Wildlife in Australia? Best Place to Go?
 

My husband and I are considering a trip to Australia in late August/early September. We would only be able to take two or three weeks for this trip. We are in our late twenties and will be trying to do this on a budget.

We are really just at the initial planning stages. We live in New York City, so when we travel we try to avoid cities and experience nature as much as possible. Australia interests us because of the potential to see so much wildlife.

I have some Australia guidebooks and have been searching on this site, but I've not been able to pinpoint which region of Australia would give us the best wildlife experiences. I'm interested in Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef... (one sidenote: my husband has lung problems that prevents him from being able to scuba dive, so that's out!)

Thanks for any assistance you can give us!

Oh, I should add that we've talked about going to New Zealand instead, but thought that we might have better chance to see unique wildlife in OZ

We've seen much more wildlife in our visits to OZ than in our visits to NZ.

I'd suggest Tasmania, but August/September probably isn't the best time to go there (winter).

If you're up for an even longer journey from the US, you might want to take a look at Western Australia - we've visited twice in July now and had wonderful weather both times - in fact we're headed back in March. Lots to see and do in WA and plenty of wildlife. You can easily fill several weeks motoring around WA.

I'm sure our helpful resident Aussies will pipe in soon with a whole slew of suggestions for you.

for wildlife - think Kakadu.

Great Barrier Reef - you don't need to dive - you can snorkel - or go in glass bottomed boat/submarine thing. Take one of the specialised wildlife tours out of Cairns - reputed to be great.

I saw absolutely no wildlife at all at Uluru - unless you count annoying insects - or the food on the plates at Sounds of Silence dinner! :)

Fraser Island, dingoes and other critters - and, at the time you're travelling - whale watching.

Other places - plenty of wildlife parks.

Pebbly Beach on south coast, below Sydney for kangaroos up close and personal in a national park, not a wildlife park.

Kangaroo Island.

I believe there is some wild sort of life in Sydney, but I'm too well brought up to know anything about that! ;)

I know that Kanagroo Island (near Adelaide) is very popular with o/s tourists because of the diversity of wildlife that you can see in a small amount of time. There are lots of posts on this board about if you do a search.

Hi Eliza,
If you can stretch to it, Western Australia & NT are both fabulous at this time of year. Other States & ACT is too, of course, as it's our Spring, but especially WA because that's wildflower season & will often bring out wildlife you might not ordinarily see.

One thing to keep in mind: Most of our wildlife (and especially kangaroos, emus, echidna & so on) rest during the main part of the day and come out to eat at dawn & dusk, which is when you DON'T want to be on the road (because of the kangaroos, emus .... (LOL)!) This is particularly so in the hotter months. ("Mad dogs & Englishmen ......" ;)

This is not to say you won't ever see any native animals from the road as you drive along, of course - just that people are often disappointed when they expect/hope to see wildlife scattered all over the landscape all the time. (I know I'm not phrasing this very well ... but you know what I mean, I'm sure)

I did a return trip from Sydney via the Pacific & Newell Highways to the Gold Coast & Toowoomba over the Christmas/New Year holidays (close on 3000km) and the only wildlife I saw was a couple of kangaroos on a paddock of lucerne late one afternoon near Grafton.

My point is, that if you only have a limited time, it's probably good advice to use a park/reserve or specialist area/trip to see what you want to see - and if you do then see some "in the wild", it's a bonus.

Of course, if you're staying out of town & espcially close to a source of fresh water, your chances will be much better.

Enjoy your trip :)

We wemt to Oz in July 2004 and it is true that you don't see much wildlife just driving around during the day. You need to take a wildlife spotting tour with a guide to get the best chance of seeing things, and we were surprised to find on our tour of the Daintree river at night that there weren't even that many birds around at that time of year. That being said, we had a fabulous time and I would recommend you research going to Cairns and the abundant wildlife available there on land and on sea.
Sally in Seattle

I really enjoyed feeding the kangaroos in Tasmania this past December. We saw (didn't hand feed) the Tasmanian Devil, and wambats. We were near Port Douglas.

Wally, you saw Tasmanian devils in Port Douglas?? Would love to hear more.

Hello; we visited Australia in April/May 2000 and agree that Pebbly Beach is a great place to get up close to kangaroos. If you only have a couple of weeks I'd suggest staying in and around the Melbourne area and visiting Philips Island to see the Fairy Penguins. There's a koala sanctuary nearby as well, that's one mammal we were not able to spot in the wild. Wilson's Promontory and the Grampians for herds of kangaroos and emus, also wombats and possums come out after dark. Another tip: we rented a campervan, it gave us a lot of flexibility to travel and brought us close to wildlife in the campgrounds. And we loved meeting local Australians, a lot easier to do when camping than when staying in hotels. Campervans are very economical to rent in Australia. Try Maui, Britz for more info on rentals.

Just returned from a month in Australia and NZ. Best wildlife is Tasmania. Incredible, and prolific. We travelled to Western Australia, south of Perth. Great hike called the TreeTop walk and also the Sterling Forest range has great hiking. Flocks of colorful parrots were quite visible.

