The giant OKA, an Australian Hummer-like all-terrain vehicle, motored down the dirt road, shaking, rattling and rolling so loudly it was nearly impossible to hear my guide, Scott Coutts. A former park ranger who now works for Naturaliste Tours, Coutts drove by vast tracts of cattle- and sheep-grazing fields as we kept an eye out for echidnas, long-nosed potoroos and koalas. Here on French Island, in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, the furry, leaf-eating marsupials were remarkably easy to spot as they snoozed in the crooks of tree branches, cuddled their joeys or munched on eucalyptus leaves.
One of the most unique locations in Australia, French Island, situated 42 miles yet worlds away from Melbourne, is populated by just 110 human inhabitants, an eclectic mix of farmers, eco-conscious granolas and recluses. As the only unincorporated territory in the state of Victoria, the island has no government services whatsoever. No paved roads. No water supply. No electricity. No garbage collection services. No medical services. No police. And the islanders want to keep it that way.
Since there is no bridge to the island, its few thousand annual visitors arrive by foot ferry and often bring their bicycles to tour. Two-thirds of French Island consists of regenerated national park land teeming with 230 bird species and around 600 species of plants, including 105 species of wild orchids. But the stars of this off-grid spot are surely the koalas.
I toured French Island in an OKA, an Australian Hummer-like all-terrain vehicle. Elizabeth Warkentin
Estimated at 5,000 to 7,000 individuals, the koala population is the largest and healthiest in the state of Victoria, and second only in size to that of Kangaroo Island in the whole country. While Kangaroo Island’s population in the state of South Australia is more bountiful, those koalas “were actually introduced and translocated from the French Island population in the 1970s,” Coutts said.
Sadly, koalas are listed as an endangered species in large parts of Australia. The beloved Australian marsupials are dying from rampant chlamydia, a…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Travel | smithsonianmag.com…