CULTURE AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE Amazing encounterswildlife FROM SHARKS AND SEA LIONS TO KANGAROOS AND KOALAS, THERE ARE PLENTY OF PLACES TO GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH AUSTRALIA’S WILDLIFe … WORDS: Tom Smith rom cute koalas and wallabies to Australia’s iconic kangaroos, no visit to the Land Down Under is complete without a chance to meet the country’s unique wildlife! Fortunately, most are easy to see in their natural environment, although you might like to keep a respectable distance from some of them… YHA Australia, iStock www.getmedownunder.comF Australia & NZ | May 2018 39 Images: A kangaroo in the wild at CULTURE AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE Lucky Bay in Esperance KANGAROOS You won’t struggle to spot Australia’s national symbol hopping around in the wild – their population currently exceeds 50 million, more than double the number of humans in Australia – and there are some spectacular settings where you can say ‘g’day’ to Skippy. Head to Pebbly Beach near Batemans Bay, four hours’ drive south of Sydney, or Lucky Bay, 40 minutes from Esperance on Western Australia’s south coast, to Meeting up with one of the witness ‘roos sunbathing on the sand by the beach. The locals on Kangaroo Island iconic marsupials are also fond of roaming the Australian National Botanic Gardens and Mount Ainslie in Canberra, as well as all over Kangaroo Island (of course!) in South Australia. Wallabies – a smaller but very similar cousin of the kangaroo – are also bouncing all over the joint, and you can see rock wallabies bounding the boulders of Magnetic Island in Tropical North Queensland, as well as the MacDonnell Ranges near Alice Springs. STAY AT: 80 YHA properties all over Australia See rock wallabies bounding the boulders of Magnetic Island An emu at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria EMUS The other half of Australia’s coat of arms might not be Feeding the emus at Cleland as handsome as the kangaroo – in fact, these towering, Wildlife Park in Adelaide flightless birds are positively funny-looking – but they’re great fun to interact with. At Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills, you can pick up a bag of bird feed upon entry – the perfect ice-breaker to introduce yourself to an emu, who’ll crane their noodle-neck to peck the food from your hand. The Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve – an inactive volcano 15 minutes from the quaint fishing village of Port Fairy on Victoria’s famed Great Ocean Road – is another great spot to see emus in their natural habitat, as well as koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and reptiles, too. The other place you can find emu? At the Australian Heritage Hotel in Sydney’s historic Rocks district, which serves a ‘coat of arms’ pizza topped with emu and kangaroo meat. Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it... STAY AT: Adelaide Central YHA KOALAS These fluffy marsupials lead a life that lazy humans can only dream of: sleeping for 22 hours a day then spending the rest of the time eating. Eucalyptus leaves take so much energy to digest that koalas have to spend most of their time sleeping… but they’re always up nice and early at Bungalow Bay Koala Village on Magnetic Island, where visitors can enjoy breakfast with their Cuddling koalas at Bungalow furry new friends. Located just a short ferry from Bay resort on Magnetic Island Townsville in tropical Far North Queensland, 40 Australia & NZ | May 2018 www.getmedownunder.com www.getmedownunder.com Australia & NZ | May 2018 41 Swimming with sea lions CULTURE AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE off the Eyre Peninsula Bungalow Bay is the only resort in Australia with its own wildlife park on-site, and it offers the opportunity CROCODILES to enjoy your bacon and eggs with a side serving of If that shark cage dive didn’t sufficiently jangle your koala cuddles each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday nerves, head to Darwin for another hit of adrenaline. morning. Located on Mitchell Street smack bang in the middle of Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane and Cleland the Northern Territory capital, Crocosaurus Cove is a Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills are other places you little slice of the Top End’s wild and woolly wilderness can hold these adorable native animals, and if you’re The Cage of Death at transplanted into the heart of the city. road-tripping up the East Coast of Australia, don’t miss Darwin’s Crocosaurus Cove The star attraction? The Cage of Death – a perspex the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie halfway between Quokkas on cylinder that’s dipped into a pen crawling with Sydney and Brisbane. Rottnest Island five-metre-plus saltwater crocodiles, giving visitors the STAY AT: Bungalow Bay Magnetic Island YHA