In Kakadu, wonderful birds and crocodiles. Also will find that in Daintree.

Yes I agree with the other replies, wildlife would be best to see in a park enviroment...there aren't kangaroos and koalas everywhere as many people may be lead to believe! I live in Brisbane (capital of Qld) and have just recently been to Cape Tribulation/Cairns/Port Douglas. Cape Trib is a must, the only place in the world where 2 world heritage listed places meet, The Daintree and The Great Barrier Reef. You can take a river cruise down the Daintree and actually see crocodiles on the banks of the river! Also visit Cairns Tropical Zoo, lots to see. While you are in Cairns area you must make sure you go to Paronella Park, amazing place, www.paronellapark.com.au
Even if your husband can't scuba dive snorkelling is still a great option, just to be in that crystal blue water of The Great Barrier Reef is an experience. You could then go down to Tasmania which is completely different to Qld but is such a beautiful place. I travelled there a couple of years ago and had one of the best holidays.
Whatever you decide to do have a great trip!!

The Audobon Society of Portland, Oregon bring groups of wildlife enthusiasts to Australia regularly. Whilst the interest is primarily birdwatching, the members are also eager to spot other wildlife. The two areas of Australia visited are Far North Queensland (including Cairns, yes, Cairns for migratory seabirds on Esplanade and others at Centenary Lakes as well as Michaelmas Cay on outer reef; Atherton Tableland and Daintree area) and Tasmania.

I agree with those who are recommending you visit the wild life in Tassie..there is a lot of it (and no...I'm not talking about the population in general). In fact the natives are exceedingly friendly. It really does not get that cold here, and people tend to forget that Tasmania is a temperate island and September can be partcularly interesting if you are into gardens as it heralds the start of Spring and that is the best time to see the many wodnerful gardens in Tassie come to life with bulbs and flowering fruit trees prolierating at that time of the year.
Our winters compared to your New York winters are excedingly tame.
I hope you can make it to this beautiful island state.
Also as you are travelling in the 'off season' go on line with www.wotif.com 28 days before you travel and you will get some REAL accomodation bargains.It is very reliable and honest site
Have fun....

Thank you all for your help! I always get the best assistance on fodors! Calkin, your response was extremely helpful because I thought it would be too cold to be in Tasmania. It's wonderful to hear that we'd probably be fine! Looks like I'm leaning toward a Great Barrier Reef/Tasmania trip! I so can't wait!

Just a comment on Kangaroo Island. We were there for 3 days in November. The only wildlife we saw was at the national park office in the parking lot. I should say the only "live" wildlife, as there was plenty of road kill every morning.

We did wonder why, when everyone apparently is aware the animals are nocturnal, they did not just slow down while driving at night. I must say it was pretty sad.

Hi Murphey.

Having lived & driven in the country for 40+ years, I can tell you that, unfortunately, kangaroos, emus, pigs, wombats, rabbits, foxes etc., will often run into the path of an oncoming vehicle, irrespective of the speed at which it's travelling. Most people do slow down at night, and particularly around dawn & dusk, when the wildlife's likely to be out feeding. However,any of these animals is likely to suddenly jump out from the dark beyond the scope of one's headlights and it is simply not possible to stop sometimes.

Of course, we also have our share of village idiots who do drive like bats out of hell day and night, irrespective of the road conditions, their experience or expertise. And, sadly, a road toll that reflects this.

It is not politically correct to call them "Fairy" pengins, just like it is not correct to call the grass tree a "black boy," so I was told last December. I know.. . I know...

The Tasmanian Devils are having problems with worts on their face. It was hoped that since Port Douglas is kinda isolated, they would be more protected there. There is a five foot wall around the "Devils" so they can not get out of the large pit area they are in. Makes for good photos.

Wally, I think the plight of some Tasmanian Devils is due to a little more than "warts on their faces". They're actually cancerous and fatal tumours. By the way, you're about as likely to see a Tasmanian Devil in Port Douglas as you are to see a cassowary in Tasmania.

It's not hard at all to see lots of wildlife in many of Australia's national parks. And I agree, Australia is a much better wildlife destinaton than NZ (which of course has its own attractions). Some suggestions from personal experience, some of which have already been made:

Kakadu (NT): birds, crocs (!), lizards, roos, lizards.

Carnarvon Gorge (central Qld): roos, emus, platypus (!), possoms, sugar gliders

Undarra (north Queensland): emus, roos, bettongs (!), sugar gliders

Lamington (SE Queensland): birds (!), wallabies, the odd koala

Girraween and Bald Rock (SE Queensland): roos (saw a rare lyrebird there)

Warrumbungle Ranges (New South Wales): roos (!), koalas

Fraser Island (SE Queensland): dingos (!)

Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges (South Australia): roos (!), emus

We did see a few roos out at Uluru as well. Keep in mind, the best time to spot kangarros is at dusk and dawn.

You can see exotic birds just about anywhere in Australia: many species of parrot (rosellas, galahs, cockatoos, budgerigars, etc), kingfishers, kookaburras, magpies, bowerbirds and so on.

