MEETING CELEBRITIES IN AUSTRALIA – KANGAROOS AND KOALAS, Guest Post by Caroline Hatton at The Intrepid Tourist

Wild kangaroos: joey sipping milk, Halls Gap, Victoria, Australia

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s book writer and frequent contributor to this blog, captured these images in Australia in November 2023, springtime Down Under.

Why Australia? Because it was on my husband’s bucket list well before the phrase was coined. A long-time dream of his was to see exotic Australian animals in the wild, including koalas and kangaroos, the top celebrities.

We thought that seeing them in a wildlife sanctuary first would give us a better idea of what to look for in the wild. And that calibrating our eyeballs to the size of target species at various distances would increase our chances of spotting them.

Relaxed kangaroo, Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria, Australia.

To pick where to seek such guaranteed sightings upon arrival, we ranked the species we most wanted to see, and cross-referenced them with urban zoos, non-zoos and closer-to-natural sanctuaries near Sydney (New South Wales) and Melbourne (Victoria), two destinations for many choices of flights from the U.S.

The Healesville Sanctuary, a two-hour drive from Melbourne, won hands down. There, napping kangaroos and koalas presented front, back, and side views, and one kangaroo even scratched an ear with a back toe. Starting our tour of Australia in the state of Victoria turned out to be optimal because that’s where we found all the wild kangaroos and koalas we saw on our entire trip.

 KANGAROO MOBS

 A kangaroo mob is a group of kangaroos, a fun word that seems to suggest that they’re up to no good.

The first place where we went looking for wild kangaroos was the Anglesea Golf Course, named on many web pages about driving the scenic Great Ocean Road. Without paying for a guided tour, only one side of the golf course perimeter fence was approachable. Our itinerary brought us there at noon, nap time for the animals, so our chances of success were dim. All we saw was one pair of sleepy kangaroo ears above the grass in the shade of distant trees.

Wild kangaroo family outside our rental cabin, Halls Gap, Victoria, Australia.

Doe and joey outside our cabin. Doe licking forearms to cool down.

Two days later, after reaching the western end of the Great Ocean Road in Warrnambool, we drove inland for two hours to the town of Halls Gap, a vacation destination in low mountains, the Grampians. Tons of wild kangaroos live there! Good places to look for them include the town park and any other open grass, such as any meadow and the golf course.

Fate spoiled us with the wild kangaroo stampede in this video. During a torrential downpour, at first, all the kangaroos in the meadow outside our rental cabin sat still as statues… until they suddenly all hopped away for reasons unknown to us.

Wild doe and joey, Halls Gap.

The town park was all theirs, its lawns littered with generations of kangaroos. Like tourists, they lounged, dozed, and snacked (on grass). Moms brought their offspring to the park to play and enjoy quality mommy-and-me time. The “roos” generously left paved paths and benches to us humans. After work hours, this video shows locals exercising at the park, the kangaroos kickboxing, oblivious of the human jogging past.

LONE KOALAS

What surprised me about koala sightings was how un-subtle they were. The glaring contrast in size and shape between slim eucalyptus (“gum”) leaves and obese fur balls made detection unavoidable.

Wild koala near Kafe Koala, Australia.

To look for wild koalas on the Great Ocean Road, an obligatory stop is at Kafe Koala on the Kennett River. Parking lot attendants (“wild” parrots) watch for food crumbs, like pigeons in Paris or Venice. There, tour buses let passengers out, perhaps as much for souvenirs and snacks as for walks up the dirt road looking for giant pompoms perched high in the gum trees.

When we arrived mid-afternoon, we were the only ones there. Gums are so tall that before looking up at those near me, tipping my head back as far as my neck would bend, I made sure my feet were securely planted on even ground, so I wouldn’t fall over.

Wild koala scratching--a high action shot!

My first wild koala was awake! Scratching! Changing venue in this video. Then I noticed the drops, falling one at a time, seconds apart, drawing a graceful arc against the tender blue sky in the steady breeze. My koala was urinating! How many lucky tourists can say they witnessed such a rare event?

We saw four more koalas on that hour-long walk. One reached for leaves and munched on them. One male bellowed, part of his job description during the mating season.

Another koala destination off the Great Ocean Road is a few miles inland of Cape Otway, along the dirt road to Bimbi Park, a campground. While my husband drove as slowly as possible, we both scanned treetops ahead and on the sides, but not too far in the forest, only as far as we might be able to detect our targets.

