There weren’t a lot of things I had to do while in Brisbane.

Sure, I wanted to try the local cuisine and walk across Story Bridge. But the one thing I was most excited about — and it wasn’t eating Vegemite — was seeing the Australian wildlife, particularly the koalas and kangaroos.

So we headed to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, the world’s first and largest koala sanctuary, with more 130 koalas and other animals, to up close and personal with the country’s iconic animals.

I couldn’t wait!

My goal: to cuddle a koala.

Here’s what our day trip to the sanctuary — and what we ate after — looked like:

Cuddle time!

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Easily the biggest draw to the sanctuary — and maybe all of Brisbane — is the opportunity to hug a koala. (The practice is actually banned in New South Wales.) For more than 80 years, the sanctuary has offered this, and celebrities such as Janet Jackson, Taylor Swift, Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev and Marilyn Manson have all cuddled a koala. So why not me!

Follow my adventures in Brisbane on Twitter at @thedaiydish and on Instagram at @catherinetoth.