How you greet in Tidbinbilla

People have peculiar ways to say hello when they meet. Eskimos "smell on the cheek" when they express their affection. In the part of China I am from, a normal way to greet was "Have you eaten?" when food supply was limited.

On the hiking trails of Tidbinlla Nature Reserve, the most common way to address people was "Have you seen a koala?"

Koala bears are famous for being sleeping all the time/motionless, and they also have the best camouflage for mingling in eucalyptus trees. So it is super difficult to see one, even on this hiking trail within an enclosed area that was designed for koala viewing.

Eight of them are supposed to live in this dreamland. You would think for all the people we met on the trail, at least 20 of them, one might be visible. But no, shaking head was all we could do in return for the "Have you seen a koala?" greeting. Occasionally a tree snob or a fuzzy portion of branch made my heart beat faster, but no, no luck.

We did have luck in seeing heaps and heaps of kangaroos, several emus, a brush-tailed rock wallaby, and tons of unknown-named tiny birds that are as big as a 50 cents coin. As MM predicted the cloudy day was perfect for wildlife viewing. Everything but lazy koalas.