Liu Weifeng visits the east coast of Australia and gets an intimate encounter with crabs and koalas.

Koalas, kangaroos and the Sydney Opera House are all the standard icons for the armchair traveler looking at Australia. That was before I touched down at Brisbane in the Sunshine State of Queensland, the first stop of my Australian tour ?and realized Australia had a lot more to offer.

But what they say about the koala is true, as I found out when the animal in front of me was no longer a stuffed toy, but a cute flesh-and-blood creature scratching its ear with a fluffy back leg. It was cute enough to refresh me from a long trans-Pacific flight.

There isn't a more intimate experience than cuddling a koala, a resident of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, third largest city of Australia. There are 134 koalas in the sanctuary, the largest number according to Guinness Book of World Records, including the world's oldest koala in captivity.

Sarah, who was born in the sanctuary and died in 2001 at 23 years old, enjoyed a long happy life that is the equivalent to 161 human years.

Feeding kangaroo and wild lorikeets in large open grassland brought home the reality that this is Australia, and not Beijing Zoo where the kangaroos are enclosed.

It was a happy picture to bring home - with dozens of kangaroos and wallabies hopping around or lying down as they sunbathed with me, children joyfully romping around with the animals. It was surprisingly calm and natural, and a spontaneous interaction between animals and humans.

The park also shows off a slice of Aussie outback life, with sheepdog runs and sheep-shearing demonstrations. Brisbane is Australia's largest meat producer and exporter, thanks to its abundant sheep resources.

It is dubbed the River City, and the best way to see life here is from the water.

A one-hour waterway tour on Mirimar Cruise will easily connect travelers from the Lone Pine Sanctuary with urban Brisbane, where aboriginal tribes exist and mingle with later immigrants.

Over the banks of the river, mansions with private docks stretch out into the river, each showing off a yacht moored at the jetty.

Our tour guide, originally from Hong Kong, said local residents like river-view properties better than those facing the sea, a preference which pushes up both residential prices and government taxes.

Queensland attracts those who not only want to settle, but also those who want to have a look at the local wildlife and native lifestyle. The number of Chinese visitors is the fastest growing.

According to Andrew Sinclair, director of international operations at Queensland Tourism Bureau, tourists from New Zealand, UK, Europe, Japan and China are the top five countries visiting the Sunshine State. On average, there are 3,000 Chinese visitors every week, with one-third visiting Brisbane.

Our time at the Gold Coast coincided with "schoolie" season, a time when new graduates from different states celebrate with grand parties and carnivals. All registered "schoolies" wear a ribbon at the wrist to avoid questioning by local police, but it is still best to avoid going during this time to avoid the rambunctious partying.

A more peaceful alternative is to go on a "catch a crab" tour, crabbing in the Tweed region and then dining on your catch of luscious mud crabs on board. The highlight of the tour is the thrill of pulling up the crab pot with its harvest of Queensland mud crab.

To promote sustainability, local law discourages the trapping of female crabs and only males that have reached a certain size are "keepers". Crab-catching laws are even stricter in New South Wales, our next stop.

I finally got to see Sydney's landmark Opera House, which was the most stylish picture on the calendar hanging up in our living room in my childhood. From my hotel room at the Intercontinental, I got a fine view of the Opera House and it was like a dream come true.

The bridge climb up the Harbor Bridge turned out to be the most exciting part of the whole trip. It was hard work but the stupendous vista made it all worthwhile. Here, the bird's-eye view of the Opera House, the entire bay and the endless traffic on the Bridge below made it unforgettable.

Even the whole process of suiting up with jumpsuit, safety harness, hard hat, gloves and walkie-talkie was exciting enough. It was a fitting end to a most exciting trip.