I have just finished 2 weeks in the south part of Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, and it could easily have been double that time even without including other parts of Australia.
This is part of a much longer trip that began with 5 weeks in New Zealand. Outline:
Healesville: 2 nights
Warrnambool: 1 night
Apollo Bay 1 night
Melbourne: 3 nights
Hobart: 6 nights
Melbourne: 1 night
Day 1: I flew into Melbourne from Christchurch, NZ, and of course arrived with no jet lag. So I rented a car at the airport and headed straight for Healesville, about an hour’s drive. It was about dusk when I arrived, a little later than I usually like to drive; so I had to keep an eye out for wildlife on the road. I knew I was for sure in Australia when a kangaroo crossed the road in front of me in the distance!
Day 2: Healesville is a delightful little town and I could have stayed longer. But my main focus was Healesville Animal Sanctuary. So that is where I spent my one full day. I paid extra for a “koala experience” - which meant that I, along with 3 other people, had our own little keeper talk inside one of the koala enclosures. Plus the next door echidnas. No touching, but we were definitely up close and personal. I also attended talks on the platypus (they had two) and the Tasmanian Devil (they had 1 adult to see during the talk and 9 juveniles that I got to watch feeding, which doesn’t happen every day).
Note: I went to 4 animal sanctuaries (no zoos) and loved this emphasis on rescue of both wounded animals and orphaned animals, as well as ongoing research and breeding to preserve native endangered animals. One guide said it’s suggested that if you hit a kangaroo on the road to stop and call the helpline (if it’s still living), but also check the pouch for a surviving joey. And that moving roadkill off the road decreases the chance that scavengers (like Tasmanian Devils) will also be killed while feeding.
Day 3: Wanting to see some of the Great Ocean Road, I drove as far as Warrnambool via the inland road. My goal was to go through Tower Hill Reserve for the chance to spot koalas in the wild, which I certainly did. The location is small but very interesting - as you drive first up, then down into an old volcano. There’s a visitor’s center and nice bathrooms, what looked like good hiking - but most of all, lots of koalas sitting up in the trees! There were also a couple of emu wandering around.
I am a bad animal spotter, so my strategy (which I discovered at Yellowstone) is to look for a group of people gathered and go see what they are looking at. During my second koala sighting, I met a British couple (Isle of Wight) and they told me about a nearby sanctuary that someone else had told them about. Passed down wisdom that proved a highlight.
From Tower Hill, I drove in to town and checked in, had dinner on the Main Street, and went to bed. There is a really cool looking maritime village museum I had planned to visit, but was just tired. I might have gone the next day, but replaced it with my sanctuary tip!
Continued…..