© FLPA wildlife-watching landscapes, and everywhere in between coral reefs to ’s wild and remote From Queensland’s lush tropical forests and 74 WHERE? flora and fauna is utterly unique being isolated for millenia, much of its There’s nowhere quite like ; after 72 WHY? Platypus, to the iconic Koala in its varying habitats, from the curious Australia boasts a boggling array of wildlife 88 WHAT? recommendations to help you on your way Suggested itineraries, facts, advice and 93 HOW? AUSTRALIA

Essential Your complete guide... ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA Why?

Australia is as varied as it is big, and much of its diverse wildlife is unique. Therefore, a visit should be savoured, not rushed. Slowly

DOESWords by STELLA MA RTINIT

hanks to 35 million years of isolation, Australia’s animals wildlife. In complete contrast there are dense, dripping have evolved in their own distinctive style. From Platypuses rainforests, soaring forests of the world’s tallest flowering paddling in pristine creeks and Koalas slumped on eucalypt trees, alpine moorlands, diverse flowering heathlands, branches to Frilled Lizards skittering through savanna beaches, coastal cliffs and coral reefs. Then there is the woodlands and Thorny Devils tottering across hot desert sparsely populated savanna region, covering the northern sands, many can be seen nowhere else on Earth. While quarter of the country. Dominated by summer floods and mammals can be elusive, birds are everywhere: Rose-pink winter drought and fire, this swathe of grasslands, Galahs amass in deafening flocks at sunset; lyrebirds woodlands and wetlands includes Australia’s bio-diverse wander under tree ferns; perky fairywrens twitter in the Kakadu, Kimberley and Cape York Peninsula regions. undergrowth; honeyeaters rifle through Bottlebrush It is possible to watch wombats snuffling through Tblossoms; Emus stride across farmers’ fields... and snowdrifts and, within a couple of days, go diving on coral Kookaburras simply laugh. reefs or boating past crocodiles in a tropical billabong, but

© FRANK ‘N’ FOCUS/ALAMY ‘N’ © FRANK Much of Australia is arid but it is far from dull, supporting a trip should not be a hurried affair. Whether opting for one of the world’s highest diversity of reptiles, masses of guided tour or self-drive adventure, it’s better to choose spring wildflowers and flocks of bright nomadic birds. This one area and get off the beaten track, rather than spend A ‘beware kangaroo’ traffic rust-red landscape is studded with spectacular rockscapes too much time in airports. Australia’s animals can be shy – sign warns motorists that threaded with lush, shady gorges providing oases for take your time to get to know them! there are roos nearby to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock)

