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Visiting Koala Hospital
A hospital for cute little Koalas! How cool is that?
During Easter, the last minute traveler in me woke up as usual. Living in Sydney and not wanting to take a flight meant, I could go up the Central Coast, down to the Jervis Bay/Narooma or west towards Canberra/Melbourne. Since I have traveled to Canberra & Jervis Bay in the Airbnb the last couple of months, the plan was to go up north to Port Stephens. Of course a day before the long weekend, no surprise I could not find any accommodation left and finally ended up finding aAirbnbat Port Macquarie instead.
The usual next part is the google search “Things to do in Port Macquarie” and Koala hospital caught my attention just because of the uniqueness of it. The next day morning we headed towards the Koala Hospital. Located very close to the CBD, Koala hospital shares the compound with historic Roto House.
So, What is a Koala Hospital
Being world’s first hospital dedicated to the care & preservation of koalas, the Koala hospital is established way back in 1973 and is a nonprofit organization which currently boasts the facilities such as intensive care units & rehabilitation centers dedicated to koalas. Approximately, 200- 250 Koalas get admitted to this hospital annually.
It also facilitates a 24/7 Koala Rescue hotline for any Koala emergency.
Fun Facts
The entry hallway has good write-ups and displays which introduces Koala to the rest of the world. To set the stage for those who don’t know much about Koalas, this will be quite interesting.
- When a Koala is born, it is about the size of a Jelly Bean!
- A baby Koala is also called as a joey and it stays in the pouch of its mum for almost 6 months.
- They are not to be confused with bears and ‘Koala Bear’ is an inappropriate term!
- They sleep up to 18 hours a day (what a life!)
- Favorite food is eucalyptus tree leaves.
This is the first time I ever saw a koala in the wild, on the tree and I was over thrilled! (This is not to be confused with seeing a million koalas in the trees all over). There were about 2 or 3 of them quite high up on the trees.
Stories
It got interesting with the stories they have displayed on the wall.
Stories go like this,
One Koala crashed into a birthday party and hence she was named ‘Birthday Girl’. The hospital microchipped & ear tagged her and send her back to the forest. Years later she was brought back to the hospital with age-related issues. Hospital treated her and eventually, she passed away but with the record of being the oldest koala! (25 years)
Why visit Koala Hospital?
A reserve looking after these cute little animals is a great thing to know about. Also, it is the perfect place to educate kids about Koalas and Australian wildlife.
You can adopt a koala for an annual fee as low as AUD $35.
Contributions can be made if you would like to be a part of this wonderful venture.
Practical Tips
Total time to Visit – Maximum one Hour
Fee – No Fee for entry or parking
Parking is available but is shared with the Roto House.
13 comments
We visited the Koala Hospital many years ago. I was a bit reluctant at first because I imagined it would be full of sick animals. It wasn’t. The koalas all appeared to be perfectly healthy. They just couldn’t be returned to the wild (yet or at all). It was a great day and I would recommend the hospital to anyone. p.s – If you want to see lots of koalas in the wild then look for them at Raymond Island in Victoria.
Thanks for that note . Have not heard of Raymond Island. I will have to check out that then 🙂
How neat!!This sounds like a really cool way to see koalas. I’ve been to a sea turtle hospital before, which was awesome, so I can only imagine what a koala hospital would be like. Thanks for sharing!
Wait…you can visit the Koala hospital in Port Macquarie for FREE????? Sign me up! I would love to see a Koala in the “wild” and this may be the perfect place to do it on my bucket list adventure across Australia. Seems sad that some 200+ Koalas get sent to this hospital yearly. But I am glad that they are being cared for in such a wonderful way!`
I so want to go here! I’ve been thinking about visiting Australia and really want to see Koalas. Bookmarking this!
Oh my goodness, I’m HOOKED! I’ve been dying to go to Australia and koalas (and kangaroos) are two of many reasons. I’m a HUGE animal lover and I’m also a nurse (not currently practicing) so this. has. my. heart. !! This is MUST for me when I finally get to Australia! Thanks for the very useful facts too…had no idea koala “bear” was incorrect!
How sweet is this place! Cool that it’s free as well – it’s often tricky to find truly free things to do when travelling that aren’t “walk around” “watch the sunset” ahah!!
It’s amazing that it’s free. So great to have so many animal hospitals in Aus, protecting all the unique species.
I just love Koala’s and my parents get them all the time on their property in Australia. They only thing I don’t like is their mating noise it sounds horrible. I never knew about this Koala Hospital in Port Macquaire it sounds like such a great idea and I would definitely love to visit.
I can’t imagine a more adorable day trip! I’m very particular about what type of animal attractions I’m willing to support, but this looks like a great place really dedicated towards supporting these previous little guys!
Now, when I finally get myself over to Australia, I also want to see the Koalas and the Koala hospital seems a great place to do so. I never knew they were born so small. Thanks for posting, this has rekindled my dream to visit the island continent.
Grew up next door. It has always been a great endeavour. If you do get to Port Macquarie also check St Thomas’ church built by convicts in the 1820’s and the nearby convict and historic cemetery as well as the Coastal walk and Sea Acres Rainforest boardwalk (coastal walk is free, the boardwalk has a fee) and a photo from the lighthouse at Tacking Point is a must. Keep an eye out for migrating whales between May and November.
This sounds amazing! Koalas are so cute 😁 we’re heading to Australia soon so will be checking this it 😁