Trip to Australia – June and July 2016

LaughingDove

LaughingDove

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Time for another trip thread! :D

This one will be considerably longer than my previous one-week trip (the thread is here: http://www.zoochat.com/808/trip-kenya-february-2016-a-435669/ if you haven’t seen it) as my flight departs Warsaw on the 5th of June (one week from tomorrow) and I return on the 30th of July so it is nearly two months.

My international flights will be with Emirates via Dubai to Perth, and I will be flying by myself without my family (although they will also be in Perth for the final few weeks of the trip, I won’t be flying back with them as it was much cheaper to book a return flight rather than two one-way flights to fly back with them) and I am able to have such a long holiday because I have finished school a month early this year after doing my GCSE exams (part of the British school system which involves doing exams at the end of year 11, but if you don’t know what they are it doesn’t matter) and after the Australia trip I will have an additional month of holidays, mostly in the UK.

Anyway, this is an approximate itinerary of what I will be doing:

Sunday 5th of June: Leave Warsaw in the afternoon

Monday 6th of June: Arrive in Perth in the evening

7th – 11th of June: Staying with my aunt and grandmother in the Perth hills, will probably be mostly relaxed and doing some birding, though I may do other stuff in Perth during this week, nothing is booked or definitely planned yet.

11th of June: Depart from Perth with my aunt late in the evening

----- The next two weeks of the trip will be travelling around Queensland with my aunt. This has been planned out in detail. Note: we will not have a car for these two weeks so will be using public transport

12th of June: Arrive in Brisbane early morning Staying in Broadbeach near Gold Coast for the nights of the 12th, 13th, and 14th will probably do some birding/looking for wildlife in general/walking that day

13th and 14th of June: Both days in Broadbeach (Suburb of Gold Coast) the plan is to visit both David Fleay Wildlife Park and Currumbin Wildlife Centre which will probably take a full day each considering we will have to use public transport

15th of June: We have booked coach tickets to take us from Broadbeach to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park. Staying in O’Reilly’s for the nights of the 15th, 16th, and 17th

16th and 17th of June: Birding/looking for wildlife/generally walking around and exploring nature in Lamington National Park

18th of June: Coach booked leaving O’Reilly’s in the morning and going to Brisbane Staying in Brisbane for the nights of the 18th 19th and 20th

19th and 20th of June: In Brisbane. Still somewhat flexible for these days however visits are planned to the Lone Pine Koala Centre, Botanical Gardens, and probably the Queensland Museum

21st of June: Fly from Brisbane to Cairns quite early in the morning Staying in Cairns for the nights of the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd

22nd of June: This tour: Northern Experience Eco Tours: Rainforests, Waterfalls, Paronella Park (option A out of the three options available)

23rd of June: Tour to Michaelmas Cay

24th of June: Go to Cassowary House in Kuranda day spent birding and/or doing things in Kuranda Staying in Cassowary House for the nights of the 24th and 25th

25th of June: Birding around Cassowary House and/or doing things in Kuranda

26th of June: Flight back to Perth from Cairns in the evening

----- That is the end of the Queensland part of the trip

27th of June to late evening of the 29th of July will be in Perth.

For roughly the first week I will be staying with my aunt as with the first week before going to Queensland, but about a week later my parents and brother will be arriving and I will go and stay in accommodation with them (I don’t have their flight details so I don’t know those dates exactly).

During this time in Perth there are no set plans but I will definitely be doing a lot of birding and some zoo visiting (and also spending time with relatives as I have several relatives in Perth, though I hope that can be partly combined with zoos and birding). I know of quite a few places to go birding in and around Perth as I have been to Perth many times in the past (though this year will be my first time travelling to Australia outside of the South West) and I have the book ‘Finding Australian Birds’ as well. I am also considering visiting Rottnest Island and some places slightly further afield such as Karakamia Sanctuary, but nothing is solidly planned or booked.