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MY AUSTRALIA Queensland ALAN GILLANDERS While you’re Naturalist, Guide and Educator The Great Barrier Reef shadows the mound-studded grasslands and crocodile- there... The Wet Tropics of Queensland coast for 2,300km, containing inhabited wetlands support over 500 Every Wednesday the Queensland are rightly nearly 3,000 reefs harbouring over 1,500 fish terrestrial vertebrates; some species such as Gulflander railmotor leaves renowned for their natural species, turtles and numerous invertebrates. Green Python, Common Spotted Cuscus, Palm Normanton, on the Gulf of history values. For those interested Carpentaria, for a leisurely in animals, the Atherton Tableland Generally, the best sites are those furthest Cockatoo and other colourful birds are also five-hour, 152km, journey to is the highlight not only for from land; trips heading north from Port found in New Guinea, but nowhere else Croyden, a former gold-rush diversity but also the endemics. Douglas offer chances to snorkel with Minke in Australia. town in the heart of Queensland’s Bowerbirds build and decorate Whales in June and July. Many islands have Rainforests of the Wet Tropics World outback. And every Thursday it structures for courtship; from fringing reefs and some have significant Heritage Area cover a narrow coastal strip returns, delivering supplies to September to New Year it is cattle stations along the track. possible to see five species in one seabird breeding colonies. between Cooktown and Townsville, but host Built between 1888 and 1891, day. Some are master builders, Hinchinbrook Island offers a challenging 34 per cent of Australia’s mammal and 40 per with steel sleepers designed to others jazz musicians. One of my 32km wilderness hike. Magnetic Island has cent of bird species. While Daintree National foil termites and withstand most memorable wildlife resident Koalas and allied rock wallabies. Park is a major tourist destination, other parks summer floods, the railway experiences was watching two Fraser Island is a massive, rainforested sand offer quieter experiences. The upland initially serviced the burgeoning male Golden Bowerbirds fighting goldfields as Croyden’s – it was a gold disco light show! island with some of Australia’s purest Dingoes. rainforests boast 10 species of possum and population swelled to 30,000. Tree-kangaroos and the many Whale-watching trips visit migrating glider and one tree-kangaroo – though they Now Croyden has fewer than possum species are best sought at Humpback Whales in nearby Hervey Bay are difficult to find without an experienced 300 inhabitants and the rail night. In the forest are strange between late July and October. local guide. Kingfisher Park, at Julatten, with service’s main cargo is tourists. lizards that recall armoured Cape York Peninsula is a remote wilderness over 200 bird species and nesting Buff- The driver knows every inch of dinosaurs and huge spiny insects. the track and stops to show off www.alanswildlifetours.com.au accessible only by 4x4 in the dry season (May breasted Paradise Kingfishers in summer, is a OLIVER LUCANUS/FLPA, NORBERT PROBST/FLPA, SYLVAIN CORDIER, highlights ranging from a MARTINWILLIS/FLPA, ICONSINTERNATIONAL.COM/ALAMY to October). The savanna woodlands, termite mecca for birdwatchers. Further south, © bowerbird bower and a flying fox colony to an abandoned gold Eungella National Park has reliably seen mine. Staff also help to identify Platypuses, noisy pittas and Regent savanna plants and share stories Bowerbirds. Summer season tours at Mount of colourful outback characters Etna Caves National Park allow visitors to and local trivia. Train enthusiasts can combine this with a trip on observe the nightly departure of thousands the Savannahlander which runs of little bent-wing bats. Mon Repos between Cairns and Forsayth. Conservation Park is a major summer www.gulflander.com.au; nesting area for Green, Flatback and www.savannahlander.com.au Loggerhead turtles. On the New South Wales border, Lamington National Park is good for birds including Regent Bowerbirds, Logrunners, Paradise Riflebirds and Albert’s Lyrebirds. Red-necked Pademelons are abundant; Land Mullets and spiny crayfish wander rainforest tracks. The wonderful granite boulders of Girraween National Park host a great variety of lizards and spring wildflowers. In the vast outback, occasional deluges fill wetlands, attracting many thousands of breeding waterbirds. Lava tubes of Undara Volcanic National Park support vine thickets and insectivorous bats, and Cobbold Gorge harbours Freshwater Crocodiles. In the west, Far left: an aerial view of a coral reef at visitors to Boodjamulla National Park can Lizard Island National Park. Top: a diver watching a Green Sea Turtle at the Great canoe between towering sandstone cliffs of Barrier Reef. Above left: a Red-necked Lawn Hill Gorge, home to Freshwater Pademelon female with young in pouch. Crocodiles, Purple-crowned Fairywrens and Left: Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher Great Bowerbirds. Carnarvon National Park is holding an ant. Directly above: the Gulflander crossing the Normanton Bridge another outback oasis with numerous near Normanton. Echidnas, macropods and gliders.

74 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com wildlifeextra.com NOVEMBER 2014 75 ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA Where?

Here: Queensland rainforest near Mount Warning. Below left: Emus on the road in Sturt National Park. Bottom: an adult male Regent Bowerbird.

New South Wales

The Great Dividing Range splits the Mount Warning. Capertee Valley/Glen relatively narrow coastal plain from the Davis on the western side of Wollemi extensive, drier outback and hosts many National Park is an outstanding birding of the state’s national parks. In the south, area with over 235 species recorded an area of winter ski-fields, the alpine including Turquoise Parrots, Diamond heathlands of Australia’s highest peaks are Firetails and endangered Regent protected in Kosciuszko National Park Honeyeaters and Swift Parrots. while the temperate rainforests of the The seaboard is dotted with an northern slopes are included in interesting variety of reserves covering Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World beaches, wetlands, cliffs, coastal heaths Heritage Area. These relict patches left and forests. Migrating Humpback Whales from Australia’s ancient forests are a and other cetacean species come quite diversity hotspot for frogs, snakes, birds close to shore around Eden, particularly in and marsupials. October and November. Many of these reserves are rugged, The western slopes of the Great wilderness areas suitable for long-distance Dividing Range have been largely cleared hikers but Dorrigo National Park, with its for farming but Warrumbungle National elevated skywalk, has easy rainforest Park is a haven for numerous macropods walks with chances of Regent Bowerbirds. as well as Emus, parrots and other birds. The gnarled, mossy Antarctic beech Further west, as conditions become drier, forests of Border Ranges National Park Red and Western Grey kangaroos, Euros

TIM HESTER/ALAMY,THEO ALLOFS/FLPA, GIANPIERO FERRARI/FLPA and dry-country birds become common. © overlook the spectacular volcanic plug of

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While you’re there...

