
ladies and gentlemen, i am writing this post to inform you that the elusive kangaroo is no longer elusive. whislt on our evening away camping (more on that) we saw them in droves. hoorah!
i picked up john after work on saturday (around lunchtime) and we headed east. we weren't 100% sure of where we were going, but we knew it was in that general direction. none of the parks on the map have the "camping" sign, so we weren't really sure if we were going to camp at all. we decided to go to the closest park - john forrest national park- and explore / try our luck.

as we drove on the old bumpy road, we were impressed with the views of both the city at a distance, and the park itself. we saw a sign for the "recreation area" and hoped for the best. we parked the car in front of the tavern and kiosk (yes, a tavern in the national park) and jaunted to the ranger station.
turns out, you don't camp in australia during fire season - read: almost all summer- but the ranger helped us out. he told us we could camp in one of three areas near there and he was happy to let us do it. he suggested we wait until dusk to set up though, so as not to cause any issues. we thanked him and happily headed out for a hike in the park. the unique and profoundly different florae in australia is a fascinating thing to experience.
the ranger provided us with a small "guide map" of the park. we originally tried to follow some trails. however, much like the rest of australian things, the signage was very poor. we'd follow one track and suddenly be on another, etc. so we just walked around and hoped that we could get back.

we had thought about following a long, 15km trail, but the sign informed us that you had to sign in and out with the ranger for that one (and you needed at least 2L of water and snacks for each person). we still managed to hike on some less populated trails as well as some of the wider, softer trails.

while we were on the trail, we here the faint rustling of shrubs, much like the sound of deer trodding around. but lo! it wasn't deer. it was kangaroo! 2 of them jumping in front of us. great! they saw us and stopped, looked at us (just like the deer do) and waited for us to go by before they jumped off. i was so happy, you have no idea. we continued to walk and explore.
there are 3 decent sized waterfalls but in the dry summer season, they, well, run dry.

but it was still neat to see the underlying rock. that said, the river and lake were also dry. they had a small "swimming pond" but it's not treated and looked pretty stagnant, so we avoided that. we did sit on the rocks of one of the waterfalls to enjoy our PB sandwiches and coffee (for john). we had to scare off some pretty balsy birds who came within centimeters of us, hoping to grab a bite of the sandwich. these birds are funny though, because they have a polyphonic sound to their song. we call them the polyphonic birds (because we don't know their real name and john's a nerdy musician). although, we don't really like these birds too much because they wake us up every morning, hollering at each other in our courtyard.
we were running out of water and getting pretty hot, so we ended our hike.... with a cold beverage at the tavern. and much to my enjoyment (and john's as well) there were a bunch of kangaroos just lazing around the back. the tavern puts out some grain food for them, so they like to spend dinner time there apparently. it helps that the tavern is in a shady area at that time of day, and on the edge of an area that is good for jumping around! we haven't figured out what a group of 'roos are called: pack, mob, school, etc. any input? we were coming up with some silly "australian" sounding names for it. like a "danglyup of 'roos" of "jiberoo of 'roos" but i don't think they're right. of course, looking at the picture of me with them, i could call them a "harem of kangaroos".
we sat there for close to an hour. i couldn't stop laughing at how funny kangaroos are.

they really don't make any logical sense. i mean, why would jumping be best? seems odd. and they kind of look like a cross between a deer and a mouse. which is a wierd cross, but who am i to decide. we took pictures of them eating, walking and just plain hanging out.

we also noted how lazy they seem to be. not that we can blame them what with it being so hot around here. those pictures you see on post cards - kangaroos lying on the gound - they're true! i am officially coining the term "lazy like a kangaroo" and/or "as lazy as a kangaroo". if you feel like using them, let me know and i'll tell you if it's ok :)
the woman who owns the place could clearly see how much we were enjoying them and i asked her if they were pretty tame. she took some food in her hand and one started eating it. she said they are mostly docile, but they don't really like being touched (which she demoed by touching one and making him growl). she asked if i wanted to feed them.

to which i jumped up and ran over. it is an amazingly odd sensation to have a kangaroo eat out of your hand. but hilarious. and they make the funniest crunching noise when they eat. makes me think of some people i know, actually... but that's a story for another time.
there weren't only kangaroos in the area. the ducks had come to eat as well.

and more importantly, so did the parrots.

yes, parrots. there were pink and grey parrots, and green ones, and even a white and orange one. i never really thought that australia was tropical enough for parrots, but then, what do i know? the tavern had become a petting zoo.
we left the bar to go have dinner in the picnic area (yes, we brought our own food. believe it or not...). and lo! again, the kangaroos were hanging out nearby.

they have very keen ears (which move independantly from one another, by the way). they didn't run away, but they definitely looked up at us a lot. when we finished dinner, we finally set up our tent (thanks katie, jason, tamara and jarrod). we couldn't have a fire, so we poped our head lamps (thanks lauren and christine) on and sat at the picnic table with some drinks and snacks for the night. unfortunately, we couldn't use our stove (thanks laura and marcel) for anything that night because of the fire hazard, which also meant no smores. we spent some time looking up at the sky and trying to find the stars that we know back home. we only recognized "orion's belt". we're not really very good amateur astronomers apparently.
the next day, we packed up (with the 'roos eating nearby) and drove to another area of the park. we did a shorter walk but it was pretty hilly...which we noticed on the way down, but felt on the way back up. if you look closely, you can see me on the path. john's only about 20 meters up from me.


we walked through some areas that appeared to have been ravaged by fires in recent months. we were amazed at how some trees and plants continued to grow, even though they had been burned pretty severely. nature truly amazes me! we finished our time at the park by stopping at a lookout and taking a few snaps of perth in the distance. it's nice to know that we can be so close, and yet feel so far, from the city.

as an aside... i want people who watched the polka dot door when they were young to think about this. was the polkaroo a kangaroo? polka-ROO, kanga-ROO. he has a long tail, two big feet that he stands upright on and two small upper limbs. kangaroo's also have that. i couldn't remember if he had a pouch or not, but i think the polkaroo was/is indeed a kangaroo.
and so, that was our first experience in with our new tent (yay!) and more importantly, with the 'roos.
xo
2 Comments:
Wow, great long post, and awesome pics!
Sorry you guys couldn't use the stove. :( I hope you get some use out of it eventually.
Question, does the Southern Hemisphere have ANY of the same stars we do? I thought that was kinda like the toilet flushing thing. You guys need to figure out where the Southern Cross is (if you don't know already). That's the only southern constellation I know of.
And yes, you may be on to something with this Polkaroo thing. I'm trying to remember if he hopped...
6:26 p.m.
Polkaroo was definitely a Kangaroo. I don't think he hopped, but I'm fairly certain he had a pouch...
As for the astronomy, I can't help you out. The big and little dipper are about the extent of my star knowledge...unless we're talking about Hollywood stars, then, I would be quite well versed.
I'm very happy for your kangaroo sightings. It still seems so surreal that you guys are living in the land of Roos. I am still very envious that you're wearing shorts. We hit record low temperatures here...-26 (without the windchill)...-39 (with the windchill)! I'm just not made for this kind of weather.
So, keep the pictures of warm weather coming and I will continue to live vicariously through you!
Take care...
Ry
4:46 p.m.
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