See the wild koala, spotted from inside the car?

“STOP! KOALA!!!” I shouted a second before taking the above photo through the windshield. We saw two more koalas on this 15-minute drive, enough to make us happy.

Other wildlife we saw in 25 days spent in three states (Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania) included many wallabies, pademelons, wombats, possums, echidnas, bats, water dragons, and oh, so many colors and species of birds! But that’s another story.

All text and photos, copyright Caroline Arnold. www.theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com

THE MONARCHS ARE BACK: A Visit to the Coronado Butterfly Preserve, Goleta, CA

Monarch Butterflies. Coronado Butterfly Preserve, Goleta, CA

In early February, Art and I did a short trip to Santa Barbara, about two hours north of our home in Los Angeles. Art gave a talk at UC Santa Barbara, and while he was doing that, I visited the Coronado Butterfly Preserve in Goleta with friends who live locally. Luckily they knew just where to go--at the usual spot in Elwood Grove the butterflies were gone, but after following the path for another ten minutes or so, we found them–giant dark clusters hanging high in the eucalyptus trees and hundreds more butterflies fluttering in the sunlight. 

It was thrilling, especially since in recent years the monarchs seemed to have almost disappeared. No one can explain this year's resurgence but everyone is happy.  (Although the numbers are not what they once were–when millions of butterflies gathered at their winter homes along the West Coast–this year’s butterfly count is one hundred times more than last year.)

Pollinator display.

After parking our car at the end of the residential street near the entrance to the preserve (marked by a large sign), we walked up a small hill and past a meadow and a display explaining the role of butterflies as pollinators. 

Path into the eucalyptus grove.

From there we entered the forest, where eucalyptus trees more than one hundred feet tall reach to the sky. As we approached the Elwood Grove we looked up and saw a few butterflies high in the canopy, but no clusters in the trees. We continued on the path through the forest. Then suddenly, overhead, we spotted huge clumps of butterflies hanging from the high branches. 

Clumps of monarchs.

It was a warm afternoon and the air was filled with flapping wings as butterflies searched for food and mates. Down on the ground we had to be careful not to step on a pair in their mating embrace. (see top photo) After the butterflies disperse, the female monarch will lay her eggs on milkweed leaves and a new cycle of life will begin.

Monarchs flying among the branches.

Monarchs east of the Rockies spend the winter in Mexico; west of the Rockies they gather along the California coast, assembling in large clumps in pine and eucalyptus groves where they have access to fresh water and flowers to feed on. The preserve in Goleta is just one of many places where monarchs gather in California. Typically, they arrive in October and November and stay until mid-February and March.

Clifftop path.

After viewing the butterflies we went up onto the bluff for a walk with a spectacular view of the ocean and the beach below.
Soon the butterflies will disperse. I hope some of them will come to my yard in LA and feed on the milkweed I have planted in pots on my patio.

For an excellent article in the Los Angeles Times about monarchs and the people who study them, click HERE. 

For directions to and information about the Coronado Butterfly Preserve, click HERE. 

Note: For our visit to Santa Barbara, my husband and I stayed at the Upham Hotel, the oldest continuously operating hotel in Southern California, opening in 1871. We stayed in one of the cottages surrounding the interior garden. As one reviewer says, the property exudes Victorian charm without going overboard. I had a tasty dinner in the accompanying restaurant, Louie’s Bistro, eating outside on the side porch. The hotel is just two blocks from State Street in Santa Barbara’s downtown.

Sign at the beginning of the path into the butterfly preserve.

 

UCLA BOTANICAL GARDEN: From Cacti to a Subtropical Woodland in the Heart of Los Angeles

At the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

Tucked in a corner of the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, California, is the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, a surprising escape from the surrounding urban and academic activity. This urban oasis is a wealth of trees, flowers, bushes, ferns and other plants from all over the world, in places that share a similar climate to that of Southern California. Shaded paths wind through the garden, moving from the desert garden at street level up a hill past palms and ferns to a subtropical woodland.

Palm tree.

On a recent Sunday, Art and I went for a walk through the garden, occasionally passing other people at a proper social distance, although in general it was possible to enjoy the garden without much contact with others. Like us, other garden visitors were getting out of their houses and enjoying some fresh air during the Covid-19 quarantine.

Lush bloom in the subtropical woodland.

Although UCLA is not far from where I live and I have driven past the entrance to the Botanical Garden hundreds of times, it has been more than thirty years since I actually walked in the garden. I had forgotten how pleasant it is and how impressive is its collection of plants, all clearly labeled. 