In its time (1822 to 1833) the penal colony on Sarah Island, on Tasmania’s west coast, was the harshest in Australia. But, from September to May, visitors to Strahan have the opportunity to see its funny side in a theatre production, The Ship That Never Was. Australia’s longest running play, written by Richard Davey and produced by The Round Earth Company, is based on real events when 10 convict shipwrights hijacked the ship they had been building. This great escape led to an extraordinary voyage and a tale with many intriguing twists and turns. All parts are played by just two actors (who earlier treat passengers on the cruise to a spirited guided tour of Sarah Island) with help from the audience, in a production that is energetic, witty and hilarious. And if the weather is cold, audience members are given blankets and hot water bottles! www.roundearth.com.au/ship.htm

Clockwise from far left: a Tasmanian Devil; Hells gate at on the west coast of Tasmania; a Common Wombat mother and joey; Lake Seal at Mount Field National Park MY AUSTRALIA Tasmania TONIA COCHRAN Wildlife Guide Bruny Island, off Tasmania is the best place in Australia to see largely uninhabited south-west lies in the Short-tailed Shearwaters nest in Tasmania’s southeast coast, is famous for its a wide variety of mammals, some of which path of cold, moisture-laden, westerly winds, Tasmania, returning to their burrows at biodiversity and stunning are extinct, rare or non-existent on the so this stunning landscape of glaciated nightfall – good spots are The Nut at scenery, attracting visitors from mainland. Most commonly sighted are the peaks, alpine moorlands, forests, rivers and Stanley and The Neck on Bruny Island, around the world. With just 600 endemic Rufous-bellied Pademelon and lakes can experience wild weather. where they share the site with a Little permanent residents, the island Bennett’s Wallaby. The Forester, a Tasmanian An easy way to explore this area is to Penguin rookery. is relatively undeveloped and features large tracts of Eastern Grey Kangaroo, occurs in large cruise, or kayak, the Gordon River from Penguins also nest at Bicheno and near untouched forest and pristine numbers in places. Common Wombats can Strahan. A true wilderness adventure for the Devonport, Burnie, Penguin and Stanley. beaches. It is a stronghold for a be very numerous, echidnas are often seen experienced is to raft the or Bruny is an excellent place for Tasmania’s number of threatened species; during the day and Platypuses inhabit many follow the 65km Overland Trek in Cradle 12 endemic bird species and various there is a significant population waterways. Eastern and Spotted-tailed Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park. The mammals, including a white form of of Eastern Quolls, a carnivorous marsupial which is now Quolls are sometimes encountered and the northern Cradle Mountain end of this park is Bennett’s Wallaby. Take a boat trip to restricted to Tasmania and hard iconic Tasmanian Devil can still be found, a major tourist destination, but there are Bruny Island and the Tasman Peninsula for to find outside Bruny. It also has although numbers have declined drastically numerous walking tracks and mammals are Australian and New Zealand Fur Seal an abundance of White due to disease. plentiful. Wallabies and wombats graze in colonies, Bottlenose and Common Bennett’s Wallabies and Golden One-fifth of the state is protected in the the evening and when driving extremely dolphins and, in winter, Humpback and Brush-tailed Possums. Not least, all of Tasmania’s endemic birds Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. slowly along park roads at night it is possible Southern Right whales. Traffic-free Maria can be found here. Bruny Island Included are tall eucalypt forests and to see quolls, possums, pademelons and Island has a good variety of mammals, is one of the world’s best places Australia’s largest expanse of magical, mossy, even Tasmanian Devils. some reintroduced, and most of the to witness true ‘wild’ life. It’s my temperate rainforest. In Mount Field National In the north and east, impressive numbers endemic birds. Boat trips target pelagic home and I feel privileged to Park it is possible to explore all the major of Foresters, wombats and pademelons can seabirds, such as Albatrosses, particularly live here. www.inalabruny.com.au vegetation types, from forests to alpine be seen at dusk in Narawntapu and Mount in winter when they move north from the

heathland, along just16km of road. The William national parks. About 18 million DER FOTOGRAFEN DIE BILDAGENTUR LOOK SCOTT BOWMAN/ALAMY, & E PARER-COOKE/FLPA, © D PARER freezing Antarctic for a warmer climate.

78 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com wildlifeextra.com NOVEMBER 2014 79 Here: Little Blue Penguins heading to their nesting burrows ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA Where? Below: a Leafy Seadragon male

Despite widespread habitat clearing, the swim with sea lions or farmed Southern water, massive numbers of birds, notably state contains some of Australia’s wildlife Bluefin Tuna, and to go cage-diving with Banded Stilts and pelicans, descend to hotspots. Koalas are numerous on Great White Sharks. Near Whyalla you can breed. In the southeast, a 50,000ha area Kangaroo Island and some species, such dive or snorkel with the thousands of of undisturbed mallee scrub in BirdLife as Tammar Wallabies, Cape Barren Geese, Giant Australian Cuttlefish that migrate to Australia’s Gluepot Reserve shelters 190 black cockatoos and the Southern Heath breed between May and August. recorded bird species. Monitor Lizards, in decline elsewhere, are Southern Right Whales calve below cliffs Flinders Ranges National Park is a common. There are Little Penguin at Head of Bight from May to October. refuge for the threatened Yellow-footed rookeries and colonies of Australian Sea Migratory and nomadic waders and Rock Wallaby and also supports good Lions and New Zealand Fur Seals. waterfowl congregate at the Coorong, the numbers of Red and Western Grey From Port Lincoln it is possible to join mouth of the River Murray, and on the kangaroos, Euros (aka Wallaroos), plus a cruises to see Bottlenose Dolphins and rare occasions when Lake Eyre fills with variety of reptiles and inland bird species.

