Koala/Kangaroo encounter questions.

[zebra]

We will be in Sydney and Melbourne for only one day each .... bummer.

We are both wildlife freaks and would love to be able to "touch" and have contact with these two beautiful native animals, if possible, not just see them in cages. As we only have such a short time in each port we are trying to figure out which facility would be best for us to actually get close to these animals. Is there such a place???? We have worked in National Parks of South Africa and do not like zoo's very much as we believe in freedom for the wildlife, BUT having said that we do not have the time to go out into the "wild" and see these animals in their own habitat, so we are happy to settle with second best. I know there are lots of Aussie's on this board who are very familiar with these places close or in these cities, and I am sure we will be steered in the right direction. Thank you, can't wait to hear your ideas!!!!

[Sandielle]

I'm not familiar with Sydney or Melbourne, but most places in Australia keep animals in as natural an environment as possible. I'm sure someone will come along soon and give you the information you require.

 

If you're ever in Brisbane, Lone Pine Sanctuary is on the riverbank a way along from the ports. Kangaroos and wallabies are in a big paddock and you can hold a koala for photos. There are tours there and the Citycat goes there as well (that is if they are back to normal after the floods we had in January).

[cinders87]

Hi Zebra,

I live in Sydney. If you only have one day in this beautiful city I would suggest you go to either Sydney Wildlife World or Taronga Zoo.

 

At Sydney Wildlife World you can pay to have an encounter with a Koala. They also have a range of other Aussie Animals like Kanagroos/ Wallabys etc. SWW is located in Darling Harbour right next to Sydney Aquarium. SWW is good if you just want a quick look at the animals (you can do it in about 2 hours) so you would still have time to do other things in Sydney. http://sydneywildlifeworld.myfun.com.au/index.htm

 

Taronga Zoo is your other option. It is located in Mosmon, and is a 12 min ferry ride from the CBD. It is a huge zoo and you could easily spend the whole day there. You can also pay to have an encounter with a Koala. They also have a range of Aussie (and non Aussie animals). http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo

 

I love camping and there are many spots where you could come across a Kangaroo, but if you only have one day I would not recomend it as you are more likely to come across a Kangaroo at about sunrise.

 

I hope this helps! Enjoy your time in Australia

[Big Kev]

We will be in Sydney and Melbourne for only one day each .... bummer.

We are both wildlife freaks and would love to be able to "touch" and have contact with these two beautiful native animals, if possible, not just see them in cages. As we only have such a short time in each port we are trying to figure out which facility would be best for us to actually get close to these animals. Is there such a place???? We have worked in National Parks of South Africa and do not like zoo's very much as we believe in freedom for the wildlife, BUT having said that we do not have the time to go out into the "wild" and see these animals in their own habitat, so we are happy to settle with second best. I know there are lots of Aussie's on this board who are very familiar with these places close or in these cities, and I am sure we will be steered in the right direction. Thank you, can't wait to hear your ideas!!!!

 

 

G'day Guys.

 

For Melbourne, you have your normal zoo encounters just a few KM from the city, but a day trip through the Yarra Valley will take you through wine territory to this great sanctuary.. All of our overseas visitors have insisted on going there first, and have never been dissapointed.. http://www.zoo.org.au/HealesvilleSanctuary

 

With just one day, you could not really do much more than this, since penguins etc. need night visits in the opposite direction from Melb..

Hope that helps..

 

 

Phil

 

 

.

[bazzaw]

I would agree with Big Kev - for the two biggest cities in Australia, I think that the Healesville Sanctuary outside of Melbourne would be the best place to go to experince Ozzie wildlife (in a non-wild atmosphere:))

 

EDIT- there is also the Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney ( outer suburbs) http://www.featherdale.com.au/ I have not been there - but it appears to be more Australian wildlife - which Healesville used to be some time ago , but seems to also now have a lot of foreign wildlife

 

Barry

[hylasgirl]

So... with these paid encounters, can you hold a koala? I know they aren't as cuddly as they appear, but I sure would love to experience these adorable animals.

