Koala fever

It was koala or nothing. This was the consensus of the group of wine enthusiasts and members of the media who went on a trip to Australia recently to visit Hunter Valley, considered wine country in the Land Down Under. It was the end of the Hunter Valley Wine Society Philippines members’ three-day stay in the famed wine region. After spending an entire morning looking for bottle-nosed flippers (and seeing several pods of them too) in the clear waters of Port St. Stephens, doing an impromptu "fashion" pictorial atop the boat (still while on the dolphin-watching tour), ogling at the solitary pelican on the shore fishing for the day’s lunch, it was decided that the group would pass by a farm offering a patting session with koalas and other animals. Never mind if that would take precious shopping hours from the shopaholics among the group once we got back to Sydney. Patting a live koala, after all, was definitely much better than holding a stuffed one in souvenir shops.

After a brief stop at the giant sand dunes where the Mel Gibson classic Mad Max was supposed to have been shot for some photo op, our next stop was the Oakvale Farm and Fauna World along Nelson Bay Road in Salt Ash, New South Wales. Our host, HBLM’s Ruth Co who had visited the farm before, herded us off to where the koalas are. There, on three transplanted tree stumps are three male koalas contemplating their existence in this wide, wild world. With clawed hands gripping the tree tightly and eyes half or fully closed, these cute creatures looked harmless as they could be. But we were told nursing mothers – two female koalas are on another side of the shed, off limits to the public – could get aggressive to protect their babies.

Looking at the koalas, I couldn’t help but wonder how slow-moving animals always seem to have these little smiles on their faces. Take the sloth, for example. It doesn’t appear to have a stressful life and thus, has this contented Mona Lisa smile plastered on its face. Same with the panda. While they can move fast and how, the times when they slothfully feed on bamboo leaves have them exhibiting this sweet innocent smile as if saying that "Ah, this is the life."

The koalas’ serene smiles, likewise, seem to teach human beings a thing or two about relaxing. I’m pretty sure the eucalyptus leaves have a lot to do with the marsupial’s dazed look and we’re not saying that everyone should munch on leaves with the same properties, it’s just that if people learned to slow down and settle down a bit, this world would be a more relaxing place to live in. I don’t think koalas die of hypertension, do they?

Poor koalas, though, for their restful retreat had been disturbed by camera-toting Pinoy tourists who wanted pictures taken with them. No hugging of koalas allowed as this stresses the animals. It’s stressful enough that they be bombarded with flashes, noise and hand strokes on their furry backs. I could almost imagine them in koala-talk with one saying in that distinctive Aussie twang, "Get on with it mate. I just want to sleep. These camera flashes are a pain in the... eyes, that is. Eeek! Don’t touch my furry ears. It tickles!"

I stroked a koala’s back and was amazed at how firm and compact it was. And best of all, they had no funny smell. And no creepy crawlies either. I wonder how they groom these little critters but the owners are doing a good job at it.

Other animals freely roaming around the farm include geese, peacocks, ducks, goats and kangaroos. One could buy a packet of pellets to feed the animals which have become used to people walking around with food in hand that they follow the feeding folks around. It’s such a nice feeling holding out your hand and having a joey or a baby goat munch on your palm. They’re very gentle as well and won’t bite.

A free tractor ride is also available for visitors who are too tired to walk. One would be taken to a field where kangaroos congregate with a view of two camels and one hairy donkey inside a fence on the other side. Some of the kangaroos we saw were nursing joeys in their pouches. It was strange, looking at the pouches with two small legs jutting out of the packet. Sometimes a joey would peek out in curiosity, probably wondering what the raucous was all about. Poor joey, he must have felt too exposed and vulnerable with this noisy lot. (Um, we’re talking about baby kangaroos here and not a public entity.)

Other activities which we didn’t have time to do included milking a cow and bottle feeding baby animals. We didn’t even get to see Australia’s colorful birdlife. Nor did we get a chance to see the wombat. Maybe next time. The important thing was that we got our close encounters with the koalas.

A close friend of mine once started comparing me to koalas months ago. While I don’t think I look like one, I couldn’t help wondering if that was a premonition that I was going to see a koala in real life sometime later. I wish people would start calling me panda then.