seeing animals in winter in Australia
 

I'm doing some advance planning (all right fantasizing) anyway, the only time we can go with the kids is during our summer break so given that we are going in large part to see the wildlife will we see it at that time of year? I'm from the midwest and with 3 feet of snow and subfreezing temps in the winter no animal in its right mind is outside. We would probably stick to Queensland and north/western Australia. If so, any suggestions as to the best place?

Very few places in Australia get snow and subfreezing temps. In fact, in the places you mentioned north/west Aust and Queensland, the winter is the best time to visit, as the temperatures are mild to warm (rather than hot) and it is fairly dry.

If you are travelling the outback highways and secondary roads in north west Aus by car then you'll mainly see kangaroos (quite a few roadkills as well as live ones), wedgies (wedge tailed eagles) and emus. At the campsites you'll see roos, wallabies (the rock wallabies are the cutest) and dingoes. The parrots and other birdlife are wonderful. I recommend including Alice Springs in your trip in order to make a visit to the Desert Wildlife Park where you will see a fantastic collection of animals and birds of Aus up close and personal. Have a wonderful time.

You'll see animals in Australia all through the year but bear in mind that a lot of our animals are nocturnal so you won't see a lot in the bush during the day. Even the kangeroos tend to move around early morning and late afternoon. If you are planning to go to Northern Territory, a must is to go to Kakadu for the crocodiles and bird life. Both Darwin and Alice Springs have great wildlife parks exhibiting the birds and animals of each region. If you are going to Victoria, a good place to see animals in the bush is at the Grampians National Park, about 250 km west of Melbourne. We have seen koalas, kangeroos, wallabies, emus etc everytime we have been there. Also Melbourne Zoo is a good place to visit plus Healesville Sanctuary (about 1.5 hours drive east of Melbourne) specialises in native birds and animals (another plus for this trip is you drive through the Yarra Valley wine region). <BR>Enjoy your planning.

If you really want to get close to nature, try finding time for Adelaide where you can visit Kangaroo Island, Barossa Valley, go whale-watching, swimming with dolphins, fishing, sailing, blue crab excursions and a dozen other outback/nature options - see http://www.aussieassist.com/ <BR>