The Australian Zoological Extravaganza

This trip will take a little longer than the other itineraries, but one of the most amazing things about Australia is the wildlife. Where else do you find such an abundance of monotremes and marsupials? At the same time, focusing on the land mammals exclusively would have you missing a lot. One of the things that really made me realize that I was on the other side of the world was how different the morning bird calls sounded, and one of my most gripping visual memories is of passing a flock of cockatoos grazing on a grassy hill in Tasmania--and that's just birds! So, this tour is going to go all over the country, and see many amazing things.

Now that I have said that it will be so different, it may be a bit surprising that we are starting out in Sydney again, with a trip to Taronga Zoo, but this makes a lot of sense. When I started planning the trip, I made a list of all of the unique species that I wanted to make sure that we saw, and visited the various zoo web sites to see who had what. Taronga had all but two (we will get to those later). That's not even to say that my list was complete, because as I was going viewing the web sites I was thinking "What the heck is a quoll?"

The point is, Taronga has the greatest species diversity, and if you go there first it can act as kind of a primer for the rest of your trip. Many of these stops will be in the wild, where what you will see and how close cannot be guaranteed. Get a good look at everything here, and maybe it will make spotting different animals easier, and fill in some of the blanks.

http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo.aspx

After the zoo, you may not really feel like you want to pay to go through Wildlife World and the Sydney Aquarium, and you certainly don't have to, but you may want to consider checking out the glass bottomed boat ride that the aquarium offers. They will take you out to see sharks for $5.00, and you can feed them for $25.00. It's just something to think about.

(We had not originally planned on either the aquarium or Wildlife World, but we had a scheduling change, and they were both okay and we got a discount for buying the tickets together. We did not do the boat, and I regret that.)

http://sydneyaquarium.myfun.com.au/Visitor-Information/Glass-Bottomed-Boat.htm

Now, let's talk about those two exceptions. Initially my list involved three macropods: kangaroo, wallaby, and wallaroo. Sure, I knew that there might be different types within those three categories, but I figured that basically you have small, medium, and large, all with big feet and tails. It's a little more complicated.

Yes, wallaroos are basically the mid-size macropod, but I had forgotten tree kangaroos, and not realized that there are other names that get thrown in there, like padmeleon and quokka and dorcopsis and even hare-wallaby. It ends up being quite a few species, and not all of them are even Australian. The two that are always called wallaroos (the Antilopecine is sometimes called a wallaroo and sometimes a kangaroo) are solitary and nocturnal and live in remote areas, making them not ideal for zoos or tourism in general. Basically, you may not be able to see a wallaroo on your trip, but you should still be able to see many, many macropods.

That takes us to the other exception. Brumbies are wild horses, rather like the North American mustangs. Like camels and dingoes, brumbies were brought over as domesticated animals, then went feral. (Dingoes were brought over so long ago they almost seem like a native species.) There are none in zoos, but you can manage to see them.

Most of this tour will be making a rough circle around the continent, but this stop doesn't really fit in well anywhere else, and it's as easy to get here from Sydney as anywhere else, so the next stop is the Snowy Wilderness.

This could easily be the most expensive stop on the itinerary, depending on how long you want to stay and how much you want to do. I would probably try a quick stay, but try both horseback riding and fly fishing while there. The downside is that they cannot guarantee that you will see a mob of brumbies on the trip, but you are in the right area, with people who are familiar with them, and it should be a good chance. You're in a beautiful place either way. Also, they do have their own horses so you will definitely be able to see some kind of horseflesh, with chances at a lot of other types of animals who are in the area, whether you are able to spot them or not.

http://www.snowywilderness.com.au

If your orbit of Australia goes counter-clockwise, a next logical stop could be Cairns to access the Great Barrier Reef, or maybe you want to go somewhere else. The reef is not really that close to mainland Australia. It is closest to Cairns, about three miles out. Therefore, any access from here, or other ports, is by boat. I prefer reef exploration from shore, as you can stay in more shallow water, which has been gentler in my experience. You can manage this by going to a reef island, though the accommodations there will be more expensive. I would like to try Lady Elliott Island:

http://www.ladyelliot.com.au/

It's not the only reef island, but it looks good. As long as we are in that area, I am interested in Fraser Island too:

http://www.fraserisland.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_island

There is lots of wildlife here, including a chance at Brumbies, though there just aren't that many left. Still, from a financial point of view, you are probably either going into the Snowy Wilderness and then doing a simple reef trip from Cairns, or going to the two islands, which are at least close together. (You could fly to Fraser from Sydney, and then go into maybe Bundaberg for a connection to Lady Elliott Island. Hervey Bay is also in this area, and a popular departure point for whale watching tours, but those also happen from Sydney, Perth, and Southern Australia.)

Whichever you choose, your next stop should probably be Port Douglas. The Rainforest Habitat was the first place we visited on our trip, and it has some things to recommend it. One is that you can actually hold a koala--this is illegal further south, and still strictly regulated in Queensland. It happens really quickly, so focus on holding the koala, regardless of whether they get a good picture of you or not (yes, they will be taking a photo, and you will buy it). That being said, the grasslands area was also a nice chance to get close to the animals. I was able to touch a kangaroo and an emu, and you can feed the animals here as well.

