Brisbane
Hard to believe it took me three trips to Brisbane to finally make it to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It's not the biggest sanctuary, but plenty enough for ~100 koalas, ample kanagroos to hand-feed, and a plethora of other animals to enjoy. The heat made the wombats and other small ones hide in the shade, but the kanagroos were hungry first thing in the morning, and koalas are indeed as cute as promised. Splurging on the opportunity to hold one is well worth it at least once in a lifetime, and comes with a bonus of an hour-long guided tour that includes behind-the-scenes access as well as very knowledgable staff who dropped in useful facts about koalas all over the place (including the importance of experienced female koalas to help out inexperienced new moms!).
Some brief entertainment at the rideshare driver's car on the way back to Brisbane, a BYD Atto 3 EV, which not a brand either of the Americans in the car had seen before. Lunch was at a poppin' place I saw last night, Sushi Edo, which was much more accessible at lunch. Turns out conveyor belt sushi in Australia is even more unimpressive than it is in America, but they at least had some pretty good hotate (scallop) you could order from the tablet at your seat, and the imitation crab and avocado was excellent.
Post-lunch exploring randomly found the local government's flagship project, the Cross River Rail Experience Centre, which was surprisingly well-done. Large 270 degree experience room, four VR experiences, and some dedicated staff eager to talk not only about the project but the reasons behind it and some of the hardware and design that went into the experience centre itself. Stopped by for some very decent milk tea at Hype Tea just outside as well.
Met up again with Kevin, another United frequent flier (hello fellow UA 1K/GS/MM members), for dinner that evening. Happy Crab Seafood seemed like a Cajun-style seafood boil complete with paper-covered tables, gloves, and bibs... so I was a little disappointed when the Moreton Bay bugs and the shrimp came out on plates instead of in bags full of steaming seafood. Still, the decor was fun, and when in Australia, you do as the local do. Wandered over to the Southbank area after, which is clearly a very, very popular scene in the evenings and at night. Kevin's local colleagues recommended Messina for gelato, and they lived up to the hype-- and, quite literally, the heat.