Australia 11 (20 February 2011) Cohunu Koala Park

Visiting Cohunu Koala Park (20 February)

20th February (Sunday)
 Another unforgettable day in my life

I was waiting for this day since I 've arrived in Australia. Cohunu Koala Park was waiting for us :-) The Cohunu Park is located in 287a Mills Rd, in Byford. Byford is a suburb on the southeastern edge of Perth (the distance from Perth to Byford is 42 km)

Looking for the Cohunu Koala Park!

We stopped here to ask where was the park, cause it's not easy to find it!

And finally we found it! 

Cohunu Koala Park is a wildlife sanctuary on 14 ha (35 acres) of bushland at Byford, near Perth, Western Australia. The park and its koala colony were established in 1982 at Mills Park Road in Gosnells, with four koalas from South Australia. In 2005, the park was moved to Nettleton Road, Byford. Its koala colony now has over 25 koalas.
Between 10 am and 4 pm daily, visitors to the park may be photographed cuddling a koala, at an additional charge. Visitors are also permitted to touch and hand feed various other park animals.

Park Entry
Admission ticket prices: AUD15 per adult // AUD5 per child (4-14yrs)
Free for children below 4 years old
 

There are free roaming animals around. Yay!
And the animals are so tame :-)

At this wonderful wildlife park you will see not only the beautiful koalas, but echindas, bob tail lizards, dingos, emus, kangaroos, ponies, llamas, ducks, geese and more!

 I want that huge teddy!

Lots of the animals are free to roam around the place. 

Here we see a peacock

There is a farmyard area which contains ponies, pigs and a donkey. 
Beautiful donkey

Goats!

Sweet brown pony

 

Emo fat pony (below) is so cute!

There are huge character statues around the park...

Different creatures for entertaining the children and not so young ones...

 Peacocks

Llamas are certainly rather peculiar

This variety of llama is called an alpaca. I like their hairdos!

More alpacas and llamas (babies and adults)

Ponies, llamas... roaming free. I love interacting with the animals!

Happy friends living happy moments

Australian dingoes

Taking photos of the emu

Touching the emu

Bambiiiiiiiiii!

Typical Australian animals. Grey and red kangaroos, emus, etc.

A kangaroo

Cute wallabies

Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as the kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.

The quokkas can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, in particular on Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany. A small mainland colony exists in the protected area of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, where they co-exist with Gilbert's potoroo.

 The kangaroos are kept in a large enclosure with some deer and wallabies. They aren't overtly friendly, but neither do they decline feeding, petting or picture taking!

Petting and feeding kangaroos

Kangaroo looking for more food in the handbag! What a bright boy!

Kangaroo resting

Lovely kangaroos and wallabies

 Tender fawns

Wallabies

There is shallow lake which is home to swans and pelicans

Australian pelicans

Swans

Black swan. Black Swans are the state fauna emblem, they are beautiful with their red beak and feet...

This is one of the dinosaur statues at Cohunu Park

Three Australian Pelicans in the lake

The sweet daughter of one of my friends touching the dinosaur :)

Nice cockatoos :-)

It's an echidna, a spiny backed anteater

Blue-tongue Lizard

There are many large statues of various creatures

This bird isn't on display, but is rather visitor like ourselves

Nice small parrot

I recommended to visit this place because it's the only place in Western Australia that allows people to carry Koalas!

Caversham Wildlife Park is larger and more popular that this park, they have shows and more animals, but I've been there before and they don't allow people to carry the koalas. Being able to carry the Koalas was the main draw that's attracting us there. Gimme a koala to hug! ^_^

You have to pay an additional AUD25 per person to carry the koalas for photo-taking. Kinda expensive, but it's worth it! Not every place allows you to carry the koalas, so go for it! :)

OH MY GOD! Why are you all so cute?!?

This is after all the Cohunu KOALA Park!  They are the main attraction here, although the koala is not native to Western Australia.  They are really cute, don't you think?

Not many people come to this park, and that's a great thing as it means not having to wait in lines or be pushed out of the way. Also, more time to spend with the animals!

My ticket to hold the koala

YEAHHHH. A MOMENT THAT I'LL NEVER FORGET!
The koala caregiver gives me a nice male koala (7 years old)

The best part of all was getting hold a a kolaaaaaaaaaa

They (the workers) give you a padded vest to wear to protect you from the koala's claws, and some eucalyptus branches for them to much while you hold them. They're as cut and cuddly as they look, as these have all been handled since birth. We took lots of pictures to record the moment

What a great experience!!! I held the koala during more than 10 minutes, and even I kissed his soft face while he was eating eucalyptus!!!

They're cuddly, soft, quiet, ... They don't look real!

It was so incredible to have a real koala in my arms... Naslhy took a lot of pics and also she recorded a video to save the moment forever and ever!

LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEEE

I felt his claws on my neck!

I was so happy!!! I was making a dream come true

The caregiver looking at us

How can explain these moments... 

 Few people can say that they have had a koala in their arms! I feel very fortunate

OMG xD

OHHHH... Koalas cannot be sweeter!

Cutie!

Naslhy and me with the koalaaaaa

Last moments with my friend Okawa (the name of the koala)

Sad because all the good things have an end

Saying goodbye to my dear teddy

Now it's the turn of this little girl

Still with the eucalyptus... And trying to assimilate everything what I felt

Souvenir shop! I bought more koalas for my collection :-)

Overall I had lots of fun! There's not much animals here compared to Caversham Wildlife Park. There's no shows, no entertainment, but the main highlight is definitely the Koala, that's why it's called Cohunu Koala Park! Hopefully by now they still allow you to hug the Koalas. :) 

And finally... Dinner with friends

Mmmmmmmm... I should have eaten less. Too many temptations :P