Back to our Holidays…

Just an hour drive inland from Byron Bay is the university town of Lismore. The area is known as a good place to spot koalas. If you don’t see them in the wild there is also a kind of ‘hospital’ for rescued koalas in the area. We thought that Dani would at least see some behind bars. Not ideal, but he has never seen one apart from on TV and in books.

Koala Trail

We headed off armed with a pamphlet from the tourist information in Byron Bay that suggested a few places to spot the furry creatures. After two of the recommended sites – and no luck – we headed for the koala rescue centre. And would you believe it? The place was closed to visitors due to that bloody virus! Will it never end? But I digress…

Next to the rescue centre was a small park area with plenty of trees. Just the sort of trees that koalas like to eat and sleep in. So, we walked around the immediate area, seemingly only guaranteed a stiff neck. Then out of nowhere a couple turned up, one of them pointing up into a tree. Amazingly she had spotted a koala in a tree while driving past. With eyesight that good she should be working for the CIA or some similar organisation. I was very impressed.

When your neck gets tired of looking up things like the roots of a tree can even catch your eye. The way some of these trees take root around here never ceases to amaze me.

Sure enough there was a koala just waking from a sleep and about to start eating.

 Can you spot the koala?

After a little more walking around looking up at the tree tops Dani’s mum spotted another one. By this time I had run back to the car for the camera with a telephoto lens. Photos with the phone camera just aren’t good enough. Look at this as an example. Can you spot the koala?

There is one there. The classic silhouette just about visible on the mobile phone photo…

Koala Numbers?

Probably the last two koalas in the wild? That is if you believe half of the rubbish spouted by news outlets in Europe during the fires in Australia last summer. They would have had you believe that the koala population was almost wiped out by fires. They may be hard to spot but it seems they are not exactly in danger of extinction. Just yet. All around this area there are warning signs on the roads advising drivers that there may be koalas crossing. There is so much natural habitat with huge forest areas almost everywhere. It seems there may be more than two of these funny creatures left in their natural habitat. That’s not to say we should take them for granted of course…

Another successful day of wildlife spotting and the little boy was happy. I wonder if this kid realises how lucky he is?

More pictures…

Here are a couple more photos of the koalas we spotted. (03 July 2020)