Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Queensland, Australia

5W8677INrachell 5:00 PM Jan 20, 2023

Platinum Tour not to be missed - amazing experience!
I don’t even know where to start! We travelled as a group of 6 from New Zealand, with 4 adults and 2 tweenagers (12 year old girls). We elected to do the Platinum Tour which essentially meant we got a private tour, as the maximum group size is 6 guests. Our guide was Kayla who I believe is the education manager at Lone Pine. She was fantastic from the word go. We also had Tiana, another staff member, shadowing for most of the day which was a bonus. Both of the ladies were so full of information and had a sense of humour which made the tour really enjoyable. As the tour includes morning tea and lunch, our first job was to fill out sheets to choose drinks and food items (all of which were delicious). Then we hit the tour properly. In no particular order - socialization/training with a rainbow lorikeet, hand feeding beautiful gentle kangaroos and wallabies (including seeing joeys in and out of pouches). Meeting and having professional photos with a snake and a koala. Going in the the dingo enclosure for pats and snuggles. Meeting and feeding Chicky the cassowary and seeing her up close. Holding a bearded dragon. Watching the crocodile feeding (only on certain days). Feeding platypus and Tasmanian devils and turtles. Going to a free flight show and having one of the birds perch on our hand, and seeing one of the resident sheepdogs rounding up some sheep. There are quite a few different keeper talks during the day. There are also many other creatures such as a variety of lizards, wombats, flying foxes etc. In many cases you are going behind the scenes, sitting in reserved seating, queue jumping for photos etc and it’s all run very professionally. It was very clear the keepers loved their animals and feeling was mutual. There are so many beautiful animals including many koalas as Lone Pine is a very old and established sanctuary. At the end we were taken to pick up our photos and presented with Lone Pine pins and caps as a memento of the day. Our whole group had a fantastic time and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lone Pine in general, and the Platinum Tour in particular, to anyone. I can’t think of a better Aussie animal experience I’ve had.

5Ben S 5:00 PM Dec 3, 2022

Great little animal park just out of Brisbane
We spent about 2-3 hours here. It's a rather small park but very well-maintained and the animals looked active and happy. The personnel was friendly and there was lots of information available. As a non-Australian, chilling among the kangaroos and feeding them was definitely a highlight of our visit! We also opted to take a photo with a koala. The caretakers assured us the koalas don't mind and they only do it with the most social animals. We took a public bus from Brisbane center (north side) which was a long ride but still convenient. When we visited there were some renovations ongoing, and the gift shop/cafeteria seemed to be closed earlier than advertised, which was unfortunate but understandable. Would definitely recommend this place if you're looking to fill a few hours, if you're looking for a whole day activity with animals you should rather go to a bigger zoo near Brisbane.