This is also where we got our best look at a cassowary. If you explore the Daintree area at all, you will see many signs and statues of cassowary, and you may even get lucky and catch sight of one roaming through the rainforest, but there are just no guarantees. They are pretty rare.

Breakfast with the Birds is okay, but the birds can be pretty pesky. A lorikeet nipped at me when I wouldn't let it steal my waffle (you're not allowed to feed them), and bird kind of like a stork, but smaller, was going after the rivets of people's jeans pockets. You just need to decide if that would be part of the fun for you.

http://www.rainforesthabitat.com.au/

Now that you have arrived in Port Douglas for the Rainforest Habitat, you are in the gateway to the Daintree Rainforest and Kuranda Village. You have great viewing opportunities here for crocodiles, birds, and fish. There are at least ten companies offering croc-spotting cruises. We went with Bruce Belcher's 1 hour cruise as part of an all day tour booked with Gary's Safaris. We saw four crocodiles, a large snake, a kingfisher, and other birds. Gary's web site does not seem to be working now, but there might be something to be said for not booking in advance. The main street in Port Douglas is full of touring companies hoping for your business, and you might be able to get a better deal live. Or, you could find that very frustrating. Here are just a few links of activities but not companies.

I tend to think that I would take one day to start at the Bat house, then loop back through Daintree forest, a crocodile cruise, and Daintree Village, then give a separate day for Kuranda, and you should be able to see quite a bit this way. There are option for barramundi fishing, but it's a little disconcerting how often people mention seeing crocs while doing that. Sure, I would take a cruise specifically to see crocs--I'm just not sure about adding the element of competing with them for the fish.

http://daintree.info/101thingstodoindaintree.htm
http://austrop.org.au/environ/bathouse.html
http://www.kuranda.org/

If you want to see camels (not a native species, but now a regular part of the landscape), and perhaps take a camel trek, you are going to be looking central. There are several short camel trips offered at Uluru (with a bit of effort you can find some cattle, another non-native species here), but most of the camping trips originate from the Alice Springs area. We did not do this, so I can't really make a recommendation, but here is one company:

http://www.austcamel.com.au/explore.htm

Heading out West again, our next stop is Shark Bay. You probably think you are here for the sharks. Well, you may see some sharks, but the real treat here is the stromatolites. You could argue that these do not even count as animals--they are ancient structures built by microbes--but they are kind of cool, and not something you can see everywhere:

http://www.sharkbay.org/

As we move into the South there are still plenty of mammals about, but you start getting some really unique opportunities for seeing birds. One good place to stop is the Eyre Bird Observatory. Sadly, there is not great web information available on this. This is probably because it is not really a tourist attraction--it is a scientific observatory, but you can visit, and possibly even participate in a project. Anyway, these are the links I could find:

http://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/highway
http://www.southaustralia.com/us/pdf/SA_Experiences_birdwatching_fact_sheet.pdf

The next few areas are very much geared towards tourists, so if that's what you need, no fear. As you get near Adelaide, there are a couple of good destinations. For whale watching, head into Victor Harbor:

http://www.victor.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=437

In addition, you will want to spend some time on Kangaroo Island. Sure, there are kangaroos here, and there are koala here, as well as many other previously mentioned animals (and this was where we saw the echidna), but you also have a chance to get great views of two other animals: sea lions and pelicans.

The sea lions can be found at Seal Bay. The beach is full of them. Now, you are not supposed to get too close (besides having the right to not be molested, they have big sharp teeth and are faster than they look), but you have a great view from the acceptably close range, and there are lots of them. Regular beach tours are provided, and there is an information center, so even if you are not visiting as part of a tour there are resources available.

For pelicans, the pelican man does a daily feeding in Kingscote, and again, you can get very close--close enough to possibly need a change of clothes, actually. You get a great view of the birds and learn a lot about them.

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

You can also see little penguins on Kangaroo Island, but you can just as easily see them at Phillip Island, with some other good wildlife based attractions. Phillip Island is a good day trip from Melbourne, and you should take advantage of the aerial koala tour, and you can learn a lot at the Churchill Island Heritage farm. (After Seal Bay, the Nobbies part won't be that impressive--they're much farther away.)

http://www.penguins.org.au/

There's just one last stop. For our own trip, one disappointment occurred in Tasmania. We loved Tasmania, and we did some cool things there, but we pretty much stayed in the south, landing in Hobart and taking an overnight trip to Port Arthur. At one stop we were looking at tourism brochures, and out that there was a Platypus House, up north, that had platypus and echidna. To add insult to injury, the map on the brochure showed a Seahorse World as well!

Anyway, I think a fun way to handle this is to take the ferry (of course, I like boats) from Melbourne to get yourself to Tasmania, and head to Tamar. There is a double deal where you can get admission to both attractions, or a triple deal where you can also add the Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre. You could probably do both in one day, and then plan for a scenic drive down to Hobart.

http://platypushouse.com.au/index.htm
http://www.seahorseworld.com.au/

There are several options for seeing Tasmanian devils, but we really liked Bonorong, and with a boat tour you can probably see dolphins and whales here too. After all, there are lots of things you can see everywhere, it's just what you see where you go.

http://www.bonorong.com.au/index.html