Australia Islands
 

My husband and I are going to Australia in October of this year. I am trying to figure out whether to stay on Heron Island or Lizard Island or some place else? What is the water temperature there at this time of the year?

Also, I was interested in going to Kangaroo Island to view wildlife. Many guide books say this is a good "one stop shop" for this kind of activity. Any comments on Kangaroo Island? How are the B&B's/hotels there? If not, should I spend a few days on this island or take a ferry and go for one day?

Things we like:
1) Luxury hotels and fine dining at the end of the day
2) Nature
3) Neither one of us dives, but we snorkel
4) I am a wildlife photographer, so I like to see plenty of creatures in their natural habitat.

KI is over-rated as a destination for view wild-life I fell as there are only those animals from cooler climates. You can see heaps more in the tropics without the cost of going to KI.
Lizard is heaps better than Heron. I was on Heron Island last month and there is little else but a very small island although there is some nice snorkling but you can get that and more at Lizard and you are on the reef proper and not the tail end of it.

I'd recommend Tangalooma resort on Moreton Island. Moreton boasts the tallest sand dunes in the world. It's protected. Tangalooma is the only resort. The island is almost completely uninhabited. It's beautiful and only a short distance from Brisbane city.

We were on Kangaroo Island last October and absolutely LOVED it! It is somewhat difficult to reach, but we felt it was well worth it. We stayed at www.the-lookout.com.au and toured with them as well. We had the best meals of our trip there. Take a look at their website, it's a good indicator of what to expect. Many say skip KI, but for what you describe, I think it is a must.

Hi Shari - avg water temperature around Lizard in October would be about 80F - somewhat less at Heron which is a long distance south. October is usually a lovely month to visit Far North Queensland, its after the SE winds of "winter" and before the summer humidity sets in. Tangalooma is nice, but well south of GBR.

I liked Kangaroo Is but it took me years to get around to going. Camped so can't vouch for the quality of overnight accommodation in your chosen price bracket.

But in all honesty, if this is your first time to Australia, it is way down the picking list.

Shari...FYI check out this recent thread around Heron Island. Lizard Island would be the one to go to if you can afford it, but on the other hand Heron is still a wonderful place, Beemersgallore's comments aside. Sure it's not your classic resort with golf, stores, restaurants, water sports, etc, but there's no doubt it is a great place to experience the southern GBR. The snorkeling is fantastic and it's a great place for turtles, manta rays and, in season, humpback whales.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34546098

You don't have to go to Heron Island to see Humpback Whales in season as you can see them up close and personal in a lot of other and easier places to get to on the east coast of Australia.
I have been to Lizard, Green Island, Fitsroy, Hayman, Dunk, Hinchinbrook, several of the cays on the outer reef off Cairns/PD, Heron, Lady Musgrave. Whilst all have their good sides to them you really do have to be a diver to give justice to LM and Heron, and in the case of Hayman, Dunk and Hinchinbrook you need to go further out to a reef to do any snorkling and diving so that leaves places like the outer cays, Lizard and Green islands from which you can have a nice snorkle and actually see something. Then you would have to eliminate Green as it is so over-touristed that it is not an option anyway. Water temp at any of those Islands would be fantastic in October.
As for the suggestion of Tangalooma, all I could say about that is that there is obviously a troll on this forum as that is the silliest thing I have heard of for what you want.
Kangaroo Island is not for anyone with limited time and would be about 30th on your places to visit while in Australia. Sure there are people who have been there and said it was good but then they have not probably been to the other places which offer more and which are suggested by many on this site.

We found KI pretty forgettable, but we didn't use a guide, and several posters who did have given it high marks so I have to accept that we may not have given it a fair chance. All the same, I don't think I'd bother unless you actively wanted to combine it with a visit to Adelaide and its nearby winegrowing areas. Australia is not short if opportunities to see wildlife in their native habitats, including Far North Queensland. KI does have sea lions, but they struck me as unpleasant, quarrelsome creatures at close quarters.

I would definitely pass on Green Island, unless we missed something. It seemed to me to be largely devoted to relieving large numbers of unsuspecting Japanese tourists of their hard-earned yen for little discernible reward.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Could someone please give me specifics as to an exact place I could go to see a lot of native wildlife (sea lions, penguins, koalas, kangaroos, platypus, lizards, possibly whales in October? etc.)in their natural habitats? I picked Kangaroo because guide books say this is the best place to see them. I don't want to go out of my way, though if there is another more accessible area.

