Top tips for trip down under

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Al

Al

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Hi Everyone,

I'm very excited to be travelling to Australia for three weeks this October. Spending 5days in Sydney, 4 in Melbourne and 9 in Perth.

I'm hoping to visit the following collections-

Taronga zoo
Sydney Wildlife world
Sydney aquarium
Featherdale park

Heallesville sanctuary

Perth Zoo
Caversham wildlife park

If any locals have any top tips to see some
Of the most special and unusual species I would greatly appreciate it. And if you know of any other smaller collections in and around the area that I might be able to squeeze in.

Thanks in advance
 
I'm not a local, but I visited Melbourne in July. Healesville is spectacular. Make sure to see the Tales from Platypus Creek show in addition to the World of the Platypus exhibit. It will give you a close-up of the species in full day light that you can't get in the nocturnal platypus exhibit (which is a fantastic exhibit that also features water rats and Murray cod and other species). The nocturnal hall is full of zoological delights (bilbies, dunnarts, Mountain pygmy possums, etc.). The lyre bird aviary is fantastic.

The Melbourne Museum (their natural history museum) is also a zoo. It has a fantastic forest exhibit with free-flying bird species and fish and invertebrates in a glass-fronted stream. I saw a bower bird building a bower. They have molochs! They are in the live invertebrate exhibit, which is also fantastic.

Moonlit Sanctuary on the outskirts of Melbourne towards Philip Island where the little penguins are is a very nice native species collection. They have a great wallaby forest exhibit, Eastern quolls, and a good wedge-tail eagle exhibit.

I hope that you have a great trip.
 
If your able to,a collection that I would highly rate would be the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby New South Wales.It is a very good collection with plenty of interesting species on show.Particular highlights would be the massive exhibit for American Alligators after the entrance,free roaming kangaroos and Wallabies,immersive exhibits,venom milking demonstrations and finally Elvis the Saltwater Crocodile.He is called "Australia's Crankiest Croc" for a reason.
 
I think when you are in Melbourne, you should ABSOLUTELY include Werribee Open Range Zoo and Melbourne (city) Zoo. If you are going to Healesville anyway, you can purchase a 3 zoo pass which gives you a discount on all three. I think that Werribee Zoo is the equal best zoo in Australia (along with Monarto) and shouldn't be missed. Melbourne Zoo is also very good but is a bit of a construction zone at the moment. If you can only see 2 of the 3, then see Werribee and Healesville for this reason. Hope this helps :)
 
For a visit to Perth, in addition to AQWA and Rottnest already mentioned by @kiang, you should be able to see wild Southern Brown Bandicoots quite easily in King's Park. They originate from an 'unauthorised reintroduction' in 2012, I saw them there last year and my relatives who live in Perth tell me that there are loads of them around now and easy to see.

Other zoos near Perth are Cohunu Koala Park (don't bother unless you want to see a really wacky but horribly run-down collection - see pictures in the gallery) and Armadale Reptile and Wildlife Centre (small, but worth visiting in my opinion if you can). Perth Zoo, Caversham and AQWA are the main three zoos to visit though. The latter often gets rescue animals and had a Flatback Sea Turtle and Spinner Shark when I last visited and also has a Shark Bay Sea Snake.

I can give some information about birding around Perth as well if you're interested, I don't know if you do any birding at all.
 
Hi guys, thanks for the great feedback!

Any tips on wildlife and bird spots are greatly appreciated! Unfortunately won't be able to visit zoo's solidly when I'm over as very much a holiday and want to make sure I experience the sights and sounds too.
 
Hi Al.

I did a similar Perth/Melbourne/Sydney trip earlier this year, including all those zoos except Caversham. The main piece of advice I'll give you at this stage is to buy a Zoos Victoria membership, because the card takes some weeks to arrive. As well as the three Zoos Victoria zoos, it will also give you free entry to Perth and Taronga.

For Sydney Aquarium / Wildlife World, look up Merlin's deals online. I think they do a cheap three-attractions pass, so you could easily add the aquarium in Manly to your itinerary. I think it may also be cheaper if you buy the pass at Manly, but you can check that out.

Melbourne Museum definitely deserves a visit, but contact them ahead of time to ask when the moloch will be fed. They only go on exhibit for a short time each day. Moonlit, to the south of Melbourne, is also an excellent suggestion, but difficult unless you're renting a car.

I don't have my notes at the moment, but feel free to ask if you want any mammaling tips or other non-zoo advice. Have a great trip!
 
Al said:
Hi guys, thanks for the great feedback!

Any tips on wildlife and bird spots are greatly appreciated! Unfortunately won't be able to visit zoo's solidly when I'm over as very much a holiday and want to make sure I experience the sights and sounds too.
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The Dandenongs just outside of Melbourne are amazing mountain range with old growth ash and eucalyptus forest. You can see wild lyrebirds and wombats there. I didn't have much time to explore it, but definitely would if I went back. Chlidonias went trekking there to look for wombats recently and could likely tell you some good spots for wildlife watching and how to get there.

We saw flocks of rainbow lorikeets in the trees in the park outside of the Melbourne Museum. Sulphur-crested cockatoos are also flying around all over Melbourne.
 