The Mindanao Gum tree has a characteristic colorful bark.

The 7.5 acre garden is an outdoor classroom, research facility and community resource. Visiting the garden is free to the public. (Bathrooms are closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.)

Approaching the La Kretz entrance.

There are three entrances to the garden, one along Hilgard Avenue, and two on Tiverton, across from the Dental School and Medical Center. We came in through the La Kretz entrance on Tiverton, and followed the path, first to the Garden Pavilion and patio with picnic tables, then up toward the lilies and subtropical forest. Birds were singing and spring flowers were blooming all along the way.

Bamboo planting at the Tiverton entrance to the garden.

We returned to the gate on a lower path above the stream. We could have stayed longer than we did, but this was just the beginning of a longer walk around the UCLA campus. (See my post about the UCLA Sculpture Garden.)

Spring flowers.

Now that I’ve returned to the Botanical Garden after my long absence, I’m eager to come back and explore more, especially as the seasons change.

Dirt paths meander through the garden beds.

For a map and information about visiting the Milded E. Mathias Botanical Garden, click HERE.
To learn more about botanist Dr. Mildred E. Mathias and her long and distinguished career at UCLA, click HERE.

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES at the Ellwood Butterfly Grove, Goleta, CA

Monarch butterfly, Ellwood Butterfly Grove, Goleta, California

Among nature’s most incredible journeys is the annual migration of monarch butterflies.  After spending the summer fluttering and feeding in woods and fields in the United States and Canada, the butterflies travel south for the winter, flying up to 80 miles in a single day.  Monarchs east of the Rockies fly to the mountains of central Mexico. (See update below.)  Monarchs west of the Rockies make their way to California where they gather in eucalyptus groves along the coast.

On a recent sunny afternoon in early October, Art and I visited one of these butterfly groves near Santa Barbara, California--the Ellwood Grove and neighboring Coronado Grove in Goleta, not far from the University of California Santa Barbara campus. Tucked between a residential neighborhood and an open coastal mesa, giant eucalyptus trees grow along a seasonal creek. At the peak of the season, in December and January, more than 50,000 monarchs cluster in the trees in this grove.

We knew it was a bit early to see the giant clumps of butterflies hanging like bunches of orange and black living leaves, but already some of the monarchs had arrived for the winter.  As we walked the shady paths through the grove (which is protected as a nature preserve) a parade of butterflies flitted over our heads, their colorful wings catching the sunlight.  And then we came upon a bush where we found hundreds of butterflies perched like jewels as they fed on the flowers.  As we watched them up close, we could see their tiny legs and antennae and their coiled proboscises sucking up nectar. 

Monarchs have an amazing life cycle.  An adult monarch lays its eggs on milkweed leaves.  When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars eat the leaves. After a few weeks, when the caterpillars are about two inches long, they stop eating, attach themselves to a leaf, and form a beautiful light green chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar grows wings and metamorphosizes into a butterfly. After about two weeks, the butterfly emerges, gradually unfolding its wings. When they dry, the butterfly is ready to fly.  It will look for food, lay eggs, and the cycle of life will begin again.

When monarchs eat milkweed sap, a little bit of the poison in the sap becomes part of their bodies.  It helps protect them from birds and other predators. (Predators do not eat monarchs because they taste bad.)

Information sign at Coronado entrance to grove

Monarch butterflies have a life span of about a year.  Each butterfly makes the migration trip only once.  The amazing thing is that they know where to go even though they have never been there before. If we return again next year to see the butterflies, we will see the descendants of those that fluttered over our heads on this trip.

Coronado Butterfly Preserve:  Located adjacent to the Ellwood Grove.  Click HERE for more information:

Video: For a great video of the butterfly migration and information about other monarch groves in California click HERE.

Directions to the Ellwood Butterfly Grove and Coronado Butterfly Preserve: Click HERE for directions to the Coronado entrance to the Elwood Butterfly Grove and links to other hikes in the Santa Barbara area.

UPDATE February 23, 2014:
Monarchs, milkweed and the spirit of Rachel Carson. See this article in the Los Angeles Times about how pesticides are endangering the monarch butterflies.  Fewer butterflies have migrated to Mexico this year than ever before.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-nabhan-monarch-butterfly-extinction-20140223,0,7973387.story#axzz2uBU4ETM3

Marker showing paths from the grove across the mesa to the beach in Santa Barbara