Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

We finally went and did something distinctly Australian this weekend, and went to a Koala Preserve. I, Joel, was a little bit disappointed that koala preserves weren't available for purchase, but in the long run, I'm not really sure that koala would spread well on toast. (It would, however, be better than vegemite). Where was I?

It was a beautiful day that started with about an hour long bus ride. In the bus terminal we met a Korean fellow who needed help with the bus signage. It soon came out that he, like us, was headed for the Koala Preserve. He then sat with us on the bus and chatted and chatted and chatted for the entire bus ride. If my eyes would wander to look at something out the window, he would make sure that I understood what he was saying, apologize for his 'poor English skills,' and draw my 'attention' back. The bus ride required a little more attention than I had hoped. Once we got to the Koala preserve our new friend immediately set out on organizing the trip for us, often stopping, and asking for us to take his picture, and often grabbing my camera and taking our picture. He would say, "Okaaaaaay, everyone say Kim-chi." He was very fond of us. He was very kind hearted and friendly, but after awhile (few hours) we very politely told him we would venture on our own while he went to the sheep dog show... I hope he's not still looking for us.

About the preserve: It was FANTASTIC!, not just fantastic, or even FANTASTIC, but FANTASTIC! I had no idea that there would be a large field where you could walk around with kangaroos and emus. I had no idea that the kangaroos would be so friendly. It was great to give the 'roos a good scratch on the head and put your arm around them as if you were old pals. Two kangaroos were even so thoughtful as to think about the educational aspects of visiting the zoo, and demonstrated mating habits of their species. Well, actually, there was a male kangaroo attempting to demonstrate the mating habits, but the female "had a headache."

There was an ample collection of koalas too. Koalas appear to sleep very well. They have evolved to be good sleepers the way that cheetahs have evolved to be fast runners over a short distance, or the way the Inland Taipan (more on him later) evolved to be more deadly than necessary. A lot of koalas use a fantastic stance of sleeping with their forehead propped against a branch, and then they slump and sleep. I think we saw a grand total of 2 koalas that were actually awake. Awake used very loosely here. Awake in koala terms would be the amount of awake your average human is when answering the call of nature at 3:30 in the morning.

In addition to the kangaroos and koalas, there was a plethora of other Australian critters. One of the best was the display of some of the friendly reptiles that call the island continent home. We got to see the Eastern Brown Snake, which is the second most venomous land snake in the world. One shouldn't worry too much about the eastern brown snake though, because they can also come in "light tan through dark brown, russet or almost black." So really it can come in any variety of earth tones for those not completely on board with plain ol' brown. Not to be out done, in the next stall over was the Inland Taipan which has the distinction of being the most venomous land snake in the world. I particularly enjoyed what the sign on the inland taipan's cage had to say:

Also known as the 'fierce snake' or 'small-scaled snake,' this species is considered to be the most venomous land snake in the world. Fortunately, it does not share its distribution with a large human population, and has a quiet, shy temperament

Apparently 'fierce' and 'shy' are synonyms in Australian English. The sign continues:

The closely related 'coastal taipan' is a far more nervous animal. It is found in northern Australia and along the coast of Queensland where it is more likely to be encountered by humans

The 'coastal taipan' was on display opposite of its friendly cousin, the fierce-snake. It's also nice to know that I also live along the coast of Queensland.

So after educating ourselves on the snakes that could kill us on a whim, we moved on to look at birds. We saw lots of cute things like cockatoos (that talk) and kuckoburras (or however you spell it) lorikeets and so forth. The nice thing about birds is that they aren't deadly..... unless they are cassowaries, then they are deadly. Fitting with the theme of the continent, these birds are found (although in dwindling numbers) in Queensland, as are my wife and I. Cassowaries look like a cross between an emu and archaeopteryx. They have a bright blue head, a bone 'helmet' and a slashing claw that it can use in leaping attacks. The cassowary will jump in a slashing attack with both feet. Don't believe me? Look it up on youtube. I don't think they've killed anyone in awhile, but it's nice to know that birds aren't left out of the deadly category.

I think that's about it. If you want to see more pictures go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpeterb/