Koalas and Kangaroos and Emus (and Daddy driving on the other side of the road), Oh My!

Since today is the only full free day I have before work fires up this week, we wanted to find a place to go that was very Australian. A wildlife park named Cohunu Koala Park had a nice write-up in the guidebook so we put it on the agenda.

The problem is the easiest way to get to Cohuna is to drive and there are plenty of reasons why we hadn't planned on driving a car here, such as:

• They drive on the wrong side of the road, which means....
• The steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car, not to mention....
• Their signage (speed limit, etc.) is quite different than we're used to.

Why should that stop us? We rented a car they consider large here (a Hyundai Elentra), which barely fit us all in. With a prayer and a map, we headed East for the hills in search of some koalas.

For Sara's reaction to me driving on the other side of the road, please refer to her comments during the Road to Hana!

We arrived without incident at the park and could tell right away that this wasn't DisneyWorld. The signs showed plenty of age, the lot was not striped, and the general feel didn't have much polish.

But 5 minutes into the park it was clear this was going to be a special experience. Think zoo where you're inside the fences with the animals. We walked next to emus (which make the most interesting deep, drum-like sound) and peacocks and black swans, and countless other animals that roamed the park.

The three biggest highlights were holding koalas, feeding kangaroos, and feeding birds in the walk-in aviary. It was interesting to watch the kids go from being very tentative around the animals to being little Jack Hanna's. The staff was informative and unrushed. They encouraged us to go off the paths and walkways to interact with the animals. It was quite incredible to be so close to these animals--an experience I'm sure the kids will remember for many years.

We stopped for groceries on the way back to hotel so the kids could do some sketching and take a brief nap. We're thinking about driving along the ocean tonight before returning the rental car. We'll see!