MY AUSTRALIA Victoria SIMON MUSTOE

Founder, Wildiaries The Great Dividing Range takes a westward in the southeast corner are a hotspot for Nature Travel turn in Victoria, ending in the sandstone possums and gliders. The elusive ground While most people enter Australia via Sydney, escarpments of Grampians National Park. parrot and Eastern Bristlebird are among 300 Melbourne is regarded by The magnificent, soaring mountain ash plus recorded bird species; and waders and many as the country’s cultural forests of the Central Highlands are inhabited seabirds flock to the wetlands. Above: pelicans in and wildlife capital. Victoria’s by eight different possums and gliders; the In the more arid inland Emus are abundant, flight. Here: a capital city boasts Yellow-Footed Rock prolific birdlife of Sherbrooke Forest includes Western Grey Kangaroos take over from internationally significant Wallaby at Flinders While you’re there... wetlands and a quarter of Superb Lyrebirds. Eastern Greys and Malleefowl are a highlight. Ranges. Right: Australia’s bird species. The city Southwest of Melbourne the Great Ocean The Chiltern-Mount Pilot National Park stalagmites and A cast of strange characters once roamed Australia. is surrounded by lush rainforest Road and 91km Great Ocean Walk follow a protects remnant box-ironwood woodland stalactites at Including marsupial lions, giant kangaroos (some Naracoortes Cave. which is home to Greater dramatic coastline with high cliffs, forests and attracting some rare honeyeaters and parrots carnivorous), rhino-sized wombat-like herbivores and Gliders. There are Platypuses in enormous birds, lizards and snakes, this megafauna heathlands; Koalas, echidnas, macropods and when the trees are flowering in spring. the city’s rivers; Eastern Grey became extinct roughly 60,000 years ago. Their legacy Kangaroos en route to the wombats are fairly common with Yellow- is two major fossil deposits. The older site is at airport; grasslands teeming bellied Gliders in places. Riversleigh, in Queensland, (with a visitor’s centre in with Eastern Barred Bandicoots; Marine protected areas, dotted along the Mount Isa). The other is at Naracoorte Caves, 320km steep rocky mountains with state’s coastline, protect some unique south-east of Adelaide. Among the world’s 10 greatest fossil sites, they were listed jointly in 1994 as the Koalas; Bottlenose Dolphins in temperate underwater life, including endemic the sea and, in the heart of the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites World Heritage Area. urban jungle, one of the world’s seadragons and, in winter, calving Southern For over 500,000 years the Naracoorte limestone caves largest owls, the Powerful Owl, Right Whales are visible from land near functioned as pitfall traps, fossilising the bodies of over which resides near a colony of Warrnambool. There are Australian Fur Seal 120 species, ranging from extinct megafauna to more Little Penguins. Just a half hour colonies and on summer evenings Short- modern animals. The Wonambi Fossil Centre, at Naracoorte, brings this vanished world to life. Visitors drive from the city centre, there tailed Shearwaters and Little Penguins return, is nothing quite like hearing and can also join guided cave tours (and try ‘adventure seeing mimicking lyrebirds en masse, to coastal rookeries. The very caving’). An added bonus is the large resident colony displaying in the lush forest. popular Penguin Parade on Phillip Island is of Southern Bent-wing Bats. www.wildiaries.com near a Koala reserve. www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au TUI DETIM ROY/FLPA, HESTER/ALAMY, FRANS LANTING/ FLPA, GERRYFLPA, ELLIS/FLPA, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY.FLPA Croajingolong and adjacent national parks ©

80 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com wildlifeextra.com NOVEMBER 2014 81 ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA Where?

Here: snorkellers getting a close-up of a Whale Shark. Below: the Pinnacles at Nambung National Park .