These are the zoos that I am hoping to visit: Perth Zoo, Caversham Wildlife Park, Armadale Reptile Centre, AQWA, Cohunu Koala Park. Are there any good zoos in the Perth area that I’m missing?


So I’m very excited! :D I plan to use this as a trip thread (of course) similar to what I did for Kenya, though not so detailed or every day (some days will be relatively boring and it’s too long a trip for me to do such detail for every day) and I also plan to write zoo reviews in this thread.

Does anyone have any thoughts about what I plan to do? Missing out on any brilliant things? Any general advice about anything (where to spot birds, advice for going around the zoos, etc.) would also be very much appreciated or any input/comments/thoughts at all.

:)
 
have you been to wildlife spots further out from Perth like Dryandra, or in the south like Cheyne Beach? It is a little difficult reaching them by public transport but it can be done. Dryandra in particular is brilliant.
 
Chlidonias said:
have you been to wildlife spots further out from Perth like Dryandra, or in the south like Cheyne Beach? It is a little difficult reaching them by public transport but it can be done. Dryandra in particular is brilliant.
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When in Perth I won't be reliant on public transport as my aunt has a car (and my parents will be picking up a car when they arrive) it's just the Queensland part where I will have to use public transport.
I have been to Dryandra, I went when I was last in Australia in July of 2014, and I really liked it. Sadly didn't spot a numbat though, so I would like to visit again.
I've never been as far south (or west) as Cheynes Beach. It might be a bit too far, but it does look quite interesting so I'll look into it.
 
Although ,most people visit Rottnest Island for the day, there is accommodation on the island and the next time I have the opportunity I'll probably stay on-island for a couple of nights as it is quite a large island and I'd like to explore it a bit more thoroughly.

Penguin Island, south of Perth, is much smaller but also worth a visit.

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
Although ,most people visit Rottnest Island for the day, there is accommodation on the island and the next time I have the opportunity I'll probably stay on-island for a couple of nights as it is quite a large island and I'd like to explore it a bit more thoroughly.

Penguin Island, south of Perth, is much smaller but also worth a visit.

:p

Hix
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I don't think it's possible to visit penguin island during the time that I'm there this year because it is closed from June to September, though I would really like to revisit as I have only been once before and quite a few years ago. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to do so at some point.

Staying on Rottnest overnight or for a few nights does sound interesting so I'll look into that possibility.
 
I noticed you haven't specified doing any night spotting around Cairns? There are a couple of companies that do night tours, Wait A While is probably the most convenient (leaving from Cairns itself) if you were interested.

Cassowary House isn't in Kuranda itself, so there's a bit of a walk if you wanted to visit the animal collections in the town (I think it's probably a few kilometres from memory). There's a nice boardwalk through forest at Kuranda too which is good at night for possums, bandicoots, echidna, giant rats, etc.

Oh, make sure you pay a visit to BatReach at Kuranda, which rescues and rehabilitates injured bats and often has other wildlife. They had a striped possum when I was there.
 
Chlidonias said:
I noticed you haven't specified doing any night spotting around Cairns? There are a couple of companies that do night tours, Wait A While is probably the most convenient (leaving from Cairns itself) if you were interested.

Cassowary House isn't in Kuranda itself, so there's a bit of a walk if you wanted to visit the animal collections in the town (I think it's probably a few kilometres from memory). There's a nice boardwalk through forest at Kuranda too which is good at night for possums, bandicoots, echidna, giant rats, etc.

Oh, make sure you pay a visit to BatReach at Kuranda, which rescues and rehabilitates injured bats and often has other wildlife. They had a striped possum when I was there.
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Thanks for the suggestions,

I was planning on just going out spotlighting around Cairns by myself with the help of the 'Finding Australian Mammals' book, but I think getting an organised tour might be a good idea so I'll definitely look to see if that's a possibility.

We will probably do some stuff around Kuranda on the morning of the day when we first get there before going to Cassowary House, and BatReach does look interesting so I'll see if we can fit that in.