Ralph R, Connecticut, USA

I'm surprised that there is so little mention of Kangaroo Island in this thread, and am confused about whether it is worth going there. We were in Australia Sept.-Oct. last year and were in Sydney and the Blue Mountains, the Cairns/Daintree/GBR area, the Red Center, and Tasmania. We saw lots of wildlife. We are going back this year, in Oct.-Nov. and are planning to go to Canberra (where I'll be a visiting fellow at ANU for 3 weeks), Melbourne, Adelaide and KI, and then the North Is. of N.Z. (We'll catch the South Is. on another trip.) My question is whether it's worth going to K.I.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Judilie

Judilie;

Here's a link that may give you some insights into Kangaroo Island. If I were going to Adelaide (as you are), I would certainly make the time to include K.I. Wouldn't miss it.

http://www.tourkangarooisland.com.au/about/default.aspx

On the other hand, if I were going to Qld (as the original poster indicated), and only had 2 weeks in Australia, I wouldn't hare across the country in the opposite direction to go there, when there's an abundance of things to do & see in the area they're planning to visit.

As you've been here, you know that we're a vast landscape and distance = time; something that lots of "first timers", often more used to the European scale, find a little difficult to grasp. So, you will often find advice suggesting places to see in the general vicinity of a poster's stated destination, if they've given some idea of their itinerary.

As I said though, in your case, I'd definitely include Kangaroo Island.

Thanks very much, Bokhara. I'd appreciate any tips you (and others) might have about K.I., regarding sights to see, places to stay, and places to eat. We're tentatively planning on being there Nov. 5-7 for 2 nights and nearly 3 full days. Is that too much time for K.I.?

Judilie

Hi Eliza.

My husband and I were in Australia in September 2006 for three weeks. 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. This was our itinerary:

3 nights Melbourne
3 nights traveling from Melbourne to Adelaide, via the Great Ocean Road
2 nights Adelaide
2 nights Kangaroo Island
3 nights Daintree/Cape Tribulation
2 nights Atherton Tablelands
3 nights Trinity Beach (north of Cairns)
1 night Sydney

We saw the most wildlife on Kangaroo Island and in the Atherton Tablelands.

I would have loved to go to Tasmania, Darwin or Western Australia but found we lacked the time. Also, traveling to Darwin and Western Australia can add signficantly to the cost of your trip.

Some of our highlights:
Searching for the lyrebird in Sherbrooke Forest north of Melbourne
Seeing the possums after dark in the Melbourne parks
Seeing our first koala in the wild near Lorne in Angahook-Lorne State Park
Seeing the whales near Warnambool
Spotting the kangaroos and emus as we drove down into the Tower Hill Park
The fur seals and sea lions on Kangaroo Island
Tracking down the echidna on K I
The cassowaries in the Daintree
Spotting the platypus in the Atherton tablelands
Spotlighting tour in the tablelands
Snorkeling on the GBR
The fruit bats in the Sydney Botanical Garden

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

Also, if you decide to visit Kangaroo Island, I would recommend spending one night in Kingscote and one night near Flinders Chase National Park. This is not what we did but after we were there I decided this would have been the best course of action. Here is the reason. Although we had rented a car to use on Kangaroo Island, our rental contract expressly prohibited us from driving after dark. We wanted to see the fairy penguins but the fairy penguins only come in after dark. Since we were not staying in Penneshaw or Kingscote, the only way we could see the penguins was to hire a guide to drive us to one of the towns to see the penguins. Conversly, if we had stayed in Kingscote or Penneshaw, we would not be near the park and could not drive there to see the wildlife after dark. The island is quite large and it takes quite a while to drive between Kingscote and Flinders Chase.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Sara

If you want to see wildlife, go to King's Cross in Sydney.

Sari, that you for terrific suggestions, especially about the Lonely Planet book. I'm going to look for it right away. As I move forward in planning, I might post again. I'm still figuring out how to divide up our time. There's a chance we might be able to push our trip back to October, which would be great as far as the weather is concerned!

Hi there,
I will start this post with a declaration that I have a vested interest in the business. I am a tour operator on Kangaroo Island (used to trade as Adventure Charters of Kangaroo Island but have rebranded as Exceptional Kangaroo Island). On our website we have a complete list of the birds sighted on Kangaroo Island with habitat, breeding, population trends and seasonality. I have also listed all vertebrates recorded for the Island and surrounding waters - this list has "likelihood of observation in a visit of a few days" for each species. Admittedly this is subjective and assumes you are either an experienced observer of wildlife, ask LOTS of questions of the locals, or take a trip with a guide. I have provided this information so that potential visitors to the Island come with realistic expectations. The biggest single issue with expectations is where vistors come in our summer (Dec-Feb) and hope to find kangaroos with thick fur coats bouncing around in daylight in the heat. They snooze all day in the shade of dense vegetation. Anyway hope this helps. Link to http://www.exceptionalkangarooisland...t_wildlife.php

Thanks Craig - that's a great link! :)