MY AUSTRALIA Western Australia PAT CHANNING Lodge Operator This sparsely populated state is huge and, wildlife. Southern Right and Humpback I am an Aboriginal isolated by deserts, a large proportion of its Whales, visible from various coastal vantage descendent of the Bardi and flora and fauna is endemic. The southwest, points and on cruises, visit southern and Kija people of west and east Australia’s only internationally recognised western coastal waters between June and Kimberley. My husband David and I operate Mercedes Coastal terrestrial hotspot for biodiversity, includes early December. There are also Australian Sea Retreat on the Dampier Peninsula, towering forests of endemic eucalypts on the Lion and New Zealand Fur Seal colonies, and 120km north of Broome. Each year, well-watered coastal fringe and mega- Little Penguin rookeries. Quokkas are between July and October, the diverse heathlands. Stirling Range, Fitzgerald common on Rottnest Island. Further north, at Humpback Whales return home to River and Lesueur National Parks are notable calf and breed. We can see these wonderful creatures from our botanical hotspots with spectacular spring lookout, even without binoculars, wildflowers and nectar-dependant animals. and have witnessed both birthing Although the southwest has been and mating. I never tire of extensively cleared for agriculture, pockets of watching them breaching, tail native woodland at Perup Forest and slapping, fin waving or just swimming past. Even at night we Dryandra Woodland provide refuges for hear them breaching and when , quolls, Brush-tailed Bettongs, they’ve been snorkelling our Tammar Wallabies, Western Ringtail Possums, guests have heard them singing. Echidnas, Southern Brown Bandicoots and We are truly blessed to live in this good numbers of birds. Barna Mia captive wonderful environment and to share it with our guests. breeding centre offers close encounters with www.mercedescove.com.au some very rare animals, such as Bilbies.

© FRED BAVENDAM/FLPA The coastal waters and islands are rich in

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While you’re there...

The treacherous Western Australian coast claimed many of the first European ships to reach Australia. The stories of several wrecks are told alongside salvaged timbers, cannons and other artefacts on display in the Shipwreck Galleries of the Western Australian Museum branches in Fremantle and Geraldton. None of the tales are quite as colourful and gruesome as that of the oldest, the Batavia, a Dutch ship that was wrecked off the coast near Geraldton in 1629. About 280 survivors managed to reach nearby islands. The commander, captain and senior officers set out in the ship’s longboat for Batavia (now Jakarta) in Dutch Indonesia. Meanwhile, a mutinous junior merchant took control, instigating a reign of terror which saw a total of 110 men, women and children murdered by the time the rescuers arrived three months later. In the end, fewer Shark Bay World Heritage Area, living predator-free Peron Peninsula. than 100 of the more than 320 stromatolites, with a 3.5 billion-year ancestry, Swimming with Whale Sharks is big original passengers reached thrive in Hamelin Pool. business at Coral Bay and Exmouth from safety in Batavia. In warmer months on boat trips it is March to July; manta rays, turtles, sharks and www.museum.wa.gov.au/ museums/shipwrecks possible to see Dugongs along with turtles, whales may also be seen. From Cape Range rays, sharks and sea snakes. Bottlenose National Park it is possible to snorkel from Dolphins come to shore to be hand-fed by the shore over the corals of Ningaloo Reef, crowds at Monkey Mia, and birders can find while on land, Black-footed Rock Wallabies, Thick-billed Grasswrens in the car park. abundant Euros, occasional Red Kangaroos Nearby, captive-bred and released and Emus inhabit the gorges and plains. Malleefowl, Bilbies and Brush-tailed Green, Loggerhead and Hawksbill Turtles Bettongs may be seen living on the nest in nearby Jurabi Coastal Park during the summer months. The arid, rust-red Pilbara contains rich iron deposits, some of the most ancient rocks on the planet, an extraordinary amount of Aboriginal rock-art and stunning national parks providing watery oases for a variety ARER-COOK.FLPA

of wildlife. p The Kimberley is a remote area of rugged Top: a Quokka hopping ranges, savanna woodlands and forested through water at Rottnest valleys, inaccessible in the monsoon season. Island. Above: entrance to Central gorges host diverse bat colonies and the Western Australian Maritime Museum. Left: a macropods as well as freshwater fish and Western Bowerbird male crocodiles, while those in the north provide tending his bower filled with refuges for species such as the Gouldian gifts for the female. Finch and various frogs. From September to March significant numbers of shorebirds can KEVIN SCHAFER/FLPA, RICK PIPER/ALAMY, D & PARER E be seen at the Broome Bird Observatory. ©

84 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA Where?

While you’re there...

