Kookaburras and Koalas Galore

“So how can I find koalas?” I asked Graeme, the man who owns the cafe we are wwoofing at in Lorne, one evening over dinner.  He pointed up to the rainforest behind us and said all I had to do was walk in that direction.  And then he added that I might actually hear them first as they sound like pigs.  He made a noisy oinking snort-like sound for emphasis.  A little dubious, I headed up the trail after eating, torch in hand (oop, I mean flashlight), and face staring up at the trees.   As promised, I actually heard the koalas first.  Their cries are similar to pigs, somewhere between belching burps and grunts that sound far too loud for the tiny marsupials that make the noise.  I followed the sound up the gum tree it was coming from and saw a koala perched above.  So amazing!  Koalas are very picky eaters and only chew on the freshest eucalyptus leaves.  Since the leaves have almost no calories and are also very toxic to digest (thus requiring lots of energy), koalas don’t move a lot.  They sleep when they aren’t eating and some scientists believe that their brains are either shrinking or that they are too small for their heads due to lack of nutrition.  These thoughts aside, the first koala that I saw was wide awake and peering down at me.  I continued walking for another hour, and saw four more koalas.  One was even walking along the path in front of me, and I got to see another in action making the belching noise from a nearby tree, head thrust back and nose in the air.  Add in a gaggle of bright white cockatoos that were screeching around, a few random wallabies crashing through the forest, as well as kookaburras (which sound similar to hooting monkeys), and there was pleny of Aussie wildlife to see and hear.  During the moments that they quieted down enough, I could even hear the ocean in the distance.  All this only a few steps from the treehouse we are staying in at Qdos.  Happily, I have yet to see any of the poisonous snakes and spiders that also live in the area.

Our time in Lorne and Australia is coming to a close and in a few days we head on to New Zealand.  We rented a car yesterday to drive down the Great Ocean Road , and had a spectacular day (pictures coming as soon as we find a place to upload them).  The ocean is slowly beating away at the limestone cliffs that border the beaches, leaving amazing rock formations and coastlines to see, as well as some great swimming spots.  Oh yes, and one more bit of Aussie terminology for the day: Imagine your face being swarmed by small black flies.  Thankfully they don’t bite, but they do like to aim for your nose, ears, mouth, and eyes.  Now imagine everyone you see swatting at them and ta-da, you’ve got the Australian wave.  People were waving a lot yesterday and it was a bit hard to get a fly-free picture.  Despite that, this is still one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been.

More Adventures to Come,

Julie