as well as other activities on days that are open.
Springbrook National Park and the Gold Coast
The first CSC excursion was on Saturday (Aug 11) to Springbrook National Park and the Gold Coast hosted by Prestige Day Tours. These areas are a few hours drive from the city of Brisbane. The group started with tea and homemade scones at a local cafe, Two Pines Cafe. The park had majestic views of mountains and waterfalls. It was a wonderful small hike away from the city and from buildings.
After the park, the group had a late lunch at the Gold Coast in Currumbin Beach with down time in the beach. The weather was perfect and the water refreshing and cold. In one area, there were many kite surfer’s and enjoyed watching them for a couple of minutes. From the beach, you can see the high rise skyline of Surfer’s Paradise. We stopped by there on the way back, but I preferred Currumbin.
Australia Zoo
On Sunday, August 12, the group facilitated a trip to the Australia Zoo on our own. This zoo is known for the owners, the Irwin family (as in Steve Irwin!). From Brisbane, the trip involves a bus since it’s about 1/1.5 hours away from the city.
The zoo did a great job keeping his legacy with family photos throughout the campus. For me, I had no expectations other than there were Australian animals also there, but wow! this zoo is incredible! There was open spaces for the animals, greenery everywhere that provided plenty of shade and cool air, and new ways to interact with the animals that I didn’t expect from a zoo. These were the best because it did not involve a cage like environment.