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You might also wanna have a look at: Barna Mia Nocturnal Wildlife Experience (close to Perth)https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/barna-mia-nocturnal-wildlife-experience
Haven't been myself but they have some interesting species:
Western-barred Bandicoot
Greater Bilby
Rufous-hare Wallaby/Mala
Burrowing Bettong
Southern Brown Bandicoot
Brush-tailed Bettong

and Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park (wider Sydney area)

For the native mammal side of things just have a look at this thread which should be pretty up-to-date.
Giant Panda said:
buy a Zoos Victoria membership, because the card takes some weeks to arrive. As well as the three Zoos Victoria zoos, it will also give you free entry to Perth and Taronga.
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I bought mine at the counter and got the card right then and there.

For Sydney Aquarium / Wildlife World, look up Merlin's deals online. I think they do a cheap three-attractions pass, so you could easily add the aquarium in Manly to your itinerary. I think it may also be cheaper if you buy the pass at Manly, but you can check that out.
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They also have a two-attraction pass. Just be aware that when you buy you have to pre-determine which attraction you wanna go first, so f.e. if you buy it on the SeaLife website you have to go to SeaLife first, if you buy on the WildLife website you must start with WildLife etc.
 
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@Najade: Although obviously if you buy a membership at the zoo, you can't use it in Perth/Sydney beforehand. It's fine if Melbourne's you're first stop, though.
 
In Perth some quite good birding spots in the city itself are Kings Park and Herdsman Lake. A bit further from Perth, particularly doable if you will be renting/will have access to a car is the Bungedore Park/Wungong Dam area. It's probably the best single spot near Perth to see a large number of the SW Australia endemic birds. I think spotlighting would be potentially really good there as well with the possibility of Western Quoll but I haven't yet persuaded anyone to drive me there at night. Depending on where in Perth you're staying, you could also try the Beelu National Park and Mundaring Forest area for SW endemics as well as Korung National Park and the Victoria Reservoir area.

You also have a chance for Western Brush Wallaby in the national parks outside Perth, particularly Bungedore, and a good chance for Western Grey Kangaroo in the Perth suburbs. If you want to see wild Western Grey Kangaroos you are near-guaranteed around the visitor centres of most national parks, you could try John Forrest National Park.

Another place you could consider visiting near Perth is Peel Zoo about an hour to the South, and Dryandra is great for wildlife and definitely worth visiting if you can but can really be done on a day trip from Perth.

In addition to the aforementioned Rottnest Island which is great for mammals and birds, you could also try Penguin Island for wild Little Blue Penguins.
 
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Giant Panda said:
@Najade: Although obviously if you buy a membership at the zoo, you can't use it in Perth/Sydney beforehand. It's fine if Melbourne's you're first stop, though.
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If your first stop is in Perth, buy a Perth Zoo membership and use it in Melbourne and at Taronga. Just don't ask to use it at Moonlit!
 
Al said:
I'm very excited to be travelling to Australia for three weeks this October. Spending 5days in Sydney, 4 in Melbourne and 9 in Perth
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I know you said you want to see the other sights/experiences as well but I can't see how you will be in Melbourne 4 days and are apparently resisting going to Melbourne Zoo(and/or Weribee)! I have not been for some years now but definately preferred Melbourne to Taronga Park.(I haven't been to Werribee though)
 
If it was down solely to me I'd be visiting every zoo and wildlife attraction reachable at least twice but I'd have a very unhappy wife. So important to limit the collections and make sure I see as many rare and unusual species as I can!

Thanks every one for your help so far!
 
Birds in/near Sydney:
Sydney Olympic Park/Bicentennial Park
Royal Botanic Gardens
Blue Mountains - Charles Darwin Walk (Wentworth Falls) & Katoomba

Birds in/near Melbourne:
Dandenong Ranges - Sherbrooke Forest
Phillip Island
Truganina Park
Banyule Flats Reserve/Yarra Valley Parklands
Edithvale Wetlands
Werribee & Healesville are good places to spot wildlife as well.
 
You can do Melbourne Zoo in three hours, these days - 4.5 if you really take your time. You're right not to worry about Werribee.

Do you have a car? Healesville is ideally located to combine with visits to Yarra Valley wineries, if that's your thing, but take care to avoid going over 0.05 blood alcohol content: I don't know how seriously drink-driving is treated in Northern Ireland but you will certainly ruin your trip if you are caught doing it here.

If you do have a car - and time - do go down the Great Ocean Road as far as Apollo Bay. It is a full day though.

Melbourne's food is excellent, but avoid eating in the most tourist-focused spots unless you like over-priced steak. Queen Victoria Market's deli section is great for preparing your own lunches, if you're staying in the city, and you mustn't leave without eating Shanghai dumplings by the plate-full. If you go to Lygon Street for Italian then go north of Faraday Street. Tiamo's is best.
 
Al said:
If it was down solely to me I'd be visiting every zoo and wildlife attraction reachable at least twice but I'd have a very unhappy wife. So important to limit the collections and make sure I see as many rare and unusual species as I can!

Thanks every one for your help so far!
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I know all about that, in the past anyway..;) .nowadays I try to make all my zoo visit trips alone, but not easy on a joint trip abroad so I appreciate your predicament.:( I'd still advise trying to include Melbourne Zoo somehow if at all possible though, even a half a day would be sufficient I'm sure.
 
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CGSwans said:
If you do have a car - and time - do go down the Great Ocean Road as far as Apollo Bay. It is a full day though.
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That's a brilliant trip- past the Twelve Apostles? I did it in a tourist van, I could see Camels in Werribee from the road I think but could not stop obviously- Werribee had few species in those days anyway, I guess its bigger and better now.

If I were Al I would definately try to fit in Melbourne Zoo somehow though- as you say, he could do it as a 'halfdayer' anyway.
 
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