Port Macquarie

Alex: Our next stop up the coast was at Port Macquarie about 6 hours from Sydney. The main attraction for us was the Koala hospital for obvious reasons.

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We got in, checked in and then took a walk along the front. The beach is pretty and was full of surfers (it also made Dean sing the Home and Away theme tune) and a little bit further up is the break-wall, every single rock of which has been painted by anyone and everyone, we didn't see one that wasn't covered. Mostly it is just people making their mark but some are quite artistic. On the walk back we were lucky enough to spot some dolphins playing in the bay.

The next day we headed to another beach and just sat enjoying the sun and reading before heading to the Koala hospital for feeding time. The hospital was great, they have a few permanent residents that can't be release but most are brought in, treated and then released back where they came from. They are very cute and we took loads of photos, it was great to be able to see them at such close proximity. Happily they had quite a few empty enclosures which has to be a good thing. All the koalas have lots of eucalyptus leaves but some get a milk supplement too if they aren't eating enough or need to be be built up a bit, or in the case of the permanent residents because they can. It must be a great job, they are fed with a syringe so the volunteers really do get to feed them and the koalas seem to love it. The ones we saw were outside so were doing well and are fairly close to being released but there is also an intensive care area where the really ill Koalas are kept. Apparently the eucalyptus leaves are actually toxic so the koalas us a lot of energy removing the toxins and as a result they can't use oral antibiotics on them, their digestive system is just too good!

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Nothing much else to report, the next day we just lazed on the beach, its tough this traveling thing!

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