[Scurvy Dog]

You should just be able to walk down any street and there are Koala's hanging of trees everwhere..but do becarefull of the Drop Bears..:eek:

Kangaroos the same there a pest always bouncing around between cars and stuffing stuff in there pouches..:)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

You should just be able to walk down any street and there are Koala's hanging of trees everwhere..but do becarefull of the Drop Bears..:eek:

Kangaroos the same there a pest always bouncing around between cars and stuffing stuff in there pouches..:)

 

 

Are you employed by the Australian Tourist Board?

You are doing a great job on selling your country to the world.:eek:

 

Please remember that everything you post can be read by any one ,

anywhere in the world.

 

Some of us would like to , and enjoy , welcoming visitors to our shores.

 

We all like to have fun, but this ain't "farce book" , where you choose who can read what you post.

 

 

[bazzaw]

So... with these paid encounters, can you hold a koala? I know they aren't as cuddly as they appear, but I sure would love to experience these adorable animals.

 

G'day Hylasgirl

 

I have been to a few of these places over the years - and I have to say that they definitely quite "touristy". However, they are also popular with Aussie families - insofar as the children have the opportunity to "cuddle a Koala". So - yes, in many of them, you do get a chance to "cuddle " them.

 

However , they are still wild animals - and as cute and soft as they may appear, there have been plenty of people hurt by kangaroos and even cuddly Koalas. You only have to look at the size of their claws - and then understand that if they get frightened or alarmed , then they will lash out in defence of themselves. A large kangaroo is easily capable of disembowelling a human :eek: They naturally fight by holding their opponent by their upper paws and kick at the stomach using their lower very strong feet.

 

Barry

[Seadreams27]

I could be wrong..but I'm pretty sure that you can't cuddle a Koala

in Victorian zoos/wildlife parks..kangaroos.. no problem.

[bobhsv]

I would recommend Featherdale, for the most natural environment, out of Sydney. But with only one day, you would miss out on the beautiful harbour and surrounds. There is Wildlife World at Darling Harbour.........that way you get the best of both in limited time.

Jen

[yatchet]

I have up to twenty kangas feeding on the grass outside the house most of the time.

 

Bazzaw is correct, I keep my eye on them as I go about the usual garden duties ( I always have an escape route)

However they usually just stand up and watch me. Don't know if they are used to me or what.

 

This guy wasn't so lucky, ( I worked with him many moons ago)

 

http://wycherecenthistory.webs.com/wycheproofscharacters.htm

 

:)

 

Edit: Just went out for a smoke, I know i'm bad.

 

Took a torch, flashlight to zebra, counted seven kangaroos/ skippys happily chomping on the grass.

[rugbypopsie]

With only one day (boy that was a mistake) I would vouch for Sydney Wildlife World in Darling Harbour in the heart of Sydney...then you can use the rest of the day taking a Harbour cruise or bridge climb or a walk through the Botanic Gardens, Art Gallery etc.. with the time you will save not trekking out to the suburbs...:)

[sherri3802too]

I live in Melbourne and have been to Healesville many times, (usually on school excursions as I am a teacher).

There are a few things you need to know about it.

-It isn't your normal zoo, in that you can walk through many enclosures

-It is dedicated to Australian animals and there are special exhibitions at various times during the day. Probably one of the best of these is the birds of prey exhibition which is on at some time around noon, or used to be.

-The kangaroos are in the enclosure as you walk through but the humans are supposed to stay on the path, it is the animal that is free to roam. It is not fenced off as such, but that is what they ask you to do. The result is the kangaroos won't necessarily be right next to you or come up to you. In fact I have usually found they find a tree a fair way away from people and have a bit of a lie down.:D They're not stupid.:p Back about 30 years ago it was easier to wander the enclosure but now it is up to the animal how close the encounter will be.

