Are you there Koloa? Its me, Brendan

Living with a few Canadians defiantly has its benefits, one of these is their ability too empathize with Canadian cravings. My craving from “Presidents Choice White Cheddar Mac and Cheese” led to a half hour conversation in-which we listed all of the food from home that we desperately missed. Some of the items that made the list are as follows: Ketchup Chips, Kraft Dinner and everything Tim Hortons.

Have you ever looked at yourself and thought, damn, I look good? Well that was how I used to feel whenever I exited any body of water. I used to think that being wet was the sexiest I could look until I discovered spandex biking shorts. With anything there is an adjustment period, but after 20 minutes of awkwardly dancing around the house I was ready to venture onto the streets of Brisbane, headed for Mt. Coo-tha. Mt. Coo-tha is roughly an hour ride away and provides a spectacular view of Queensland. As with any great vantage point, tourists seem to flock there in large numbers. At one point while taking in the beauty of my surroundings I was approached by a group requesting that I take their picture, I kindly said “yes” and took a few snaps. While handing back the camera one of the individuals in the group asked “did you cycle here?” whilst I stood in front of them in spandex biking shorts, a helmet and a bike at my side. There is an old saying that states “there is no such thing as a dumb question” and if you take into account people with creative minds, I agree with the statement. For all intents and purposes they may have thought I flew to the top of the mountain on the back of Falcor the Luck Dragon from the “Never Ending Story”, that I always wore a helmet and spandex shorts, and the item to my right was my conjoined twin, but most sensible people could deduce how I arrived at Mt. Coo-tha. While riding Falcor home I continued to laugh at the absurdity of their question.

This past Saturday I awoke with a lot of energy and decided to make the 60 km round-trip ride to the Daisy Hill Koloa Sanctuary. Daisy Hill Koloa Sanctuary is a 425-hectare conservation area that is home to approximately 130 Koloa’s amongst other animals. Koloa’s are a threatened species in Queensland mainly due to the deforestation of their habitat. Upon arrival at the sanctuary I noticed a sign stating the educational facility would be closed for 6 months for renovations. Not feeling discouraged I decided that this would be the ideal opportunity to utilize my wilderness-tracking skills. Typically I would not go in search of a bear, but Koloa’s are not known to be a dangerous species. An interesting fact about Koloa’s is that they have a high rate of Chlamydia amongst their species. As I walked through the forest in spandex biking shorts, I scoured the bush looking for signs of the elusive bear.

While walking I encountered a few Wallabies. Wallabies are similar to a Kangaroo except that Wallabies are smaller and have a thinner tail. At one point I saw a Wallaby sitting amongst a group of people, as the Wallaby casually fed on vegetation two little children around two-years old walked up the Wallaby and attempted to pet the animal. I pulled out my camera and switched it to video mode not because it was cute but because I thought that something funny was about to ensue and I could sell the video to America’s Funniest Home Videos. Sadly nothing happened.

I walked for about two hours searching for the elusive creature until all of a sudden I spotted what appeared to be the outline of a Koloa. I quietly made my way towards the creature, pulled out my camera and took the following picture.





I think I forgot to mention that I posses no actual wilderness skills. You would think that the countless hours spent watch shows such as Man Tracker or Survivor Man on OLN (Outdoor Life Network) would have taught me something. I left the Daisy Hill Sanctuary a little frustrated. Now begins the “Great Koloa Chase”.


“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson