Koalas in Yanchep National Park - so cute

Then we continued south, the landscape suddenly reminded me of home, some feelings of home came up: Gentle green hills, forests and fields and cows! In between idyllic farmhouses.

Oh, how beautiful!

Then we came to Yanchep National Park, because we had heard that there were koalas here...

Actually, they are not native to the West Coast.

The Yanchep NP is an Australian national park founded in 1957, 42 km north of Perth, covering an area of 28 km², a fairly small NP. The park is known for its caves, native vegetation, and koala colony.

And indeed, we discovered a few grey fur balls high up in the treetops: peacefully slumbering koalas, who showed no inclination of moving even a millimeter.

OK, we first meandered through the park and observed two kangaroos, treated ourselves to a homemade ice cream and a cappuccino (as always, barely drinkable, powdered Nescafé with lots of milk and even more chocolate powder on top) in a charming café, in the style of an old English cottage.
And there was a rowboat, in which Günter and Moritz had to 'set out to sea' in a flash.

(Hmm, I once read: 'Men turn 13 and then just get bigger.' Could be something to it ;-) )

By now, it was already around 4 pm and we wanted to get back on the road. And wouldn't you know it, a male koala actually woke up on his branch, yawned contentedly, and then climbed down the tree trunk at a leisurely pace (rear end first), stretched himself out, peed from a height of 2 meters, much to everyone's delight, nibbled on a few eucalyptus leaves, and then positioned himself right across from us.

We and a few other visitors couldn't stop exclaiming in delight.
Of course, the cameras clicked.

Then I had to urgently go back to the cottage for the ladies' room, and I couldn't believe my eyes: grazing to the left and right of me were at least 6 to 7 wild kangaroos with their joeys in their pouches, just an arm's length away! :-))

By now, Moritz had also taken a great photo of our first kookaburra ('the laughing Hans', because its call actually sounds like the laughter of, let's say, a wild monkey).

Conclusion: Don't look for the animals, they find you when they want to!