As we crossed the deck headed for breakfast, we saw it was raining. We ate breakfast and added rain gear to the items we planned to take with us on our excursion outside Melbourne.
We drove through Melbourne with Kellie, our guide, talking to use about Melbourne and the agenda for our day. There is a group researching koalas in You Yangs Regional Park and part of the cost of our excursion funds their research. As we were traveling to the You Yangs, the researchers were searching for koalas for us to see. The sky was gray, but the rain had slowed to a mist.
The first stop was You Yangs forrest. This area is clearly higher than the surrounding area, and was a communal gathering place for the aboriginal people, going back thousands of years.
We arrived in You Yangs and stopped in an area with huge rounded granite rocks. We climbed to the top of the largest one, which was a little scary as the rock was slippery from the rain and the moss that was growing on it. Mel, a young lady with aboriginal blood talked to us about the significance of the area for her culture.
The large mound where we were standing was a meeting or coming together place for families to have celebrations and spend time together. We could see small indentations in the rock which Mel said were where campfires had burned. A larger indentation was intended to gather water. It had water in it from the recent rain. It originally had a stone cover, but the cover had been thrown off by vandals several years ago and was now in two pieces. Looking out from the mound, we could see Melbourne, the distant bay, and out across the You Yangs. Getting down from the granite mound was also a little scary, especially for some of the people older than Alan and me. Alan slowed down to help those that weren't as steady. We all made it safely.
We gathered in the Marina Lounge at the appointed time. Our excursion tickets were exchanged for a numbered bus ticket. We waited until our number was called and headed to our bus.
We drove through Melbourne with Kellie, our guide, talking to use about Melbourne and the agenda for our day. There is a group researching koalas in You Yangs Regional Park and part of the cost of our excursion funds their research. As we were traveling to the You Yangs, the researchers were searching for koalas for us to see. The sky was gray, but the rain had slowed to a mist.The first stop was You Yangs forrest. This area is clearly higher than the surrounding area, and was a communal gathering place for the aboriginal people, going back thousands of years. We arrived in You Yangs and stopped in an area with huge rounded granite rocks. We climbed to the top of the largest one, which was a little scary as the rock was slippery from the rain and the moss that was growing on it. Mel, a young lady with aboriginal blood talked to us about the significance of the area for her culture.The large mound where we were standing was a meeting or coming together place for families to have celebrations and spend time together. We could see small indentations in the rock which Mel said were where campfires had burned. A larger indentation was intended to gather water. It had water in it from the recent rain. It originally had a stone cover, but the cover had been thrown off by vandals several years ago and was now in two pieces. Looking out from the mound, we could see Melbourne, the distant bay, and out across the You Yangs. Getting down from the granite mound was also a little scary, especially for some of the people older than Alan and me. Alan slowed down to help those that weren't as steady. We all made it safely.
After leaving the rock we began a walkabout in search of koalas in the wild with Kellie, Mel, and two other researchers. During the bus ride, Kellie had educated us about koalas and marsupials.
First, koalas are not bears. They are marsupials. The determining characteristic of a marsupial is not the pouch. Marsupials have a very short gestation period and no placenta. The baby koala is born extremely small and underdeveloped. The baby crawls up the mother's fur and into the pouch. It latches on to a teet, which swells in it's mouth and stays there for several months.
Koalas are solitary and need an area of about 200 eucalyptus trees to sustain them. They are very picky eaters and get all nutrients and water from the eucalyptus leaves they eat. They stay in one tree for a day, moving to another tree the next day. They are extremely difficult to spot in the trees.
We walked through the forest and noticed many of the trees had black trunks. One person in our group asked if there had been a fire and was told no, the tree bark was black.
We walked through the area for about 10 minutes or so when we came to a tree with a bright pink ribbon hanging on it, which we learned was the sign a koala had been spotted in the area.
After much searching we saw Zach, a four-year-old male high in a distant tree. He appeared to be hugging the tree, which we learned was the way they cool themselves. We were told to all stay on one side because koalas become nervous when the tree they are in is surrounded. It was amazing to see him sitting up high in the tree. We all watched him for a while, taking pictures.
Others pulled boneseed plants in the area. Kellie had told us about boneseed, an invasive plant that had been introduced in the past to recover from a fire, but had overtaken native grasses. The plant had shallow roots and could be easily pulled and left on the ground to die. It was nice to feel useful and to help with preserving the natural standards for the area.
We moved on to the spot where another koala had been spotted, but when we arrived, she wasn't there. Mel went in search of her. She had evidently heard us or something spooked her, because she took off, which is apparently rare behavior. Mel found her, but she had traveled a fair distance and we needed to leave to get to our lunch spot at the appointed time. Kellie was very apologetic and talked about the possibility of seeing a koala in the Serandip Sanctuary, which was our stop after lunch. We realized the guides probably feel pressure to make sure tourists who are spending money to take these tours see wildlife.
