25 October 2020 Another Road Trip!

Don was extremely disappointed this week when his beloved Atlanta Braves lost the National League Pennant.  Listening to the game only made it a tougher week for him!  But after all his legal work, my ESL classes and other responsibilities with missionary phones and humanitarian projects, it was time for another road trip.  And of course, this time I made the hotel arrangements right on the beach!  Sadly the weather was uncooperative, but we loved getting to visit Port Macquarie and spend time with the Hargreaves, another missionary couple that are working there.

    There's always next year!

We left Friday around noon for the four hour drive up to Port Macquarie.  We expected the weather to be warmer which is was, but it has been a wet and blustery weekend.  The city known for its beaches and coastal waterways along the Tasman Sea boasts a population of about 50,000.  We stayed across from Town Beach where a large caravan (RV) park is located in addition to part of the 9km coastal walk which we planned to take until weather changed our plans.  It was originally settled as a penal colony for second-time offenders.  Behind our hotel, we saw two wells still visible from those early days.  I couldn't imagine a better place for convicts to do time than looking out over these waters and beaches.

We still were able to get in a partial walk Friday night along the breakwater by the mouth of the Hastings River where it flows into the sea.  The breakwater boulders are painted by people or families to remember their holidays, loved ones, or just something goofy.  Even our Australia Sydney Mission missionaries have painted one.  The walk starts in the central business district and extends clear to Tacking Lighthouse.  After a rather forgettable Italian dinner, we continued exploring and walking through the city and back to the hotel. 

In the morning the rain and wind were out in full force, but that did not deter us from our day of exploring.  The city is pedestrian friendly, with sculpture of koalas everywhere.  Instead of a hike, we drove to Tacking Lighthouse and Lighthouse Beach.  The lighthouse was build in the late 1800's since the water were extremely treacherous for sailing ships.  After more than 20 ships wrecked in these waters, a line of five lighthouses were built on several outcroppings claiming to line the water like street lights.  However, a ship still sunk and on a clear day you can still see it where it went down.  Interestingly, the crew was able to get everyone to safety.  We didn't see it on this day. 

We laughed watching this trio of youth.  They had fishing poles in the water, but their shoes were left on the path supposedly so they wouldn't slip.  We've seen lots of kids fishing, but have never seen them catch anything. This is Lighthouse Beach where the shipwreck is still sometimes seen.  The beach is fairly popular for surfing and swimming and even on this raining day, we could see the "Clubbies", the volunteer lifeguards manning the 50 meters where the currents were less dangerous and the flags were posted designating where to swim.

The Tacking Point Lighthouse is just over 8 meters high due to its elevation.  Across the way one can still see the foundations and outline of the Keepers Cottage.  

Port Macquarie is home to Billabong Zoo which is a wildlife park and a renowned Koala breeding center.  So we spent the afternoon out at the zoo and then took part in the Koala Encounter where we got "up close and personal" with the koalas.  First, we wandered through the park, walking and feeding the wallabies first.   Free to roam, this one wasn't that hungry apparently since others fed him before I did.

Wallabies aren't just small kangaroos.  Though both are marsupials, their coloring, size, teeth, body configuration, and coloring are generally much different.  

Little joey legs and heads sticking out of the mama's pouches.  Lots of differing coloring of their fur too. The emus were found also throughout the park, but you didn't want to get too close.  Due to the weather, there were just a handful of families about, so it was like having the animals all to ourselves. 

                                   The Australian pelican and jabiru, the only Australian stork.  

The jabiru has black and white body plumage, but it's head and neck are dark green and purple, almost iridescent in color.  It has a massive black bill and long coral-colored legs.  The Australian pelican is medium sized compared to other species of pelicans.

Oh, the mighty wombat! I didn't know these marsupials have a "backward" pouch so when they burrow the soil doesn't get inside the pouch and on their young.  With rodent-like teeth and sharp claws, they dig extensive burrows.  They also spend most of the day in the burrow and sleep on their backs where they can lower their metabolism to conserve energy. We could walk down into an enclosure where their burrows were lit enough to see their burrows.  They are a close cousin to the koala we were told.

Time to feed Shrek, the 15 foot crocodile.  

We wandered around viewing all the other animals and birds but were anxious to get to spend time with the Koalas. Very sedentary they will also sleep up to 20 hours a day.  The leaves of the eucalyptus have little nutrition and caloric value so they have to eat quite a bit.  Most of their water intake is from the leaves they eat. 

                

Marsupials like the wallabies and wombats, the koalas keep their young in their pouches for about 6-7 months.  The little ones stay  close to their  mamas for about a year. Koalas are not social animals and live primarily alone except for mating.  

We were able to give one of the males, Ozzie, his supplemental protein drink through syringes.  He took quite a bit.  The koalas weren't skittish, but we only rubbed and scratched their backs.  The keeper explained that due to their bone structure they don't lift them from under the arms but will pull them up by their paws.  Koalas have 2 "thumbs" and then three other digits on their paws with their sharp claws perfect for climbing.

Our assignment was to speak in the Port Macquarie Branch on Sunday morning.  The Hargreaves had told us that kangaroos are all over the area around the church meetinghouse.  But a fence has been put up so they are not often seen on the church grounds anymore.  But across the road, I walked up to an enclosure to see quite a mob of kangaroos.  Interestingly, as I approached to take a picture everyone of them stopped, turned their heads to stare.  And I stared right back. There were probably about 15 or more grazing right alongside the horses in the field.  

 Port Macquarie meetinghouse.

The return trip was through non-stop rain which is the forecast for the week.  Driving in rain is never fun, but when it's on the left-hand side of the road and the blind spots in the car are opposite, it makes for a nerve-wracking drive at least for me.  Don drove half-way and I battled the traffic the rest of the way.  Fortunately, only one near collision!  But we made it safely home in time for more wind and rain.  Still, a great little get-away.