WHERE IN THE WORLD Bonus to see the koalas
A chance visit to a koala hospital after the devastating bush fires in Australia was a highlight for Katikati 17-year-old Zach Coley when visiting family earlier this year.
In late January Zach travelled with his parents Mark and Sandy Coley to check on family living in Forster, about three hours north of Sydney.
Sandy said they flew into Sydney expecting terrible air conditions and smog, only to arrive to a beautiful sunny day in Sydney, and no smog at all.
The family travelled north expecting to see fire damage everywhere but again were surprised by the drive to Newcastle, where they spent four days and saw no fire damage. Moving further north Sandy said there was a little damage along the Pacific Highway but nothing too much.
They learned that the fires had come to the end Mark’s brother Roy Coley’s street back in November/December.
“We could see why the fires occurred as there were large areas of gum trees all around the shopping centres and at ends of streets. There was land cleared, houses and shopping centres built and huge trees right next door.”
“We were pleasantly surprised by what we found after all the news stories.”
The Coleys said it was worrying when booking the trip as they were told they had no insurance due to the fact that they knew there were fires in the region and had chosen to go anyway.
“Really it wasn’t a choice. We needed to see for ourselves that our family was okay.”
Sandy said speaking to locals in the Tuncurry-Forster area, they said there were no longer controlled burn-offs by the local authorities like there used to be and this was why the fires were happening.
The Tuncurry-Forster area is all one but has two names and is linked by a bridge, somewhat like Waihi Beach and Athenree are so close to each other, she said.
The Coleys found out that the Koala Hospital at Port Macquarie was only an hour’s drive from where they were staying so decided to visit.
The hospital at the Macquarie Nature Reserve is open to the public with all proceeds from the gift shop going to support the hospital’s running costs, as it is run by volunteers and has no government funding.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if by buying a koala [soft toy] you could help the ones that are sick and injured,” Zach said.
Visiting the hospital and seeing first-hand the injured koala recovering after the devastating bush fires was an experience Zach, who has low vision, won’t forget.
“The koala hospital was amazing,” he said.
“You could see the koalas up close and see some of the injured koalas being treated.”
Zach said he liked learning about how the koalas got their names based on where they were found and by whom.
Sandy said with Zach’s vision loss seeing the koalas up close was a great bonus.