Cute, cuddly Koalas

2008-10-03 - Friday

Today we're off to Airlie Beach (pronounced eh-lee); however, on the way we've stopped in to the Billabong Santuary.

The Billabong Santuary serves several important roles: they provide an opportunity for the general public to get up and close with some of the typical creatures found in Australia: Koalas, Wallabee's, Crocodiles, Snakes, Birds, Turtles, Kangaroos, etc.; And in doing so, helps to inform the public of some of the pressures against the healthy survival of some of these creatures, such as the Wallabee, Koala, and Cassoware (and australian flightless bird, slightly smaller than an emu).

The Santuary is over 250 acres; however, we only glimpsed a small fraction of that.

Being the only opportunity to see some of these particular animals up close, I tried to take full advantage of it. The kangaroos, for example, were so tame that it was more like being in a petting zoo. You could easily approach one of these creatures and give them a little pet behind the ears. Another special part of this visit was the opportunity to hold a Koala.

I wasn't sure if I was very keen to do this at the onset. As cute as the pictures are; there was a part of me that just felt it was unnatural for the Koala, stressed it unnecessarily and in some ways belittles the creature. The guides were very good at explaining the rules in place to ensure such things don't happen, especially introducing unnecessary stress to the animal.

In fact, I was surprised to learn that, at least at this Santuary, Koalas are only permitted to "work" a half hour a day; partly to minimize these stressors, but also because they need the other 23.5 hours to nap, nap, sleep and eat a little and nap a lot more.

With my mind set at ease, I queued for my photo - how could I not... It was a once of a lifetime opportunity, my "donation" was going to a good cause, and gosh darn it they're just so cute!

Once we arrived in Airlie Beach, we had set up camp and started getting ready to head in to town for supper. This would be one of the few nights we've eaten out.

But before going out, I really wanted to do something about the length of my hair. It was just over a month since it was buzzed last and I was feeling the need for another cut - too much grey starting to show. :-) I had asked Matt (our tour leader) if I'd be able to find a barber open in town at this relatively late hour. He said probably, but that he also had a pair of clippers that I could borrow... But they didn't have any guards. Luckly, my sister had already introduced me to buzz cuts without guards...so I was ok with that. I don't quite have the knack for buzzing my own hair yet; so Sophie, having prior experience with cutting her own family's hair, volunteered to do the honours... Then the coolest thing happened. One by one, the rest of the guys starting coming forward saying they'd like a buzz cut as well. In total, we had 7 people elect to have their hair buzzed that night. I must say, there were more than a few glances in our direction that
night as we headed out for supper. No need for torches (flashlights) tonight as the moonlight easily reflected off of our bald white domes like blinding lights!