Instead of going to Outback for lunch we lunched in the outback! We were treated to barbecued chicken kabobs, burgers, hot dogs and salads--all quite tasty. After we ate, a young aboriginal man, Paul Kelly (not apparently very close relation to Joyce's family!), talked to us about aboriginal hunting tools that he had made himself, including boomerangs, spears and shields. Joyce learned not all boomerangs were intended to return to you. He gave instructions for playing a didgeridoo and played it for us. After dessert of fruit and lemingtons, Paul demonstrated throwing a boomerang in the car park as we headed to our bus in search of kangaroos.
We exited the bus near a large grassy field with scrubby trees on the other side of the field. The grass was dry, the sky bright and clear, and the day hot. We definitely needed our hats and sunscreen.
We could see several emu searching for insects in the grass.
Kellie told us the kangaroo were resting in the shade of the trees. She said we needed to stay together in a tight group and the kangaroo seemed to see us as one thing and were less nervous than if we approached as separate units. We walked in a curve across the field to approach the kangaroo at an angle instead of straight on. If the kangaroo was laying down, it was relaxed. If it stood up, it was slightly nervous and we should stop walking and stand still.
As we got closer to the trees, we could see several kangaroo laying and standing in the shade of the trees. We approached and some continued to lay in the shade, others stood and some hopped away from us.
One stood straight on her back legs and tail, looking at us for several minutes before hopping further into the trees. We continued into the trees, winding through slowly to get closer.
Ten to twelve of the mob (what a group of kangaroos is called) ventured into the field as we were in the trees.
As we got to the edge of the trees, they hopped away. We learned kangaroo can not move their back legs independently for walking, Hopping on back legs and touching front legs to the ground expends a great amount of energy.
We continued walking among the trees looking for the dominant male, which it quite a bit bigger than the females.
We learned a dominant male fights for his position and probably keeps it for about two years before the position is taken from him. Younger males and older males stay in the mob, with only the dominate male mating with the females. We also learned it is possible for a female to become pregnant and put her pregnancy on hold for up to two years. It is possible for a female to be pregnant, have a joey in the pouch, and be caring for a joey that had recently been weaned, all at the same time.
Most of us were interested in getting a closer look at the emus. Kellie told us that the emus weren't as skittish as the 'roos', but we should still generally follow the same principles of staying together as a group. We were easily able to get within 10 yards of the emus without them sauntering away from us.
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| Can you find Zach? |
First, koalas are not bears. They are marsupials. The determining characteristic of a marsupial is not the pouch. Marsupials have a very short gestation period and no placenta. The baby koala is born extremely small and underdeveloped. The baby crawls up the mother's fur and into the pouch. It latches on to a teet, which swells in it's mouth and stays there for several months.Koalas are solitary and need an area of about 200 eucalyptus trees to sustain them. They are very picky eaters and get all nutrients and water from the eucalyptus leaves they eat. They stay in one tree for a day, moving to another tree the next day. They are extremely difficult to spot in the trees.We walked through the forest and noticed many of the trees had black trunks. One person in our group asked if there had been a fire and was told no, the tree bark was black.
We walked through the area for about 10 minutes or so when we came to a tree with a bright pink ribbon hanging on it, which we learned was the sign a koala had been spotted in the area.
After much searching we saw Zach, a four-year-old male high in a distant tree. He appeared to be hugging the tree, which we learned was the way they cool themselves. We were told to all stay on one side because koalas become nervous when the tree they are in is surrounded. It was amazing to see him sitting up high in the tree. We all watched him for a while, taking pictures.
Others pulled boneseed plants in the area. Kellie had told us about boneseed, an invasive plant that had been introduced in the past to recover from a fire, but had overtaken native grasses. The plant had shallow roots and could be easily pulled and left on the ground to die. It was nice to feel useful and to help with preserving the natural standards for the area.We moved on to the spot where another koala had been spotted, but when we arrived, she wasn't there. Mel went in search of her. She had evidently heard us or something spooked her, because she took off, which is apparently rare behavior. Mel found her, but she had traveled a fair distance and we needed to leave to get to our lunch spot at the appointed time. Kellie was very apologetic and talked about the possibility of seeing a koala in the Serandip Sanctuary, which was our stop after lunch. We realized the guides probably feel pressure to make sure tourists who are spending money to take these tours see wildlife.
Instead of going to Outback for lunch we lunched in the outback! We were treated to barbecued chicken kabobs, burgers, hot dogs and salads--all quite tasty. After we ate, a young aboriginal man, Paul Kelly (not apparently very close relation to Joyce's family!), talked to us about aboriginal hunting tools that he had made himself, including boomerangs, spears and shields. Joyce learned not all boomerangs were intended to return to you. He gave instructions for playing a didgeridoo and played it for us. After dessert of fruit and lemingtons, Paul demonstrated throwing a boomerang in the car park as we headed to our bus in search of kangaroos.We exited the bus near a large grassy field with scrubby trees on the other side of the field. The grass was dry, the sky bright and clear, and the day hot. We definitely needed our hats and sunscreen.We could see several emu searching for insects in the grass.Kellie told us the kangaroo were resting in the shade of the trees. She said we needed to stay together in a tight group and the kangaroo seemed to see us as one thing and were less nervous than if we approached as separate units. We walked in a curve across the field to approach the kangaroo at an angle instead of straight on. If the kangaroo was laying down, it was relaxed. If it stood up, it was slightly nervous and we should stop walking and stand still.As we got closer to the trees, we could see several kangaroo laying and standing in the shade of the trees. We approached and some continued to lay in the shade, others stood and some hopped away from us.One stood straight on her back legs and tail, looking at us for several minutes before hopping further into the trees. We continued into the trees, winding through slowly to get closer.Ten to twelve of the mob (what a group of kangaroos is called) ventured into the field as we were in the trees.
