Casino

We stayed for the night in the city center of Lismore, a medium-sized town with a good atmosphere. As we wanted to explore the parks of the town in search for the Koalas we stumbled across the "Friends of the Koalas". A wildlife sanctuary located in the city that rescues, treats and prepares injured or sick Koalas for being released in the wild again.
The tours coincided with our schedule so we decided to make a stop there first. But it turned out to be such a great experience that we stayed there for almost three hours. First the volunteering ranger told us about the things they do and how the Koala status is. Then he took us out in the nearby woods to show us one in the wild! The ones that we were able to have a closer look at were in cages and surprisingly awake. The tour was interrupted because of a Echidna was found with a spine injury and needed to be transported to the Wildlife Hospital near Gold Coast. We were able to get a look at this huge hedgehog porcupines :)
For the afternoon we drove to Casino, half an hour away from Lismore. There is a short walk to the Platypus Pools where we hoped to get a glimpse at these shy animals. But it wasn't the right time of the day as they usually come out in dusk or dawn. Instead we saw an impressive amount of Flying Foxes in the trees along the river. We spent an hour watching them fighting, chattering and looking at us with their cute big eyes.Read more