Raymond Island

Bairnsdale should have been just a pitstop on the way to Healesville but we discovered a nearby island with a koala colony.

We drove to Paynesville where we parked and took a very short ferry ride over to Raymond Island where a colony of koalas was settled some years ago. Once on the island, they have an easy 1.2km walk where you can spot echidnas, koalas and a variety of birds. As you can see, the koalas are just basically hanging around. They don’t move much as they sleep about 20 hours a day. It is said that the eucalyptus makes them sort of doped up. We’ve also heard they only eat leaves and don’t drink any water, so the digestive process takes all their energy. I was glad to see at least one koala awake as we strolled past.

We managed to see 2 echidnas, 8 koalas, a king parrot poking its head out of a tree hollow and a kookaburra fly up to a tree only to be chased off by a magpie.

The island is full of vacation homes with a marina and bird walking paths around the other side. It was a pleasant morning walk which we ended with a cup of tea after returning to the mainland.