Koalas aren't that soft, smell like eucalyptus leaves, whine a bit when being transferred to the guest to hold, and grunt and holler when the keepers are changing their eucalyptus branches.
Getting to the Whitsunday islands is a project in itself. We flew to Brisbane from Auckland, spending a day at a koala sanctuary and the evening riding the city ferry up and down the river. Brisbane is one of the early penal settlements from the colonial era and there is no shame in saying that you are descended from convicts. Inland from the Tasman Sea on the tidal Brisbane River, the citizenry has built walking trails on pontoons along the waterways, done some impressive rehabbing of the Victorian architecture and moored a large number of watercraft along the banks. Great food was a little harder to find, might have missed the best by not bringing the right clothes to eat in our own hotel. With a 15 kilo limit per person for the next day, dress sandals were completely out.
That's Ann's headset in the upper right corner. R is photographing out of the bubble, Ann has the window(less) seat for the camera with film.
The Whitsunday Wilderness Lodge website was quite clear on the point: we were arriving at the beginning of the rainy season, with the potential to have some activities rained out. We in fact had a pinned-down-to-the shore gale wind, a few torrential downpours, hatches of mosquitoes and horseflies, along with brilliant ultraviolet-blue butterflies, fresh passionfruits, and spates of sun and clouds with a balmy breeze.
Most of my faithful readers know that I have been plagued by a fear of flying for some years, and that I have been doing better about it recently. I still surprise myself sometimes by doing things like voluntarily getting into a sea-helicopter without anesthesia. But I find that once I start taking pictures, I'm not afraid. Aerial photography could be a very expensive hobby.
Installment 2 coming soon
