2nd March A Wildlife Day

We've had quite a long day as we've had to cover some mileage to enable me to meet up with an old friend tomorrow. To break up the drive we've made the most of looking for the non venomous wildlife.

First stop was Shelly Beach. Lovely sandy beach but at 9.30am we felt it was a bit too early in the day to get all salty and crispy from a swim.

Apparently we can get an app to alert us of shark catches out at sea. Not sure if this is reassuring or not.

No sharks at Shelly Beach but we met George the local Gooana (a local informed us that he was a frequent visitor).

Continuing along the Ocean Highway today we entered koala zones. Here you have to be on the lookout for koalas who can just wander across the road.

We kept to the speed limit 😊.

We visited Port Macquarie Koala Hospital where there are some koalas who are looked after permanently as they'd be unable to cope in the wild. Unbelievably this one was asleep (they sleep for over 18 hours a day). We originally thought it looked stuffed 😂.

This was one that was in the pre release section. They are well camouflaged and even when we knew where it was found it difficult to spot it.

This one was very alive munching on eucalyptus leaves.

Also spotted on our drive what looks like a rope mesh at frequent points across the highway when it was going through a wooded area. We have since discovered that these are overhead koala bridges to help reduce the road kill. Despite looking we didn't see any koalas using them though. They were probably having a nap and thinking about it!

Our next stop as we headed north was at 

Urunga Boardwalk. As we started our walk up to the headland the thunder started and there were some pretty impressive lightning strikes (it seems that we're in thunderstorm season). After some discussion about wearing rubber soles shoes, under wired bras and fillings we decided it was safe to continue our walk.

Checking on the clouds. Fortuitously we had just got back to the car when the heavens opened. And this has been how it's been for the rest of the day as we have driven in the rain and jumped out in between down pours.

Next stop was Look At Me Headland where we'd gone in the hope of seeing kangaroos. To get there you drive through a residential area where Freddie spotted one in a garden! We didn't quite believe him but when we saw loads on our walk along the coast path (like walking through a field of cows) we did! If you zoom in there's a group by the hedges.

A mum and joey. We saw several with the joey legs poking out of their pouch. Which reminds me ... we learnt that koalas also have their joey in a pouch. I'd never twigged that as both are marsupials (koalas are not bears), that they both have pouches. You're never too old to learn 😄. We also found out from information boards that if a kangaroo looks aggressive towards you don't make yourself look big, stare at it in the eyes or shout. Instead drop to the ground, curl in a ball and protect your head and neck with your hands. Now you know - just in case walking down Maidstone High Street an aggressive kangaroo goes on the rampage.

On our way back we spotted this fruit. Any ideas anyone?

Back in the car the thunder started to rumble and we were treated to yet another light show. And it's been continuing ever since we arrived at our accommodation. At least there won't be a water shortage in this area and hopefully this area doesn't flood.