\u201cHow many koalas did you see?\u201d<\/p>\n
My wife and I were entering Flinders Chase National Park on Australia\u2019s Kangaroo Island, an island which, despite its name, is known primarily as the home to the world\u2019s largest koala population. There are more koalas than people on the island, our guide had assured us; we were guaranteed to see more than one of the sleepy-eyed lumps nestled among the trees. But the two backpacking women who were leaving as we came in looked frustrated when we asked about their experience. \u201cHow many koalas?\u201d one of the women huffed. \u201cNone.\u201d Her friend nodded. \u201cMust be the weather.\u201d<\/p>\n
No koalas? But we\u2019d come all this way!<\/p>\n
A three-week journey to Australia, a trip of a lifetime. We\u2019d flown into Sydney almost two weeks earlier, and immediately caught a prop-plane to Hamilton Island for our first experience: a two-day, two-night catamaran sail around the Whitsunday Islands. There we\u2019d gone swimming with stingrays and lemon sharks amid the blinding white sands and impossibly blue waters of Whitehaven Beach; we\u2019d snorkeled with the tropical fish on the southernmost reaches of the Great Barrier Reef system; and spent the evenings in a sheltered lagoon under a canopy of stars, watching giant sturgeon (so big, we thought they were dolphins) dart in and out of the dim glow of the boat\u2019s taillights.<\/p>\n
At our next stop, Port Douglas, we took a tour of the Daintree Rainforest, where we were fortunate enough to catch a rare glimpse at the elusive cassowary\u2014known colloquially as the \u201clast dinosaur\u201d\u2014an odd-looking emu with a bright blue neck, red waddle, and mohawk-like horn atop its head.<\/p>\n
Around Sydney, we\u2019d hiked through the Blue Mountains, discovering serene waterfalls and babbling brooks at every turn, before spending New Year\u2019s Eve at the Royal Botanical Gardens, overlooking the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge for the most fantastic fireworks display I\u2019d seen in my life.<\/p>\n
Now we\u2019d gone out of our way to stop here, an island off southern Australia, to see one of my favorite animals, koalas, in the wild before flying to meet my wife\u2019s relatives in Perth. I\u2019d fulfilled my dream of holding one at a wildlife park in Port Douglas, but while that was a cute photo op, I wanted the authentic experience. How could there be no koalas here? It was an overcast day, windy, cold\u2014but did that mean the koalas had gone into hiding?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust look up,\u201d our guide said. \u201cLook with the right eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
We followed the trail, weaving in and out of the eucalyptus trees, both shelter to the koalas and their primary food source. A poisonous plant, the leaves are so difficult to digest that eating them expends nearly all of a koala\u2019s energy. No, koalas don\u2019t get \u201chigh\u201d off the plant\u2014they get the mother of all tummy aches. As a result, they spend most of the time sleeping, curled up in the high branches.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook! Up there!\u201d my wife called out.<\/p>\n
I looked up. The branches were silhouetted against the sky, it was difficult to make out much of anything. I squinted, then widened my eyes as far as they would open. Where was he?<\/p>\n
Then I followed the trunk up from the ground to where it began to branch out. And I saw him. The light seemed to form a halo around him. His furry face stared at me from high above.<\/p>\n
My wife proved to be pretty good at spotting koalas\u2014she spotted 11. I wasn\u2019t quite as good\u2014though I did spot some kangaroos, lounging in the shade. As I left the park, I thought about those two women who\u2019d seen nothing. They had koalas all above them! Where had they been looking? Had they known what to look for?<\/p>\n
How many amazing things do we miss every day? Walking the path, our minds somewhere else, our eyes fixed on our iPhones. After my day on Kangaroo Island with the koalas, I\u2019ll remember to look up. Look longer, deeper. Pay more attention. There are koalas all around us (metaphorically)\u2026 we just need to look with the right eyes.<\/p>\n