Successful Koala Hunting!! Feb 12

Paynesville is our final destination for the day, so getting off the bus in Bairnsdale and finding another to Paynesville could have been time consuming and confusing, but we are rescued by Denis Hudson's brother Cullen, who just happens to live there. He picks us up and whisks us off to Paynesville, stopping to show us the area on the way. What a help! And it gives us a chance to really see the area which we think is magnificent. There are canals everywhere with beautiful boats moored behind homes that could have been plucked from a home magazine.

We alight at the Marina Cove Resort, eager to see if we can actually find the koalas that were promised us by the Hudsons, Gilbys and others on the bus. We throw our suitcases down and take the ferry to Raymond Island, hoping to see at least one koala. I secretly hope to see a baby koala, but I don't speak it aloud for fear of jinxing our chance. There it is--our first koala just 50 feet from where we get off the ferry, its little face looking down at us with a perplexed expression, as if to ask us what the big deal is. It is a big deal, and we continue on, faces upward to hopefully see another one. We see 18 and have sore necks. The last one is a little lower on the branch and while we are watching, a little ball of fur moves and out pops a little tiny face. It's a baby! I am ecstatic and engage it in a one-way conversation punctuated with "You are sooo cute" about every 5 seconds. We watch for over an hour as it pulls at branches, nibbles leaves of the gum tree, and climbs up on its mother's back for a little higher limb with more leaves. We also see beautiful parrots, kangaroos, a giant hare, and various other birds, but nothing will take the place of seeing that little fuzz-ball.

The next day we are picked up by Elaine Gilby's brother Peter and taken to his home for tea with him and his wife Lynden who is an artist. Of course we hope to see her paintings and get to do so after our lovely snack of Lamingtons and Vanilla slice. They both then take us to see the city of Bairnsdale and especially St. Mary's Church and a couple of art galleries. We catch the noon train, ride and think about how fortunate we are to have friends whose family take such good care of us, and arrive in Melbourne right on time. We will wait for Bob and Margaret (they are our neighbors who are presently living and working in NZ) to join us at our hotel before we set out for dinner. We are starving!