Australian Wildlife

Old Sep 22nd, 2011, 06:34 AM
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Australian Wildlife

I am planning a July/August trip to Australia for a large family group. We will have approximately 2 weeks in country. We are trying to have a well rounded view of Australia, but wildlife, preferably in the wild, is a must. Mammalian species particularly kangaroo, koala, wallaby and platypus are essential and my nephew will be devasted if we go home without some good sightings of salties. Beyond wildlife, we are interested in seeing what makes Australia unique and we hope to get a sense of both pioneer/outback and aboriginal culture. Where and what would you recommend.

Thanks!
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Old Sep 22nd, 2011, 04:10 PM
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Your chances of seeing a platypus in the wild are very slim. Tasmania is a good place to get a glimpse of them if you are lucky. There is also a canoe tour in the Otway Ranges in Victoria that offers sightings.
http://www.platypustours.net.au/platypustours.htm

Most National parks will give you a glimpse of Kangaroos and Wallabies. The Grampians in Victoria is very good as is Narawntapu National Park in Tasmania(formerly known as Asbestos Range National Park)
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=3665

Darwin is the place for crocs.

Queenland is good for Koalas as is Phillip Island near Melbourne. Lone Pine Sanctuary in Queensland will let you hold a koala.
http://www.koala.net/index.php

Healesville Sanctuary near Melbourne is a great place to see animals.
http://www.zoo.org.au/HealesvilleSanctuary

Australia is a very big country and all these places are very far apart.

As to what makes us unique depends on where you come from.The outback is fantastic as is the coast particularly near Port Campbell.
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/pa...-national-park

Any holiday here will be wonderful. What will make it spectacular is up to you. With only two weeks you willreally need to plan carefully and prioritise.
peterSale is offline  
Old Sep 22nd, 2011, 05:55 PM
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The Cairns area and GBR would be the best for wildlife I think and also wildlife that perhaps you had not thought of as well. I know that you want to see it in the wild but perhaps think of staying here www.daintreewild.com.au so that your nephew will be able to play with some of the animals that are there. I stayed here a few years ago and thought that it is a MUST for anyone who loves birds and animals because if you stay there you can feed the wild kangaroos and wallabies, birds, possums, sugar-gliders, salties, etc etc as much as you like and stay in nice accommodation as well.
There is plenty of Aboriginal culture around that area too and the owners are very knowledgeable about where to go and what to see and when to see it. You can also rent vehicles from them for touring further. All in all I could not rate this place more highly.
From there you can tour or stay on the Atherland Tablelands where you would get a chance to see different wildlife and possibly a platypus or two as one of our regular writers is a tour guide there.
Salties are in all areas of the far north of Australia and if you can get Aboriginal culture, flora and fauna, and the GBR plus a lot of what Australia is about in one area then you are fortunate indeed. On top of that there is a little train that goes through the Savanna country which you may enjoy too or perhaps a trip to the Gold mining area en route to where our first explorers pulled in to fix their ship.
Anyway take a look at the website I gave you and see what you think.
ivenotbeeneverywhere is offline  
Old Sep 22nd, 2011, 10:53 PM
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In Yungaburra (west of Cairns) people who are prepared to put in a half hour in the morning or evening will not miss out on a wild Platypus. Though wild they are not vicious except not mess with a male in breeding season though. This would be an obvious place to base some of your stay. www.yungaburra.com

How large is a large family group?
With a large family group it is often cheaper and better to hire a guide and driver for a vehicle of the appropriate size for your family. Then you can match the itinerary to your needs.

At that time of year, with four days out of Cairns a competent wildlife guide would be able to show you Salties, large pythons, Platypus, 4-8 species of macropods (kangaroos, wallabies and their close relatives) 5-8 species of possums including gliders and heaps of other things too. If you increase the time to a week the trip could include visiting Undara and Chillagoe for that outback feel and bump up the number of macropods a bit too.

This area is not good for Koala though. If your second area to base yourself was west of Melbourne you could get a few more macropods and the Koala there along with some sea mammals.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2011, 03:50 AM
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You won't see koalas in the wild north of Magnetic Island off Townsville, where there are plenty, plus wallabies which come right down to beaches for a free feed. Platypus are not a problem on Tableland, see Alan's post.

Daintree Wild, which I've not been everywhere refers to does not have koalas, but it does have a vast collection of Australian birds, including cassowaries, plus dingos, crocs, macropods, pythons, quolls, sugar gliders etc etc. My favourite part is the owl house, just wonderful to see, with baby huge eyed owls perching happily next to Mum at this time of year. Also has overnight accommodation, park fees are waived if you stay there and Gil and Donna, the owners, are just the nicest people. I'd be inclined to combine this with a wildlife tour with a professional guide on another day, to get a taste of the wildlife this northern part of Queensland has to offer.

