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On Monday, October 4th is a holiday in New South Wales due to Labor Day, with Cyril we decided to go on weekends. Despite the cloudy and slightly rainy we did not want to stay in Sydney, so I prepared the camper van mode and hop on the left side of Port Stephens to 3 hour drive (well with the van and the caps say ;-) 4
We arrived around 15:30 and visited quietly Nelson Bay between two micro-showers. Nelson Bay is a small port town of Port Stephens Bay, popular for its sand dunes, beaches, fishing and cruises to dolphin and whale. It is also a known place to go looking for koalas as a result of many habitats like Anna Bay, Lemon Tree Passage or Tilligerry.
Despite the time we had a good idea to go see the tip: Boat Harbour and enjoy the view. To our surprise we could see from afar two whales and a dolphin. It is the period where the whales come down to the Antarctic after giving birth in the warm waters of the north.
Sunday we headed to Barrington Tops National Park about 2 hours drive from Port Nelson, reputed to be very quiet and not very easy access.
We had planned a hike of 16 kms along the Williams River: Rocky Crossing Track . A bit monotonous because of the grayness and our habit of walking along the coast, we still enjoyed the quiet of the forest and the numerous waterfalls of the Williams River. Bad luck for us with the rain, we saw few birds, but fortunately we had already seen on the road multitudes of Rosellas, Corel, and Parrots. In the end
tour an hour before arriving, we had the good surprise to see a sneak Superb Lyrebird with its long and beautiful tail. A few minutes later we caught one in echydna the bushes trying to hide.
On the way back, after about 1h30 - well if we can call it the road considering the quality of tar .. . Cyril suddenly saw a dead kangaroo in the middle of the road, slowing up but impossible to avoid or stop completely a 4x4 sticking too close to us. The kangaroo is passed between our wheels and even if he was dead I asked Cyril to stop and turn around to:
1 - check he had a live baby in the bag: small explanation rule in Australia is when you see a kangaroo freshly say "typing" on the road to stop and check if it has a live baby in the pocket
2 - to least put the kangaroo on the low side
Cyril has turned around and I went there and hoo to my surprise, he or rather She had a baby in the bag which was still moving!
So I went to get a towel in the van and I first put the mother on the lower side of the road. Then I took my courage in both hands, and extricated the baby of the pocket despite the hours blood. I was not sure where to start, but the baby was injured and after a few glances I could see he had a tail 3 / 4 cut. Once the baby wrapped in a towel and also completely panic in my arms, we were supposed to call WIRES or Wildlife Injuries, but hey why was it necessary to 1 - have the number 2 - have enough network.
We were in the middle of nowhere but there were few houses. So we went door to door and the second house of very nice people have phoned us and then gave an address where to go. After 40minutes of
Highway - 8 pm to 2 am kind after the baby out of the bag we got Val in a lady of about 75years adorable as all who knew what to do and collect the wounded kangaroos.
Firstly enough tank on a possible survival of wallaby and kangaroo not, she has administered for pain pills and give Special kangaroo milk and then wrapped in a cloth bag to keep warm - important - as in the pocket of his mother and rests.
The rescue process Baby kangaroos is quite complex, it must pass already 1month after the accident to be sure they are safe - no internal bleeding ... - Then they go up to the age of 1 year with the likes of Val in small houses with gardens are being fed all 3/4heures with special milk. Then they go into a house with more land up to 18 months and then still more land until they are 2 years and then released into the wild.
After this eventful evening we went to sleep at a rest area and have had trouble getting to sleep!
The next morning we had to research program koalas in Lemon Tree Passage, and despite walking around 7kms Tilligerry Habitat and we have not seen one! The weather was gray and rainy and in these cases it is even harder to see - we shall return. Here
still some photos of our walk: no but many koalas kookaburras, Corel and bottle brush ;-)
We then went to beach for 1mil Cyril can surf but the conditions were really terrible not to be returned so that we see Val for news of our little protected.
Results so far:
This little Red-Necked Wallaby about 5 months - it was just hair - is a boy! Val has therefore called Cyril ;-)
He underwent an operation for his tail which has unfortunately to be cut completely. If it passes this month it may be a problem in the long run using many tail wallabies in the wild especially when fighting .. But before then waiting to see if he survives the month ;-)
He eats well and seems very fit, is already something. Stay tuned.
While I'm here a little update on Lucky the baby pig that we rescued last year, with the Irish. After living several months with Suzanne at the police station of Ti Tree, Lucky has become pretty huge.
Suzanne has found a family with children and a lot of ground for her. Lucky lived a few months happy and part of the family, unfortunately in April she developed an illness and the family of the sting. We are still happy that she could live happily all these months of probation.
