Wednesday, 9/26 Moonbi Overlook to Warrumbungle NP

Looking for koalas

     Our breakfast was coffee and cereal, a good starter for our long day of driving. We drove through Tamworth, home of Australia's biggest country-western musical festival and the world's largest guitar (maybe a good idea to copy for White Sulphur Springs!).

     We got to the small town of Gunedah at around noon. It bills itself as the Koala Capital of the World, claiming that the critters can be seen everywhere, in the parks, on the golf course, even strolling down the city streets. The town entry sign has a smiling koala, street banners have stylized koalas nibbling eucalyptus leaves, even some of the shops incorporate 'koala' in their name. It's no Gatlinburg mind you, mostly a tidy little town that, other than the koala marketing campaign, seems to be just minding its own business. But the promise of seeing them strolling down the sidewalks alongside the village residents had us 'eyes-peeled'. We looked high and low as we drove through town. Not a sign.

     One of our guidebooks said the best place to see koalas is in the reserve at the edge of town. We drove to the information center (“you're likely to see koalas in the park at the visitor center “) to get directions to the reserve. It occupies a miles long area of dry eucalyptus forest along a bluff overlooking the plains surrounding the city. We parked at the top and had leftover aloo gobi for lunch, then went on a couple hour koala hunting expedition. The trail led to several overlooks at the top of the bluff, affording some good views. But we came up empty handed in the koala search.

View from Porcupine Nature Reserve in Gunedah

Finding koalas

     Our next stop for the day guaranteed koalas. West of Gunedah is a wildlife center that really is more of a zoo. It has a third world appearance to it, homemade enclosures, small staff, slightly run down and dusty.

Do the Land Rovers make you think of Africa, Kristy?

     It was founded by an Aussie couple decades ago as a koala rehabilitation center. They appear to be in their late 70's now and with help still run the place. While a bit shabby, it has large natural spaces for the wallabies, wombats, dingoes, lizards, echidnas and emus, and the cages for the birds are larger than in many fancier zoos.

Hey mate, how much for your nice hat?

Tawny Frogmouths

      The highlight is the koala shed. You can go right in with the keepers and stand by the koalas and even pet them. Boy are they cute. They sleep over 20 hours a day and appeared catatonic, although one opened her eyes when the woman stuck her fingers in the koala's mouth to show us its teeth. Both there and in the wild the animals mostly prop themselves in the crotch of a tree and hang out, sleeping and eating. Diana has wanted to see a koala since she was a little girl and was delighted to see them up close and feel their soft gray fur.

I'm so sleepy

Me too!

     So we haven't seen any koalas in the wild yet, but the search will continue.

The heart of a volcano

     We left the wildlife center and drove for a couple hours to Warrumbungle NP. 13 millions years ago a huge shield volcano over 30 miles in diameter covered this part of NSW. Volcanoes of the Mount Fuji, Vesuvius, and St. Helens type are explosive in nature, building up huge cones over a long series of spectacular magma explosions. Shield volcanoes are made when magma leaks through the earth's crust and builds up a lower slope mountain that can extend for miles. The big island of Hawaii is an example. Molten magma solidifies into very dense basaltic stone that is extremely hard and weathers slowly compared to the softer rock around it. Devil's Tower in Wyoming, which is also the costar of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, is an example of a magma core or plug that remains after the surrounding rock is gone. The Warrumbungles have dozens of plugs and dikes in a forested area set among the dry hills of central NSW, all that remains of the shield volcano that originally stood there. 

Volcanic plug towering above sheep

      We got to the park near sunset and found a spot to set up camp for the night. I cooked up some beans and rice for dinner, then we and the wallabies went to bed.