A Little Hopping…Holy Kangaroos in Bateman’s Bay!
***Kangaroo video at the bottom!***
After nearly three weeks in Australia I was really disappointed that I had not yet seen any kangaroos or koalas in their natural habitat…am I wrong for thinking that they’re supposed to be everywhere?
I was truly hoping that my trip down the south coast of New South Wales would bring me into contact with either of these quintessential Australian animals. When I first landed in Sydney I went to the Taronga Zoo and saw both animals, but really, what fun is that? I can see kangaroos and koalas in a U.S. zoo.
Then as I gave up my last bit of hope, low and behold there on the wall of my hostel in Bateman’s Bay was a sign for a Pebbly Beach hike that nearly guaranteed you kangaroo sightings.
For just AUD 20 (which is quite reasonable considering the very awesome and favorable exchange rate right now) the sign advertised a drop off at the beginning of a three hour hike that takes you through the Murmurarry National Park, out onto Depot Beach and a bit up the coast to Pebbly Beach…then a pick up from Pebbly Beach.
Thoroughly thrilled at the prospect I pealed a crisp bill out of my walled and coughed up the cash for the kangaroo sightings.
Daniela, a German girl also staying at the hostel, was convinced by the promises of kangaroos and the promise of a hike. The morning of our hike we were given a map of the National Park, some brief directions, and the driver actually told us “don’t worry, you can’t get lost.” Well! Let me tell you, I was more than willing to prove that wrong! As I’ve mentioned before, getting lost seems to be the theme of this trip; it’s becoming a running joke (and since I’m traveling alone it’s really just a running joke between me, and well, me…and maybe you guys…).
To be fair, were really only minorly lost and found our way to the Beach with just a bit of head scratching. Once at Depot Beach though we were quite disappointed – where were all of the kangaroos we were promised? We saw kangaroo poo all over the place coating the ground in little round, brown pebbles, but no kangaroos. The walk through the park was full of beautiful cockatoos, parrots, and rainbow lorikeets and at this point I was sure that that was all I would see that day.
Luckily though the kangaroos were just a half an hour walk up the beach and they had chosen well – Pebbly Beach is in a beautiful inlet with a sparkling sea and whales passing across the mouth of the inlet as they migrate for the summer. We were completely attacked by the millions of flies as soon as we hit the coastline and boy was that just about the most frustrating and disgusting part of the whole hike – they flew in your mouth, up your nose, and just sat on your head, shoulders, and back as you walked…within 5 minutes we had passed the point where we still thought “shooing” the flies away would have any last and real effect – its a pointless waste of energy…flies are simply an everyday fact of life in this country.
All of that though led up to some very cool interactions with the kangaroos once we made it to Pebbly Beach (the beach gets its name literally because a part of the south beach is entirely small smooth rocks and pebbles). The kangaroos were all either lounging in the sandy grass or slowly munching their way across the beach. We approached the group of kangaroos and while there were a few that immediately scampered away, the vast majority just simply couldn’t care less that we were petting, posing, and taking pictures. Surprisingly, besides very sudden movements, nothing stops kangaroos from munching on the grass!
A mother kangaroo had her joey in her pocket and I daresay she didn’t really look up more than once while we pet her surprisingly soft, short fur – we even got to scratch the baby kangaroo’s head while he was leaning out of the pouch and also nibbling on the grass. The joey was really strange looking though – they’re hairless at birth and this little guy still didn’t have much to offer in the way of fur…but he is still bizarrely cute in his own little way.
Once we were totally and completely satisfied with our kangaroo interactions we went to the opposite side of the beach to sit on the sand dunes, eat some lunch, and watch the ocean for whale sightings. After about an hour of sitting, the male kangaroo decided he wanted some of our lunch too. We had been warned to avoid the large males at all costs because they’re more likely to turn on you and thus inflict some unwanted pain – he was a perfect gentleman though and the video shows our interaction with, as I so creatively named him, Mr. Kangaroo.
In Oz, you are strictly forbidden to feed the kangaroos human food (they can’t digest it and it makes them very ill), so Mr. Kangaroo hopped away after about five minutes of sniffing and nudging our bags and our bodies – he was a determined little bugger and since this video I have been informed I am very lucky the Mr. Kangaroo didn’t do me some serious bodily harm!
Once Mr. Kangaroo hopped away it was about time to head back to the car park for our pick up…I was really exhausted but totally content with my day of Aussie animal encounters – this is one giant check mark on the list of things I have to do before I leave Oz.
