Exploring the Kanangra Wilderness (Australia)

**nothermark** · 10-24-2011, 05:45

Wow! almost gets me looking up plane fares. ;-) I do like the tarp.

**chris0895** · 10-24-2011, 06:00

Thanks HitchHiking. My youngest son is studying Australia in his 4th grade class. He also enjoyed the report but wanted to know where all the Koalas are?

**Phillipsart** · 10-24-2011, 07:33

Originally Posted by chris0895

Thanks HitchHiking. My youngest son is studying Australia in his 4th grade class. He also enjoyed the report but wanted to know where all the Koalas are?

I live here in Australia and I also want to know where all the koalas are. You just don't see them around like I used to 20 years ago. I remember out camping with koalas wondering about your camp. I can remember a time at the Border Ranges on the NSW/QLD border, being awoken one night with a load thump beside me, back those days I hardly ever used a tent, used to always sleep under a tarp on the ground, but this particular night it was a beautiful clear night, so I slept under the stars, when I was awaken with something fallen out of a tree. I grabbed my torch and here's a koala sitting there looking at me. Maybe this is where the phrase drop bears come from. You got to watch out, those drop bears can be very fearce. LOL. They might look cuddly.

Kangaroos, not an issue, there's plenty of them about, my last overnight hike I was awoken late at night, when a kangaroo decided to check out my Warbonnet blackbird. I held my ground, no way I was giving up my blackbird for anything or anyone.

**photohiker** · 10-24-2011, 08:23

Come down here Phil, I can show you Koalas

I was on my morning walk today and the solitude was interrupted by a fierce squabble between two Koalas. Never seen that before, I think probably a teenager was being kicked out of home.

**Phillipsart** · 10-24-2011, 08:46

To much development here in there habitats is slowly forcing the koala to extinction in our part of this country. About the only place you can now see them up here is in a zoo. But than many animals are almost if not already are now extinct.

There is some good news up my way, the critically endangered Loggerhead Turtles that nest on our coastline are making a comeback, numbers have dramatically increased in the past few years, all because of the hard work from local rangers and volunteers in the past 30 years, we are now starting to see the benefits from all the hard work engaged in protecting our coastline. From development and more so from man.

I'm one of the volunteer researchers up here for over 13 years, I've volunteered for the parks and wildlife service as a researcher. It's a privilege to work with these gentle giants of the sea. Love em. Looking forward to the upcoming turtle nesting season, which is starting in the next week or two. Great exercise patrolling the beaches late at night, just me and a pack al alone, love it. Particularly in the early season as there's not many turtles emerging to lay there eggs, I tend to get in about 20km hiking on the beach each night, great training for my future hikes, but I tend to walk bare feet on the beach.

**Phillipsart** · 10-24-2011, 09:06

I like the blue mountains, sometimes I think how lucky you guys are down that way, but than something reminds me just what I have here on my doorstep. Like Fraser Island and one of the largest if not the largest turtle rookery in the southern hemisphere in my backyard, and not to mention the humpback whales breeding on our coastline that make there migration from the south Antarctica each year make there long journey every year to have there babies right on my backstep.

Looking forward to my next visit to the blue mountains, last time I was there, I was on my own, didn't feel very confident to hike on my own, so I stayed at Katoomba and done day hikes from there, next time I'm going to hike and stay in my hammock.

**ratherbecampin** · 10-24-2011, 12:59

Love the pics! Hopefully I can visit before I expire.

**bluegum mic** · 10-24-2011, 16:17

Gorgeous pics HH. love that shot in the cave with the sandy floor. And as for the tarp we both know I love the red tarp :-)

**Wentworth** · 10-24-2011, 19:43

I've NEVER seen a koala in all my years walking! Lizards, snakes, roo, wallaby, pig, birds, possum, but no koalas... One day hopefully.

**phan-tom** · 10-24-2011, 22:28

I've been lucky and seen quite a few over the years but there doesn't seem to be any where near as many as there used to be. I have a friend who works for the QLD government (I try not to hold that against her

) and she heads the QLD koala management team (not sure what the official name for her job is) and she said, after extensive consultation with wildlife conservation experts etc, that the koala will be extinct in the wild in 40 years or less. That was a best estimate and its all down to the loss of habitat caused by development of koala habitat for 'urban sprawl' etc... pretty depressing stuff.

My avatar is of a big koala that I photographed in my backyard whilst I was at uni in Lismore. I heard my old dog, a terrier, doing a low growl outside my place one ofternoon and went outside to see him and this tough looking koala having a standoff over the water bowl. Neither wanted to back down, they both had their hackles up, and in the end the koala just ambled off and made his way up this tree while I held onto the dog so he wouldn't get beaten up

Backyard Koala.jpg

You could easily tell which of the trees in the neighbourhood were the favourite koala trees because of the puncture marks on the trunks and I can tell you that the eucalypts have hard skin so I'd hate to have a koala grab onto me or try and climb my leg!