Another lovely day in Port Macquarie - March 24
The entire coast line is connected - so for over 6 miles of beach, there is walking trail that connects all the beaches - and said walking trail is right along the beach, so you don't even have to give up the chance to see the coast to walk it. One could (and we saw some avid runners do it) run from the Port Macquarie Central Business District all the way to the Lighthouse. G considered it but there just wasn't time unfortunately! I got to walk some of it today (the eve of when our friend, Eric, died of cancer 10 years ago) and I caught a double rainbow over the ocean. Then, tonight, on our way home from a dinner celebrating Papa Dan's 72nd birthday (tomorrow), there was a shockingly intense and lovely lightning storm over the same coast. There is certainly some fantastic energy over this place.
Our day started out with breakfast in our apartment (granola and oatmeal and fruit) and then we packed up for the hike G had planned near the Diamond Head State Park. We were headed for the Crowdy Bay National Park and Crowdy Bay coast, but G's directional thing took him into the heart of the Crowdy Bay National Park, to the "entrance" sign (which, itself, wa about 30 minutes into a bumpy, slow bush ride through tall tall eucalyptus trees. The ride was supposed to take us 50 minutes, but by the time we made it to where we had hoped to be, it was almost 2 hours! We never found the "Mermaid Trail" trailhead, but we did enjoy the deep, isolated drive through the bush and coming out the other side to explore the Crowdy Bay Lighthouse (pictures coming later - we think someone is streaming videos or playing games on the wifi so it's pretty bad at night and pictures just don't upload).
We left Crowdy Bay at 1:45 and started on an actual 1 hour drive (we took a different, paved route home) back to Port M and to the Koala Hospital. S and I read about this back in October when we booked this trip and have been excited for it ever since. This has been ON the agenda for months and could not be missed. They do a feeding on the (free) 3 pm tour, and there was no way we were missing it!
The Koala Hospital is THE ONLY koala hospital IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. It is not a zoo. It is not a sanctuary. It is not a breeding facility. They have an ICU on site and work with a local vet if the koala needs something they can't do on site. They treat over 250 koalas a year (to the tune of $650,000 - all of which is donation money) for various issues, before releasing them back into the wild. The majority of their patients are in for: dog attacks, car accidents and chlamydia! There are, however, about 10 koalas who are permanent residents. One, whose name is Grant, was hit by a freight train. Somehow, he survived the collision, but lost his eye site and has a permanent brain injury. His injuries mean he can never be released, so he happily lives among beautiful eucalyptus trees with volunteers who clearly love him dearly.
Anyone who knows S knows that she is an actual koala expert. She has been obsessed with them since she got her first stuffed animal (actually, it was a gift from Pop and Nonna to Ii, but she was only 6 months old and didn't know any better, so S snatched it!) when she was 2 years old. She knows they're marsupials. She knows they have two thumbs on their front paws. She knows what they eat, how much the sleep, where they carry their babies ... so she was happily tagging along with the tour guide, telling the tour guide all about koalas! You can imagine, I'm sure!
We came back to the apartment after the koala hospital. I took a walk along the coast walk and the girls took a bath. Then we headed out to "Botanica" and our 6:30 dinner reservations for Papa Dan's birthday. It was so fun. We dined to the sound of hundreds of lorikeets going to bed in the giant trees above us. And a rain / lightning storm that impressed us all.
We are off to Sydney tomorrow!
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