Thanks!

Australia is a very big country and therefore you are not going to see the same animals everywhere in it.
In North Queensland there are some animals that are not in the rest of the country i.e. Tree climbing Kangaroos, Lemuroid Possums, Cassowary, Couss Couss ( spelling?????)Dugongs & Sugar Gliders to name but a few. You would not see whales from KI at that time of year and perhaps not penguins either so it would be best if you did a search of what you do want to see first.
There are 80 million Kangaroos in Australia. Koalas are not easy to see at any time but there are areas where you can i.e. south of Brisbane in one park there are 5,000. You could also sit beside a stream where a platypus lives for days on end and not see it.
Then again perhaps on another day you would see it several times.
There is a vast number of birds in Australia which are absolutely wonderful and they live everywhere - not all of them in the same place either though.
Lizards are everywhere as are goannas. There are a number of people who take tourists on wild life tours in the Cairns region and you can see a lot with them.

Shari, for some serious wildlife viewing in Far North Qld, check out Jonathan Munro of Wild Watch - www.wildwatch.com.au He covers nocturnal wildlife spotlighting; bird watching; platypus viewing; sunset kangaroo viewing; wetlands and wildfowl; reptiles and amphibians, butterflies; orchids and rare plant with 11 habitats from reef to rainforest. He'll tailor trips to your interests - half day to several days or longer. Although he's based in Tropical North Queensland he goes Australia-wide. also has his own private highland rainforest preserve, "Warrigal" - Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo, 9 species of possum, over 200 birds species, orchids and primitive plants. Jonathan has also had some glowing praise from posters here on Fodors.

And I meant to add, Jonathan has a sense of humour.

Dizzy, whilst I agree with you on Green Island, I disagree with your thoughts on Tangalooma. Ok the accomodation is not 5* luxury but the restaurant is good and the beach bar/restaurant is perfectly acceptable, its great for snorkelling there is plenty of nature and there are not too many places that can guarantee wild dolphins at the same time every day.
Its also a fantastic place for families.
You should withdraw your troll suggestion and apologise to AustraliaZooIsGreat.

Muck

>You should withdraw your troll suggestion and apologise to AustraliaZooIsGreat.

Thank you. I'd like to say in my own defence, i'd never comment on a place I haven't visited.

Moreton island is a wonderful island.

I agree, been there twice and spent xmas day 2003 there.
Good place to stay

Muck

I agree Tangalooma is a nice spot, though based on Shari's criteria, I don't think it's what she is looking for.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to look into the guide that was mentioned.

Again, I would like to stress that I just wanted basic ideas of areas to view wildlife. I am educated/worldly and fully aware that Australia is large. My question was to whether there was an exact area where it is easier to see animals. For example, Alaska is large, but if one wanted to view as many animals as possilbe in a short amount of time, they would go to Denali. Same thing. I do not have 4 months to cover every corner of beautiful Australia (I wish I did.) Therefore, I wanted to be in areas with large concentrations of animals.

Thanks!

Shari I think you have been given the information on where there are large congregations of animals. May I say yet again that the north of Queensland has more animals, birds and flora than the rest of Australia put together.
Mucky and others, I have not said that Tangalooma is not wonderful, it is, but it is NOT for the same reasons that Shari is wanting.

Shari: Australia's inland national parks are good places to see native animals in the wild. One in particular that comes to mind is Carnarvon Gorge in central Queensland. Been there twice, staying at the Oasis Lodge (3-star accommodation, perhaps). Kangaroos galore, emus, platypuses, gliders, possoms...not sure about koalas since I didn't see any there. Takes some walking (quite easy) to see it properly. Last year, spent a couple of days in the Warrumbungle Ranges in mid-western NSW...koalas, kangaroos (zillions), emus, etc. Keep in mind koalas are quite hard to spot in the wild. When we were hiking in the Warrumbungles, we could hear their loud grunts but finding them was frustrating. Other possibilities, to name a few: Lamington Nat'l Park, near Brisbane, Wilsons Promontory and the Grampians (Victoria), Kakadu Nat'l Park (NT), Undarra (N. Qld).

One year my wife and I did a combined Carnarvon Gorge-Heron Island trip, 5 nights each with a longish drive (5 hrs?) in-between. A wonderful trip.