The Big Koala Hunt

Since we have been here in Australia, Friday has been my favorite day of the week. That's really not a lot different than when we are in Canada, but Fridays here are really good. Friday is the day that we all jump in the truck after school and we head out to explore the area around us. We have found some great places, great food and friendly people. It's always a great adventure!

About two weeks ago we headed out on one of our Friday adventures to a place called Pound Bend. Pound Bend is a piece of protected land in Warrandyte State Park. One of Steve's coworkers told him that there were koalas in the park, lot's of them. Fabulous we thought! We would love to see some koalas. Off we went.

The park was beautiful, with the Yarra River flowing through. There are some really lush areas and some that are quite barren with just a little scrub brush under the trees. There are loads of trails to walk on, picnic and day camp areas and peace and quiet. We headed out along a trail that followed the river bank, keeping our eyes peeled, looking for the "many" koalas. As we walked we wondered where we would see them. Near the top of the trees? Out on a branch? in the crook of a tree where the branch meets the trunk? Are they out in the day? Dusk? We probably should have done a bit of homework first.

After walking for about an hour the girls began to complain about how far we had gone, their legs were sore, they were hungry. Yikes! Any koalas that had thought about making an appearance were probably scared off by the ranting. We decided to head back to the parking area, taking a bit of a different route. We cut through a small clearing part way down the trail.

Walking through the clearing we came across an old rusty piece of machinery. Out in the wild! Wow. Suddenly this became really interesting as we tried to figure out what it had been used for. It had a small door on either side that opened to cavities that looked liked they were used for wood burning. There was a small rocket shaped cylinder on the top. We decided that it probably had something to do with the gold mining that had gone on in the area in the 1800's. With the proximity to the river it seemed reasonable. We knew it was really old because it had a very established tree growing up through the middle.

Happy with our discovery we turned to head for the truck. You know that feeling when you are being watched but when you look up nobody is there? We had that feeling. Yep, we were being watched - by two very curious kangaroos. Yikes! Do they attack people? Are they more scared of us? Do we move? Slowly we started walking and as we did, the kangaroos started a very slow retreat, stopping to look back at us every few feet. They are funny creatures. Who would have thought that you could actually look elegant with feet that size? Kangaroos certainly are.

Silly koalas. We never did see any that evening but we were none the less impressed with what we had found. An ancient piece of machinery and a couple of curious kangaroos. Not we had started out looking for but still exciting. The girls climbed in to the truck chattering about it.

We have wondered over the last month or so why we don't do this more often when we are at home. Maybe we should start when we get back. You never know what you can find. I work this Friday but maybe we'll head out for a short drive some where. It's always an adventure.