October 13
Before leaving Warrumbungle, we took a pleasant walk in the sloping grassland near the campsite. The weather was nice, and the terrain very easy, and we enjoyed the views and the flowers. Among the highlights found under rocks were an Eastern Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus) and a couple of small scorpions. After a while the weather grew hotter and the flies became increasingly active and numerous, so we headed back, packed and left. On our way out we stopped at the Whitegum lookout for a final view of the park.
We decided to not drive through Gunnedah in order to try and spot Koalas in an urban environment, and instead try our luck on the coast. Lilach called Tilligerry Habitat – a small coastal preserve where she read there are Koalas which can be pretty reliably seen. We called the place and the nice lady who answered the call confirmed that there was a sighting the day before. We told her we would probably arrive after they close the visitor center, and she said that in this case she would leave us a map indicating where the recent sightings were, to aid in our search.
Indeed, by the time we arrived at Tilligerry it was already 8 o’clock, and a steady rain was falling. The “habitat” turned out to be a tiny protected strip of coastal land on a narrow inlet, next to a public school and a suburban neighborhood. We parked at the deserted parking lot, and I ventured out to the rain and found the promised map tucked into a bench on the covered balcony of the visitor center. For dinner (which we ate inside while the rain poured outside) we had some meat and good wines we bought on our way, including a kangaroo steak I had long wanted to try. Lilach and Daniel seemed to shudder at the idea of tasting it. Tamar, on the other hand, took one bite, said it was delicious, and politely refused to take any more of it. I thought it was very good – clearly lean, yet tender and nice. The only drawback was the marinade it came in, which was too sweet for me.
I stayed awake after everyone went to sleep, trying to identify the various reptiles we had seen in Warrumbungle. Around 1am Lilach opened her eyes, and since the rain has in the meantime turned into a light drizzle, we decided to go and check if we could locate a Koala. Leaving the kids sound asleep in the motorhome, we took flashlights and an umbrella, and headed to the location of the most recent sighting, which was only a couple of minutes walk away. On the way there we saw what must have been a strange looking common ringtail possum, with tapering tail fur we had not seen before in other specimens. A short search around the rest bench marked in the map was enough to locate a Koala sitting on a low branch. It seemed totally undisturbed by our presence, and hardly moved while we were watching it. We hoped it would be kind enough to stay there till the morning, when we return with the kids.
October 14
In the morning we woke to the sound of people nearby. Turned out we were no longer alone in the parking lot. After washing the dishes from last night’s dinner, we said hi to the nice volunteers at the visitor center, but didn’t meet our benefactor from the previous day, who was on a day off. We showed the picture of the possum to the locals, but they weren’t quite clear about its identification, so we stuck to our original theory. Unfortunately, when we returned to the bench where we saw the Koala at night, it was no longer present. We took a morning walk around the habitat in the hope of finding it, or another one, but in vain. We did see some nice birds, including lovely Variegated Fairy Wrens.
Back at the visitor center, we asked about some of the activities advertised on their billboard. We were told that they no longer give boomerang throwing lessons, but if we wanted we could go on a “Bushtucker Walk” with one of their volunteer, to learn about some of the local edible flora. We set to meet our guide Charlie at 3pm, and when to seek lunch. Searching online we found a recommended restaurant in the nearby town with the peculiar name “Lemon Tree Passage”. Upon arriving at the Lemon Tree Passage marina we discovered that “The Poyer’s” was a beautiful seafront family-owned french style bistro. We all enjoyed the delicious food, and not least of all the exceptional fettuccine carbonara that was served as a “kids dish”…
Back at Tilligerry, we met Charlie, who walked with us around the same paths we took in the morning, and showed us all the leafs and berries that the local native tribes used to feed on to supplement the meat they hunted. We searched for Koalas, but found none. Turns out that there are currently only three known specimens that spend time regularly in the habitat, down from seven a couple of years ago. The growing urbanization and fragmentation of their natural habitat decimates the koala population, it seems. Among the fauna we did find were a brown snake that slithered quickly under the boardwalk we walked on, a beautiful Eastern Bearded Dragon (Pogona Barbata) that gave an impressive threat display when I picked it up, a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, two nesting Tawny Frogmouths, a couple of kingfishers, and several other birds. Two of the people we came across during the walk said they had seen koalas nearby and told us the locations. We visited both locations, but the koalas (or maybe it was just one, moving around in the late afternoon) were not to be found.
We left Tilligerry in the early evening, towards Myall Lakes, where we intended to spend the next two nights. We stopped for the night at the free rest area near the harbor in the small town of Karuah. We were surprised to find the place rather populated, with a couple of caravans and several smaller cars already parked there for the night. We saw some white markings on the road and the grass, which looked like someone was preparing to set up additional parking spaces, so we parked in one of these. When I got to the BBQ shed, I found a large group of Frenchmen who monopolized both stations. They said they would free one of them in half an hour, but we didn’t feel like waiting, so we kept the meat for the next day, cooking and eating indoors again.
Family Trips 