Of course there are several wildlife parks in the area which do keep koalas for photo ops for tourists, if this interests you probably the best would be Cairns Tropical Zoo near Palm Cove.
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Old Sep 24th, 2011, 03:58 PM
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To add to AlanJG's point about koalas - I have regularly seen koalas overhead at Cape Otway (west of Melbourne). And agree with Peter that Healsville, while not "wildlife" viewing in a true since - there are enclosures - is a very good place to see native wildlife close up.
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Old Oct 1st, 2011, 07:20 AM
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I'll add a few more places that I thought were excellent for wildlife:

Carnarvon Gorge, central Queensland. Been there a couple of times. We saw kangaroos, Australian possums, sugar gliders, emus, lots other birds, like kookaburras and various parrots, and several platypuses (getting up early in the AM and quietly sneaking down to the river). The gorge itself is awesome, with very good, often easy walking. We didn't see koalas though they are occasionally seen in the park.

http://www.ausnatureguides.com/index.html

Warrumbungle Ranges National Park (central New South Wales, near Coonabarabran): Kangaroos (scads of them), koalas, emus (also likely possoms and gliders). Plenty of birds. This is a beautiful National Park that like Carnarvon has some superb hikes.

Undara Lava Tubes, North Queensland: Kangaroos, emus, possums and gliders, At dinner we were visited by bettongs (small kangaroo-like animals) that bounced around the outdoor dining area. Wildlife spotting was quite easy in the open savannah country that makes up the park. Birds were plentiful as well, including huge red-tailed black cockatoos.

http://www.warrumbungleregion.com.au....cfm?newsId=29
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Old Oct 1st, 2011, 09:56 AM
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You've gotten some very good suggestions. I'm attaching excerpts from my trip report that will tell you about some great wildlife spotting. And in the Grampians, we saw so many kangaroos that we almost stopped caring. From the patio of our hotel, we'd see fifty or more hopping by!

*******

A stop at the Melbourne tourist information center had yielded a very helpful brochure with a list of the highlights along the GOR. About 90 minutes later we reached the first recommended stop: Bells Beach. From the car park we strolled a path that wound atop the cliffs, snapping pix and marveling at what seemed to be endless coastline below. It was bright and sunny and in the mid-60s (F). After soggy NZ we were in heaven as we watched the surfers in that beautiful blue water. Lunch was delicious sandwiches at Bells Bakery, a nearby outdoor café. Then we were back on the GOR.

My car soon learned to automatically pull into every turnout marked “scenic lookout” and I made great progress toward catching up to the photo quota that I’d fallen so far behind on as a result of the NZ rain. The drive to Lorne should take two-and-a-half hours—without stops. It took us more than seven! That should give you an idea how many lovely beaches we walked on and photographed—and how many scenic lookouts we pulled into. Point Addis and the lighthouse at Split Point were among our favorites.

En route to Lorne we took the well marked, quick detour to the Anglesea golf course, a well known hangout for kangaroos. We pulled into the car park and scanned the greens but saw only golfers. Disappointed, I was about to turn back when I spotted a ‘roo in the distance. I parked at the clubhouse and looked closer—and checked out some different areas—and we were soon treated to hordes of kangaroos, mostly lazing in the late afternoon sun. My first kangaroos in the wild!!! I was ecstatic—although it felt a wee bit like cheating as we’d gone where I knew they congregate—and they were mostly tagged.

After breakfast in our apartment we loaded up the car, wishing we could spend an additional night in Lorne. It had an old-time sweetness and charm to it. Before getting back on the GOR we followed the advice of our brochure and visited Erskine Falls. En route a kangaroo hopped out of the bush quite close to our car. Now this was a REAL wild kangaroo spotting and I was a happy camper!

Erskine Falls was GORGEOUS. The lookout is easy to access—but we decided to descend what seemed like a thousand steps to get a better look—at the base of the falls. The views were well worth the effort. The area surrounding the bottom of the falls was like a primeval tropical rainforest with massive ferns and palm trees. My camera was very happy—but my legs were not, because while we were admiring the beautiful falls, the ascent back up mysteriously became far steeper—with at least a thousand more steps than when we’d gone down! (Well, that’s how it felt.) This was a highlight among highlights!

