Our first Koala

We read in our guidebook that a small place just off the Great Ocean Road is home to a Koala colony. We drive to that spot, really just a dirt road with a cafe next to it. Unsure where to park our oversized vehicle, we put it on the side of the dirt road under a tree. Even before we get off, a few people gather next to our campervan and point their cameras up in the tree. There it sits: our first Koala.
We admire it. Koalas sleep during the day. They sit on the branches high up in a Eucalyptus tree and hardly move.

Within minutes a tour bus arrives and a bunch of screeching people get out to take pictures. We walk a bit up the road and spot four more animals, a bit further from the crowd. As we come back, a dozen Kakadus and parrots have joined the tourists, sit on their heads and arms. One tourist bus after the other arrives, and the number of birds increases with tourists. We overhear one tour guide mentioning that the park rangers forbade the feeding of the birds. Most tour-guides however do not seem to have gotten the memo and happily feed the aggressive animals.

So much for serene spotting of wild animals. It's all become a show. Natasha suspects even the Koala has been placed there on purpose by the tour operators.