Aboriginal people arrived in Australia over 50,000 years ago. As hunter-gatherers they were finely tuned to natural cycles and today retain a profound spiritual connection to their ancestral country. Kakadu National Park is imbued with the culture of its traditional owners which is proudly displayed in the Warradjan Cultural Centre. It is also well worth joining tours conducted by Aboriginal park rangers or by one of several Aboriginal-owned and operated companies (here, and in other parts of Australia). Guides provide insights into the elaborate artwork preserved on rock surfaces and share Dreamtime stories. They may also show how wild food (‘bush tucker’) is gathered; how toxic plants are made edible; how ‘calendar plants’ provide cues for finding seasonal food; how fish and other animals are trapped and caught; and may involve visitors in everything from food preparation to basket-making. Such an experience adds an unforgettable extra dimension to MY AUSTRALIA your visit. www.gagudju- dreaming.com/Indigenous- JENNY HUNTER Experience/Warradjan- Kakadu Ranger Cultural-Centre.aspx I was born in Kakadu and The territory is dominated by climatic extremes. rarer rock wallabies and Black Wallaroos on I’ve been a ranger here for While the arid ‘Red Centre’ receives less that escarpments. To the west of Kakadu, Mary River 20 years, so it means a lot to me when I see some of the 300mm of rain per year, the ‘Top End’, as the Park is good for woodland birds and Fogg Dam rare animals that used to roam northern 25 per cent is known, is inundated in is a haven for wetland species, with huge here a long time ago coming back. summer with monsoonal deluges. Replenishing numbers of Water Pythons crossing the dam Last year I saw a baby Emu as I was the wetlands of Kakadu National Park, this wall at night. heading past Nanguluwur, a really triggers a surge of life but renders the park Popular Katherine Gorge, complete with old rock-art site. It was having a snack on a sand palm. We use this largely impassable. During the winter dry Freshwater Crocodiles, zigzags through the palm to make string bags, but we season wildlife is concentrated at shrinking sandstone landscape of Nitmiluk National Park at the Telegraph Station with occasional Red the morning. Newhaven Sanctuary has over don’t eat the berries that hang off water bodies – as are the tourists. and can be explored by canoe, cruise and Kangaroos. The Olive Pink Botanic Garden is 160 bird species, some rare desert mammals it – Emus love them though, and Kakadu’s varied habitats, from savanna walking track. A quieter option is the 58km ideal for learning about Aboriginal plant uses – and abundant wild camels. this one popped his head up and woodland to floodplains and rocky Jatbula Trail or guided canoeing trips and spotting birds. The Ilparpa Sewage Ponds Around Uluru and Kata Juta large grabbed some in his mouth. Emus were really common in escarpments, support a great diversity of downstream of Katherine. (permit and key required) support over 60 bird numbers of Thorny Devils may appear after Kakadu a long while back, but for wildlife. Estuarine and Freshwater crocodiles are Agile Wallabies are common and there are species, including waders, with chances of rain, and Spinifex Hopping Mice may many years you didn’t often see plentiful, along with File Snakes, Northern Euros and Antilopine and Black wallaroos. A rare vagrants. frequent the campgrounds at night. Clockwise from far left: a Thorny Devil them. Recently we’re starting to Long-necked Turtles and Mertens Water noisy Black Flying Fox camp occupies the picnic In the West MacDonnell National Park there Dingoes, Euros and Red Kangaroos are in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park; a see more of them. It’s great – and Monitors in the billabongs. ground, and there’s another in Katherine town. are good populations of Black-footed Rock present. The latter, along with Perentie Dingo near Uluru; ancient aboriginal important to teach the kids about Massive numbers of wetland birds Leliyn (Edith Falls) section is good for birding. Wallabies at Simpsons Gap and Serpentine Goannas, are common around Mount rock art site at Obirr Rock in Kakadu our wildlife because in the future it National Park; a rare waterfall after a may disappear. congregate at Yellow Water, Mamukala and The Desert Park is an excellent and Ormiston gorges. Birding is good at these Conner. Beautiful King’s Canyon, in Watarrka heavy downpour on Uluru; a Saltwater www.parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu Anbangbang Billabong. Agile Wallabies and introduction to the arid zone and also attracts a gorges and at Ellery Creek Big Hole. Reptiles National Park, shelters a permanent spring Crocodile leaping from the water at MICHAEL FOGDEN/FLPA, & PATRICIA FRANS LANTING/FLPA, ROBERT HARDING/ALAMY, SYLVAIN CORDIER

Antilopine Wallaroos frequent open areas with variety of wild lizards and birds. Euros hang out © can often be seen basking on walking trails in with rare cycads and ferns. Kakadu National Park.

86 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com wildlifeextra.com NOVEMBER 2014 87 ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA What? Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius Although not quite as tall as the more widespread Emu, the 2m high, flightless cassowary is Australia’s heaviest bird, larger females weighing up to 60kg. It is Ones to watch confined to tropical rainforests of north Queensland where it is an essential Australia’s unique wildlife not only looks distinctly different but exhibits some distributor of rainforest fruits, although it is now endangered due to habitat loss fascinating behaviour as well and other human pressures. The Southern Cassowary has coarse, black plumage contrasting with the bare skin of its head, neck and wattles which are bright blue and red. It sports a jaunty casque on its head which is not horn or bone but is formed from tough skin with a core of firm, cellular material. The function of this casque remains a mystery but it may indicate age and status. Its enormous feet have a long, dagger-like middle toe which it can use defensively, jumping up and kicking forward with both feet. By nature, the bird is shy, melting into the forest, although those used to being (illegally) fed can be demanding.

Spotting tips: Despite their low numbers there are still places to see them reasonably easily, notably the Mission Beach area.