Edit: I've just seen on BatReach's website that they're closed on Friday, Saturday and Monday which would mean that if we were to visit it would have to be on the morning of the day that we leave (The day we arrive in Kuranda is Friday, we then have all day Saturday in Cassowary house and leave on Sunday) but since the flight only leaves Cairns that evening it might be possible to fit in.
 
Just for fun, here is a picture of the stack of books that I will be taking with me to Australia:

I was going to list the titles, but I think it's quite obvious in the picture.
 

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Peel Zoo is south of Perth, near Mandurah. About 70-80 kms. If you have a car would make an easy day trip.

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
Peel Zoo is south of Perth, near Mandurah. About 70-80 kms. If you have a car would make an easy day trip.

:p

Hix
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I hadn't heard of that zoo before but it definitely seems doable from Perth.
Have you (or anyone else) been? Is it any good?
 
LaughingDove said:
I was planning on just going out spotlighting around Cairns by myself with the help of the 'Finding Australian Mammals' book, but I think getting an organised tour might be a good idea so I'll definitely look to see if that's a possibility.
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They do tend to know where the best spots for Wildlife are, useful when you are in an unfamiliar area and can waste a lot of time drawing blank on your own.
 
Chlidonias said:
I noticed you haven't specified doing any night spotting around Cairns? There are a couple of companies that do night tours, Wait A While is probably the most convenient (leaving from Cairns itself) if you were interested.

Cassowary House isn't in Kuranda itself, so there's a bit of a walk if you wanted to visit the animal collections in the town (I think it's probably a few kilometres from memory). There's a nice boardwalk through forest at Kuranda too which is good at night for possums, bandicoots, echidna, giant rats, etc.

Oh, make sure you pay a visit to BatReach at Kuranda, which rescues and rehabilitates injured bats and often has other wildlife. They had a striped possum when I was there.
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I agree. We did a Wait a While tour a few years ago and enjoyed it. Here is my mini trip report from my visit to Cairns. Has it really been 5 years? Time flies.
https://www.zoochat.com/community/posts/463505
 
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The current plan is to fit in the Wait-a-while tour in the afternoon/evening on the first day we arrive in Cairns as our flight from Brisbane arrives in the morning.
It's not booked yet though and we plan to book it once I have arrived in Perth during that week before going to Queensland.
 
Has anyone had to tick the thing on the incoming passenger card about being in a rural or freshwater areas in the last 30 days? I don't think I have ever had to before but I think I probably need to this time.
Do you know what happens?
 
LaughingDove said:
Has anyone had to tick the thing on the incoming passenger card about being in a rural or freshwater areas in the last 30 days? I don't think I have ever had to before but I think I probably need to this time.
Do you know what happens?
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I always tick that box when coming to Australia or NZ from Asia. They just check your shoes for seeds and mud, and ask if you have any outdoors equipment they need to check (e.g. tents, fishing gear, etc).
 
LaughingDove said:
The current plan is to fit in the Wait-a-while tour in the afternoon/evening on the first day we arrive in Cairns as our flight from Brisbane arrives in the morning.
It's not booked yet though and we plan to book it once I have arrived in Perth during that week before going to Queensland.
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Excellent. Sounds like you have a really good trip lined up in Oz. If you have an opportunity to, why not visit Melbourne? There are a few Zoochatters here who wouldn't mind meeting up with you. You can also visit Moonlit Sanctuary - the owner is a Zoochatter.
 
nanoboy said:
Excellent. Sounds like you have a really good trip lined up in Oz. If you have an opportunity to, why not visit Melbourne? There are a few Zoochatters here who wouldn't mind meeting up with you. You can also visit Moonlit Sanctuary - the owner is a Zoochatter.
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I'd love to visit Melbourne and meet up with zoochatters, but I doubt I will be able to on this trip. Maybe next time.
 
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