Next stop: Teddy’s Lookout for famous views down onto the GOR. We saw lots of signs for the lookout—but no lookout. We parked and walked through the bush in search of wildlife (and the lookout). Low and behold … could it be? No… YES! I spotted a koala high up in a tree. Well, it wasn’t an entire koala—just a round gray butt—but nonetheless, it was a koala in the wild and I’ve got lots of butt shots to prove it. I might not have found the lookout—but I found something better! Then DP spotted a kookaburra only a few feet away. It posed as if it were a professional model and I took lots of photos. We congratulated ourselves on our wildlife spotting—and on being so fortunate to have lost Teddy’s Lookout.

Back at the car we drove about fifty feet looking for a place to turn around—and suddenly … there it was: Teddy’s Lookout! There were beautiful views from the cliffs looking down on the road winding along the coast. I had a hard time believing the people who told me, “It’ll get even prettier ahead.”

Cape Patton was one of the prettiest lookout points. Our next stop for the night would be Port Campbell. It was another perfect weather day and the scenery indeed just kept getting better. Lunch was at Wye River—a picnic overlooking the beach. Sandwiches and a spinach feta roll from the Wye River General Store were as tasty as the views.

We pulled off to follow the signs to Kennett River in hopes of spotting koalas but didn’t have high expectations. Of course, I’d already found a koala butt, and once you’ve seen one …

Immediately after taking the turnoff we saw a tour bus parked on a residential street so we parked to join its passengers who were photographing trees that were teeming with two different types of gorgeous parrots. The parrots were landing on people’s arms—but they were not the star attraction. An adorable koala was resting quite low in the tree—and at just the perfect angle for full, fuzzy-faced photographs. There was no need to continue to Kennett River because we couldn’t possibly get much closer or get better koala photos. I was practically delirious with excitement.

There were countless parrots outside the little store and café at the corner where we’d turned off the GOR and we stopped for a look. A bright red beauty landed on DP’s head and I got a terrific picture. Continuing toward Port Campbell the scenery never stopped putting on a show. We drove right past the Gibson Steps, but luckily, when I noticed the tour buses I backed up. WOW. Gorgeous views of an exquisite beach. I didn’t realize it at the time—but I was seeing two of the famous Twelve Apostles. It was one of my favorite stops.
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Old Oct 1st, 2011, 09:34 PM
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Since your trip is limited to two weeks, I think you should concentrate on Northern Queensland. My husband and I spent three weeks in Australia in September 2006. Our main interest was in seeing as much wildlife as we could while we were there. I am happy to say that we saw almost every animal we had set out to see, including the platypus and cassowary. Although we did take two night time spotlighting tours, many of the animals we saw, we found on our own and in the wild.

We saw the most wildlife in the Atherton tablelands, outside Cairns. Our hosts at the bed and breakfast we stayed at in Atherton directed us to a place where we spotted platypus in the wild. They said they have a 90%+ success rate. We also took a sunset tour and night spotting tour with Jonathan Munro. We saw so many birds, kangaroos and wallabies and possums. The wildlife in this area won't disappoint you. Queensland also has the Cape Tribulation and Daintree areas. There are tours on the Daintree River that may give you a chance to see salties. Also, Northern Queensland offers great access to the Great Barrier Reef where you can snorkel.

I have also heard that you will not find a koala in the wild in Queensland. We saw our first koalas along the Great Ocean Road between Melbourne and Adelaide. So, if you are willing to visit another area of Australia, a trip to Melbourne may bring you a wild koala sighting.

I would recommend trying to find the Lonely Planet guidebook "Watching Wildlife Australia". The book is out of print, however I bought it used on Amazon and it had a wealth of information on where to find wildlife in Australia.

You will love Australia!

Sara
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Old Oct 2nd, 2011, 02:43 AM
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Plenty of wild Koalas in Queensland, just not around Cairns. I am still chasing my first one in the district and I've been here for many years.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2011, 09:26 PM
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Yes plenty of koalas where I live just east of Brisbane. Our neighbour had one go along their fence about 3 weeks ago.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2011, 05:01 AM
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I'm just picturing all those northern NSW koalas huddling at the NSW/Qld border not daring to cross.

Of course Qld has koalas, the Australian Koala Foundation has its headquarters in Brisbane in SE Qld where koalas are common. But Queensland is a mighty big state, with different climate and vegetation zones, and as has been said, there's none in the Cairns area except in wildlife parks. However there certainly are koalas in the wild at Magnetic Island, off Townsville, North Qld, over 1300kms north of Brisbane and less than 300km south of Cairns.
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