Koala Phascolarctos cinereus The Koala (which is not a bear) derives so little energy from its diet of nutrient-poor eucalypt leaves that it spends about 20 hours a day asleep or resting. Even its brain is an energy saver – it is so small it does not even fill its skull. Koalas are found in eucalypt forests and woodlands on the eastern mainland, from north Queensland to Victoria and in coastal South Australia. Adults are solitary, except at mating times, when amorous males grunt and bellow so loudly they can be heard a considerable distance away.

Spotting tips: Look in the upper parts of trees for a Koala wedged in a fork or slumped on a horizontal branch. You might spot a white flash from its chest fur or smell the pungent odour of a male on heat. © IMAGEBROKER/FLPA, TUI DE ROY/FLPA © IMAGEBROKER/FLPA,

88 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com wildlifeextra.com NOVEMBER 2014 89 ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA What? Red Kangaroo Macropus rufus The male ‘big red’ is the body-builder of the macropod (kangaroo and wallaby) world: impressive but not especially pretty. The largest living marsupial, he weighs up to 90kg and can stretch to over 2m in height. He is also the supreme athlete, reaching 60km/h in short bursts and covering 12m in the long jump and up to 3m in the high jump. Most males have rusty-coloured fur while the females, which weigh just half as much as the males, are generally a bluish grey; they are sometimes called ‘blue fliers’. Red Kangaroos are common and widespread, favouring arid and semi-arid parts of Australia. They hop with their bodies held almost horizontal to the ground and tails curving up; hopping is so energy-efficient that they actually expend the least amount of energy when they are moving fast.

Spotting tips: Large mobs gather on green growth after rain, resting in shade during the heat of the day.

Barramundi Lates calcarifer The Barramundi is found in billabongs and rivers around northern, Short-beaked Echidna tropical, coastal areas. It is prized by anglers for its fighting spirit as Tachyglossus aculeatus well as its flavour; it is served up in restaurants as quintessentially The Short-beaked Echidna, Australia’s other monotreme beside the Australian cuisine. Affectionately known as “barra”, it grows up to Platypus, is found in every part of the country, from deserts to humid 1.8m and has a humped back and pointed head. In fresh water it is tropics to alpine heights, and can be abundant. About the size of a rabbit, greenish-blue but in salt water it is silvery. Indeed, this is a fish of it is covered with spines and fur which in Tasmania grows long enough to two worlds. During the wet season, October to April, adults migrate conceal the spines. It wanders along with a slow, rolling gait, rather like to coastal waters to spawn. The juveniles develop among the that of a large lizard but, if threatened, wedges itself under a log or rock, mangroves but migrate back up to fresh water at the end of the wet digs rapidly into soft ground, or rolls into a ball. Apart from sensitive season, remaining there for up to five years until mature. At this hearing and smell, the echidna uses electro-sensors on its long snout to stage they are all male – but the Barramundi is a transsexual: when detect prey. It feeds mainly on ants and termites, breaking into nests with the males reach about 80cm in length, they become female (this its strong front feet and using its long, sticky tongue – up to 18cm long – can only happen in salt water). This strategy maximises their to lap up the occupants. During the winter breeding season a train of up breeding potential since larger females are able to produce more to a dozen hopeful males can be seen following one female for as long as eggs – up to 40 million in a season. six weeks. She incubates her single egg and carries the baby, once hatched, for about two months in a muscular pouch made of folds of skin. Spotting tips: Barramundi lurk around submerged rocks and logs to ambush prey. Local fishers and guides can take visitors to their

Spotting tips: Look for signs of digging at ant or termite nests. HORST MAHR,/FLPA DOUG STELEY/ALAMY, © JURGEN & CHRISTINE sOHNS/FLPA, favourite haunts. Some dams are artificially stocked.

90 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com wildlifeextra.com NOVEMBER 2014 91 ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA What?

Lace Monitor Varanus varius Australia is home to 27 of the world’s 50 or so monitor lizard species. Often called goannas, they tend to be large lizards with loose, patterned skin. Monitors are carnivorous, eating everything from invertebrates to fish, birds’ eggs, possums and carrion. The Lace Monitor, which can reach lengths of over 2m, is found all along the east coast and into Victoria, and often appears at picnic areas and campgrounds to scavenge food. It lumbers confidently along the ground but can run quickly and climb rapidly up tree trunks. The female lays her eggs in a termite mound which makes an ideal incubator when the termites reseal the hole she has made. She later returns to dig out the babies which are colourfully striped in blue and yellow.

