Day 6

In the morning, we decided to go to Lone Pines Koala Sanctuary. After parking next to a large body of water, we walked down a path towards the entrance, surrounded by eucalyptus trees. It’s so beautiful to see so many of them growing in the wild. We first headed to the lorikeet feeding, sometime I’ve done before in a zoo. You go in a large cage and hold cups of nectar and the birds will go to your hand. Here, this was completely different. Lorikeets are wild birds here, I’ve seen several. There were tons of them that flew down and ate this rather chunky food from big platters. Also there was a huge square ring that would turn depending on where the birds landed. A small fountain stood nearby where the birds would bathe in, rolling in the water. They flew very close overhead so I had to watch out.

Next we headed up to the main koala section. It was filled with koalas! They had small enclosures, covered by a roof with some branches. Koalas slept in them, curled up into balls. There were many different ages and they actual look pretty different now that I’ve seen so many of them.

We went in the platypus house which was darkened since they’re nocturnal creatures. At first we could only see some shellfish in the tank, but then out of nowhere the platypus emerged. He was small! About a foot in length, swimming back and forth and doing loops. He would grab the shellfish in his beak and break them apart in order to eat them. It was one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen.

We walked around a bit more, then down to the enclosure where a presentation over koalas would be given. Over 130 koalas live at Lone Pine! After the slideshow, we could pet one of the koalas. He was so soft! Then we headed over to this open field where the birds of prey show would be taking place. They warned to stay seated during the show and it began. The first bird came from over a hill, swooping down over the field to land on a perch. It had a huge wingspan, one of the largest in Australia. We got to watch each bird eat and be carried around. The Barking owl was awesome! They used our heads as trees and he spread his wings and flew right over our heads! The last bird ate from the sky. They tossed his food into the air and he would snatch it right out of the air!

We entered the kangaroo area next, a large fenced in area with tons of wallabies hopping around and some emus too. They were all there to be petted. I had a sack with food pellets. I put some on my hand, held it flat in front of a wallaby and it ate from my hand! His tongue and lips were soft, leaving me with an empty hand and kangaroo slobber. I also fed an emu. His beak didn’t hurt either, but you had to have a pile of food in your hand because he ate fast! The smaller reddish wallabies were shy and wouldn’t let you too close. There were water bins all around for the kangaroos to drink from. It was interesting to watch them fulfill their thirst.

Lunch was eaten in this open picnic area with koalas around us enclosed only by short Plexiglas fences. Some of them were active and ran across the ground to the next tree. It’s so weird watching them on the ground, they were fast! We got some ice cream and headed off to look at some of the different birds, Tasmanian devils, giant fruit bats and wombats.

Apparently here you don’t see the small bats like you would in the U.S. Instead you see these huge ones! On the way, we saw a mama koala and her baby on her back! It was adorable!! Lone Pine was an amazing experience.

In the evening, we went to a good bye party for one of Beate’s research assistants. We drove part of the way and walked the rest through the bush, and Griffith University. Walking these trails through the bush was fun! It was pretty with all the eucalyptus trees and palm bushes. It was interesting to see an Australian university, but it was completely deserted. Pretty different type campus, than what I’m used to.