chance to spend 15 minutes in the water with these prehistoric reptiles. Resident crocs include Burt, who starred in the original Crocodile Dundee movie, Harry, Enjoy your bacon and who’s famous for predicting results Paul the Octopus style, plus William and Kate, a breeding couple named eggs with a side serving after the royals following their wedding in 2011. Sea lions love to mimic Over 100,000 crocs roam wild in the Top End, so of koala cuddles your every move! stick to designated swimming areas unless you fancy a crocodile encounter without a cage for protection. SEA LIONS STAY AT: Darwin YHA – Melaleuca on If there’s a cuter Australian animal than the ‘puppy dogs Mitchell of the sea’, then we haven’t seen ‘em. And you have the chance to splash around with sea lions off the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, where the crystal clear Crocosaurus Cove is a waters are perfect for playing with your new pals. A number of eco-certified operators run half-day little slice of the Top End’s tours from Port Lincoln – a seven-hour drive or wild wilderness 50-minute flight from Adelaide – to the sheltered waters of Boston Bay, where Hopkins, Blythe, Grindal and Langton Islands are brimming with these adorably QUOKKAS chubby pups. You’ve probably never heard of a quokka – but once The sea lions aren’t shy, mimicking your every move you’ve snapped a selfie with these photogenic furry in the water – they somersault when you somersault, fellas, you won’t forget them in a hurry. A quokka they roll when you roll, they float there like a log when looks like a miniature kangaroo that’s roughly the size you float there like a log, feeding off your energy. You of a cat, with a pair of puppy dog eyes, chubby cheeks can also catch these aquatic mammals sunbathing at the and a smile etched permanently across their face. aptly named Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island. These vulnerable marsupials only exist in the STAY AT: Port Lincoln YHA south-west corner of Western Australia around Perth, and the majority – a healthy population of 10,000 – SHARKS hop around Rottnest Island, a quick ferry trip from the Swimming with sea lions isn’t the only underwater historic port city of Fremantle. And quokkas aren’t experience you can tick off your bucket list in Port afraid of visitors, either, happy bounding up to doting Lincoln – the other one is a little more hair-raising. admirers to pose for photos. The Eyre Peninsula is one of the very few places on One of Australia’s most adorable animals isn’t the earth where you can do a shark cage dive, coming only reason to visit Rottnest, or ‘Rotto’ as the locals nose-to-nose with the ocean’s most feared predator. call it – the island paradise is also home to some of the After a three-hour journey to the Neptune Islands most dazzling white sand beaches and pristine turquoise Marine Park, you’ll jump in a cage with seven new water you’ll find anywhere Down Under. mates as ‘Jaws’ circles outside, gnashing his teeth like a STAY AT: Fremantle Prison YHA sumo wrestler who hasn’t been fed in a month – and words don’t do justice to the feeling you get when you DOLPHINS catch a glimpse of a Great White’s beady little eyes, and Want to frolic with Flipper? There are plenty of places you can just tell he’s fantasising about what a tasty around Australia’s warm waters where you can swim morsel you’d make for dinner. The best thing is that no with wild dolphins. The gorgeous Port Stephens diving experience is required here, although nerves of region, two hours’ drive north of Sydney, is home to a steel (and an iron stomach, after that long open-water permanent pod of around 100 bottlenose dolphins – journey) come in handy. Up-close with ‘Jaws’ Dolphins at Monkey there are loads of good vantage points to spot them STAY AT: Port Lincoln YHA on a shark cage dive Mia, Western Australia from the shore, as well as dolphin cruises and even 42 Australia & NZ | May 2018 www.getmedownunder.com www.getmedownunder.com Australia & NZ | May 2018 43 A dingo at Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island the opportunity to swim alongside them towed behind the catamaran. Enjoy that same amazing swim-with- dolphins experience in the beautiful beachside suburb of Glenelg in Adelaide, too. On the west coast, you can snorkel with dolphins in the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park near Rockingham, an hour south of Perth, as well as the Bunbury Geographe region another hour away, and even feed wild dolphins in Monkey Mia on Western Australia’s rugged Coral Coast, nine hours north of Perth. STAY AT: Samurai Beach Bungalows Port Stephens YHA DINGOES Fraser Island – the world’s largest sand island, spanning 120 kilometres at the southern end of Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef – is a natural wonder in itself, peppered with ancient rainforests and scenic rainwater lakes.