Spotting tips: Lace monitors are common in woodlands. Listen out for the sound of startled

scuffling in the leaf litter. WATTS/FLPA DAVE © JURGEN & CHRISTINE SOHNS/FLPA,

freshwater dams, lakes and rivers below, the water level. Before giving Platypus throughout eastern Australia, birth, the mother walls herself in to Ornithorhynchus anatinus including Tasmania, diving after the burrow to keep out predators, In 1798, when the first Platypus insects, crustaceans, worms, small and holds her eggs (usually two or skin was sent to England, it was fishes and frogs. It is 40-60cm long three) between her curled-up tail regarded as a hoax. And that was with dense brown fur, a rounded and her belly until they hatch. before it was discovered that this tail and a rubbery duck-like bill mammal – one of only two equipped with electro-sensors to Spotting tips: Stake out a local monotremes – lays eggs. Found detect the muscle movements of its hotspot, usually a quiet waterway, at only in Australia, the prey. When it is not in the water, a dusk or dawn, or on overcast days. Platypus lives in Platypus conceals itself in a burrow Watch quietly for tell-tale bow-waves, with a small entrance at, or just or splashes as one dives – it will usually surface every couple of minutes.

92 NOVEMBER 2014 wildlifeextra.com ESSENTIAL AUSTRALIA How?

Winter itinerary Classic itineraries (May to October) Darwin Fogg Dam n Northern Territory Kakadu National Park Daintree DAY 1 TO 5 National Park WESTERN Kimberley Nitmiluk National Park Darwin/Fogg Dam/Kakadu & AUSTRALIA Nitmiluk national parks ITINERARY DAY 6 TO 9 Cairns Alice Springs & West Broome DAY 1 TO 4 Great Barrier Reef MacDonnell National Park Perth / Perup / n Queensland Atherton DAY 10 TO 15 Karri Forest / Tableland Dryandra Cairns/Port Douglas, Daintree DAY 5 National Park & Atherton Lesueur Tableland, Great Barrier Reef National Park Pilbara Alice Springs DAY 16 TO 18 DAY 6 TO 8 Cape Range National Park Fraser Island National Park & West MacDonnell Hervey Bay cruise Shark Bay World National Park Heritage Area DAY 9 TO 11 Shark Bay Fraser Island Exmouth/Cape National Park Range National Park BRISBANE DAY 12 TO 14 Pilbara DAY 15 & 16 Lesueur National Park Broome Bird Observatory PERTH DAY 17-21 Dryandra Kimberley Perup Summer itinerary Karri Forest (September to May) Kangaroo ADELAIDE SYDNEY Island n Victoria DAY 1 TO 3 Melbourne/Dandenong MELBOURNE Dandenong Ranges Whatever time of year you decide to visit Phillip Ranges/Phillip Island Island n Tasmania Australia it is always a fantastic destination DAY 4 TO 6 Bruny Island for wildlife watching. These tours will TASMANIA DAY 7 & 8 show you the highlights. Lake St Clair Nat Park Mount Field National Park/ Mount Field Nat Park Strahan/ Gordon River cruise Bruny Island DAY 9 TO 11 Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park WHEN TO GO n SOUTH AUSTRALIA n South Australia Generally, the north and centre between May and www.kiwr.com DAY 12 TO 15 Kangaroo Island Factfile October; the south from September to May. n TASMANIA TIPS AND WARNINGS Waldheim cabins, COUNTRY FACTS Respect crocodile and stinging jellyfish warnings in the Cradle Mountain: n Location: Southern hemisphere north. Wear sensible shoes and trousers to avoid (rare) snake www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=412 n Capital city: Canberra and insect bites. Always wear a hat and sun protection, even n Terrain: desert to rainforest to alpine heathlands when swimming, and carry water. Avoid collisions with MORE INFORMATION n Highest point: Mount Kosciuszko wildlife by not driving at night outside urban areas. n www.australia.gov.au/topics/ n Lowest point: Lake Eyre tourism-and-travel/tourist-information n Population: 23.5 million LODGES AND CAMPS n www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/ n Most widely spoken language: English n WESTERN AUSTRALIA australian-story/national-parks n Currency: Australian dollar www.mercedescove.com.au n www.birdlife.org.au/visit-us n Time zones: GMT +8.00 to +10.00 www.drysdaleriver.com.au n www.australianwildlife.org n Flight time from UK: approximately 21 hours www.elquestro.com.au n Visas: UK citizens can apply on-line for a free, www.kimberleycoastalcamp.com.au TOUR OPERATORS three-month tourist visa n Country-wide: www.wildiaries.com; n Vaccinations: standard types n NORTHERN TERRITORY www.inalabruny.com.au www.gagudju-dreaming.com n Across the north: www.savannah-guides.com.au; CLIMATE www.gagudju-dreaming.com October to March is hot, humid and wet in the n QUEENSLAND n Aboriginal tours: www.aboriginalaustralia.com. northern tropics, very hot in the centre and generally www.oreillys.com.au au; www.waitoc.com pleasant in the south. Winter months are cold in the www.redmillhouse.com.au n From the UK: south and very pleasant in the north and centre. www.birdwatchers.com.au www.naturetrek.co.uk

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