As we got to the edge of the trees, they hopped away. We learned kangaroo can not move their back legs independently for walking, Hopping on back legs and touching front legs to the ground expends a great amount of energy.
We continued walking among the trees looking for the dominant male, which it quite a bit bigger than the females.
We learned a dominant male fights for his position and probably keeps it for about two years before the position is taken from him. Younger males and older males stay in the mob, with only the dominate male mating with the females. We also learned it is possible for a female to become pregnant and put her pregnancy on hold for up to two years. It is possible for a female to be pregnant, have a joey in the pouch, and be caring for a joey that had recently been weaned, all at the same time.Most of us were interested in getting a closer look at the emus. Kellie told us that the emus weren't as skittish as the 'roos', but we should still generally follow the same principles of staying together as a group. We were easily able to get within 10 yards of the emus without them sauntering away from us.
Koalas are not usually spotted in Serandip Sanctuary, but Kellie had heard from other guides that one had been spotted, so we went in search of it. As we drove along in the bus, we spotted the hot pink ribbon, so Kellie told us to "paint the trees with our eyes." Sure enough, high in a tree, very close to the dirt road we were traveling, there she was!
The bus traveled further down the road and stopped so we could get out and walk back. We all stayed on the opposite side of the road from her tree, so she wouldn't be overly anxious. She was closer than Zach had been earlier, and not as high in the tree, so we got good looks and lots of pictures. This was a koala not known to the researchers, so Kellie took pictures of her nose area, which is as distinct to individual koalas as fingerprints are to humans. Alan decided the koala should be named Kellie since she was the first to get a picture of the koala's nose.
Our last stop in Serandip was a billabong or water hole. As we approached, we found an area of very small stones. Kellie told us to look closer and we found that the little rocks were covered with ants. They had excavated all of those little stones from the ground. We always knew they were industrious!
We walked across a small bridge and along one side of a good sized area of water that was teeming with birds. Several types of birds here have a distinct black and white coloring which Joyce does not remember seeing on birds in America. They were very noisy and it was a beautiful setting. There were a number of enclosures in this area where some of the more endangered birds were being protected and/or nursed back to health. We weren't able to get too close to them for this reason.
We returned to the ship and attended the first of several GoNext receptions. GoNext is the travel agency that works with the various alumni associations to organize tours. They have two representatives traveling with us and have been very helpful and friendly. The Horizons Lounge had various areas set up for the different alumni groups.
We found the Purdue section and met four other couples from the Boilermaker Nation. One of the couples, from Kingman, we met in Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef part of our adventure. We enjoyed chatting and getting to know these couples. There are other receptions scheduled as well, and a photo and dinner together planned later in the trip.
The bus traveled further down the road and stopped so we could get out and walk back. We all stayed on the opposite side of the road from her tree, so she wouldn't be overly anxious. She was closer than Zach had been earlier, and not as high in the tree, so we got good looks and lots of pictures. This was a koala not known to the researchers, so Kellie took pictures of her nose area, which is as distinct to individual koalas as fingerprints are to humans. Alan decided the koala should be named Kellie since she was the first to get a picture of the koala's nose.
Our last stop in Serandip was a billabong or water hole. As we approached, we found an area of very small stones. Kellie told us to look closer and we found that the little rocks were covered with ants. They had excavated all of those little stones from the ground. We always knew they were industrious!We walked across a small bridge and along one side of a good sized area of water that was teeming with birds. Several types of birds here have a distinct black and white coloring which Joyce does not remember seeing on birds in America. They were very noisy and it was a beautiful setting. There were a number of enclosures in this area where some of the more endangered birds were being protected and/or nursed back to health. We weren't able to get too close to them for this reason.
We returned to the ship and attended the first of several GoNext receptions. GoNext is the travel agency that works with the various alumni associations to organize tours. They have two representatives traveling with us and have been very helpful and friendly. The Horizons Lounge had various areas set up for the different alumni groups.We found the Purdue section and met four other couples from the Boilermaker Nation. One of the couples, from Kingman, we met in Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef part of our adventure. We enjoyed chatting and getting to know these couples. There are other receptions scheduled as well, and a photo and dinner together planned later in the trip.
We left the reception and went to dinner in the Grand Dining Room, which was excellent as always. Joyce was very tired from being out in the sun and heat all day, with a relatively rigorous excursion. Alan wanted to go the movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, after dinner, so we headed to the Marina lounge. When Joyce fell asleep during the movie and Alan realized he had already seen it, we retired to our stateroom for the night.
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