The Great Koala Rescue of '93

Or first plan was to find something to put down into the hole so the koala had something to climb out on.  Luckily there was a long branch lying on the ground not too far away so we carried it over and gently lowered it down.  

The koala just looked at it, and up at us, as if we were stupid.   It was a narrow branch, so we were afraid that it was too thin for the koala to use.  We needed another plan.  

After enduring several rock showers, Rob tossed the towel over the koala.  It was quite a small towel, and quite a large koala, so the end result was a bewildered koala with a towel on its head.  It was a this point that the koala obviously decided that the thought of spending the rest of its days stuck in a mineshaft with Rob and a bunch of morons kicking stones onto its head was too much, so it threw off the towel and proceeded to climb up the branch we’d put in there first.  Rob isn't visible in these photos but that is who the koala is looking at..

The branch was so flimsy that Paul had to hold onto it to keep from swinging around like a pole vault.

For a moment I was afraid it was going to keep climbing to the top of the branch and then gouge out Paul's eyes - luckily it decided to leap onto the ground as soon as it possibly could then head for the nearest tree.

 Once safely ensconced high in the branches it embarked on an arial assault of sticks and scary sounding growls.

Meanwhile our heros hauled Rob out of the ground and we all drove back to Melbourne hardly able to believe the surreal events of the day.  I'm not sure how long the life-span of a koala is, but I'd hazard a guess that it still hates us now, almost 25 years later - it certainly hasn't sent us a thank you card.