Brisbane River Cruise with entry to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Description
See Australia’s amazing animals on a day trip to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary from Brisbane. Your river cruise takes you from the bustling waterfront of Southbank to the lush parklands of Lone Pine, with the chance to see iconic sights as you glide along the water. At the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, you can get up close to koalas, kangaroos and watch platypus, sheepdogs, and birds of prey in action. Animal lovers will not want to miss this experience! Check-in is required by 8.45 am, departs at 9am sharp, arriving at Lone Pine Sanctuary 10:15- departing Lone Pine at 1:30pm and arriving back in the city at 2:45pm
Tour Options
Itinerary
You’ll board your boat in Brisbane’s Southbank district and leave the city behind on a relaxing cruise to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Enjoy informative commentary from your captain as you glide along Brisbane’s waterfront, passing from the bustle of the city’s skyscrapers to leafy suburbs with waterside mansions.
At 10:15am you’ll arrive at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where you’ll be free to explore for 3 hours. Lone Pine opened in 1927 as a safe refuge for sick, injured, and orphaned koalas, at a time when the species was being culled for the fur trade. Today, Lone Pine remains as a destination not only see native Australian animals, but to also connect and learn, and to leave feeling inspired to make small, positive changes in your daily lives to help protect native wildlife and habitats. Along with koalas and kangaroos, Lone Pine hosts a sheepdog show where you see the dogs round up a herd of sheep, responding to their master’s whistles, calls and signals. You can see owls, kites and sea eagles soar above you at the Birds of Prey show, or marvel at the colorful feathers of the wild lorikeets that fly in twice daily for feedings. Other bird species and a population of Eastern Water Dragons, a lizard that grows up to 3 feet (90cm) long also like to visit Lone Pine’s natural parkland.
After an action packed exploration of the Sanctuary we start boarding for those of you with tired feet at 12:45pm until 1:30pm when you will embark on a relaxing cruise back to the city. Enjoy the full service of our Cafe/Bar with a chessboard and wine (to purchase on board) or just sit back and listen to the music.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Wheelchair: Cruise is accessible however Lone Pine has a set of 28 steps to climb from the jetty to the entrance
- No health restrictions apply to this tour
Reviews(1,681)
Such a lovely way to get to the sanctuary. The onboard commentary about the river was very informative. Food and drink were nice and not expensive. The sanctuary is definitely worth visiting, so glad we got to see this during our visit to Australia from England.
The river cruise experience was enjoyable. Everything was organised nicely and we were well informed and guided during the trip.
Really good visit for all ages. Boat and staff perfect (although kitchen closed on return journey before we decided to order). Lone Pine excellent- especially cute koalas and kangaroo experience. Whole trip was well timed. Highly recommended.
This was a really great experience. The boat journey out through the CBD and suburbs is beautiful and has interesting commentary on board. I love ogling fancy houses and trust me there are plenty to look at on this trip! There's then a little over three hours at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - a lovely spot with loads to see and do. We saw short but excellent raptor and working sheepdog displays, loads of other interesting animals and of course koalas. These were just amazing - saw them sleeping, eating, jumping from tree to tree and best of all a mother and joey out and about.
This was an amazing experience, I had one day in Brisbane with my 11 year old and this was a perfect way to spend it!
It was an excellent and very well organized river cruise with visit to the koala sanctuary. The ride was comfortable. On board coffee and snacks were really good.
Very well organised! From the moment of boarding the river cruise and arriving at Koala park was enjoyable for the whole family,
People with mobility issues need to be aware that there are steep steps leading from the boat to the Sanctuary. We had a fantastic day, the boat trip was very relaxing and informative and the Koala Sanctuary was FANTASTIC
This was a superb day outing. Great staff on-board and the running commentary of local facts was good to hear on the way to the santuary. I would highly recommend this trip!!!
Can be breezy on the top deck. So it’s chilly in winter. Fantastic opportunities to interact with animals that are unique to Australia. Some are so docile that they will allow themselves to be pet.