-I have never seen a koala handed round to be cuddled. I have seen a ranger talking about them and in one instance holding one, but again, most of the time they are allowed to be alone and untouched. I know it might be tempting to want to pat one but I think a constant stream of people doing that could be very stressful on the animal and it is the animal welfare that comes first.

-Finally, Healesville is a fair way out of Melbourne. It's not a difficult drive, it's very scenic. But I am not sure how long you have here before you have to board that ship. If you had to be back on board at, say, 4pm, then I think it could be a rush.

If on the other hand you had eg 8am-8pm, then you could take a car out to Healesville and stop at eg Domain Chandon winery along the way, sample a wine and crackers and some exotic cheese for about $6 a person, while looking at fabulous views. Then a few minutes further on, you are at the sanctuary.

[zebra]

I have up to twenty kangas feeding on the grass outside the house most of the time.

 

Bazzaw is correct, I keep my eye on them as I go about the usual garden duties ( I always have an escape route)

However they usually just stand up and watch me. Don't know if they are used to me or what.

 

This guy wasn't so lucky, ( I worked with him many moons ago)

 

http://wycherecenthistory.webs.com/wycheproofscharacters.htm

 

:)

 

Edit: Just went out for a smoke, I know i'm bad.

 

Took a torch, flashlight to zebra, counted seven kangaroos/ skippys happily chomping on the grass.

 

Ha Ha - I don't know if you read my original post - I am origianlly from South Africa and we call it a torch too!!

 

Everyone - thank you so much for all the input. I truly appreciate everyone's input and agree one day is not ideal but we will be staying with our daughter for a few weeks in NZ and then will be on a cruise from Auckland back to the States, where we only have the two OZ ports of call, Sydney and Melbourne. If money was no problem we would have loved to spend a few weeks in OZ as well. We have family in Perth and won't be able to visit them either, what a shame!!!

Thanks again you guys are great!!!

[Scurvy Dog]

You should just be able to walk down any street and there are Koala's hanging of trees everywhere..but do beware of the Drop Bears..

Kangaroos the same there a pest always bouncing around between cars and stuffing stuff in there pouches..

 

Are you employed by the Australian Tourist Board?

You are doing a great job on selling your country to the world.:eek:

 

Please remember that everything you post can be read by any one ,

anywhere in the world.

 

Some of us would like to , and enjoy , welcoming visitors to our shores.

 

We all like to have fun, but this ain't "farce book" , where you choose who can read what you post.

 

 

 

 

 

See she didn't believe me thank gawd :D...

I am sure people aren’t as gullible to believe something obvious said in jest and if they did believe it I'm sure it wouldn't jeopardize a future holiday plan in Australia..But point taken all good..In future if I post anything remotely humorous and unbelievable I will be sure to add a clause stating something like....

**This post by this member of Cruise Critic no way reflects the views of Cruise Critic. All information posted above should not be believed or tried at home. Any similarities between real events is purely coincidental and his ramblings are pure stupid fantasy**

I sincerely apologise for being a bad ambassador. We need all the tourist we can...what was I thinking :( :D

[sludger]

Do they not have Koalas and Kangaroos in zoos overseas?

Is Australia the only place you can see them?

 

It seems a bit of a waste of a day to visit one of these parks, that in my experience have not been very good and miss out on seeing the equally beautiful cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

 

Paul

[Scurvy Dog]

Hi Sludge :).. I applaud you on your stupid question..I have often wondered the same stupid question myself :D..Actually if I had my way and if people didn't take what is written literally..I would like to see CC full of stupid questions..I do realise this is only a pipe dream as there are tooo many wise people out there for this to happen.

If I worked for the Australian Tourism office(which I don't contrary to some peoples belief)..I would definitely be telling all tourists not to visit any tourist parks with kangaroo's or Koala's at all..

They tend to get all the attention when we should be concentrating on Possums...in fact everyone should have a possum :D..we should actually export them to New Zealand so if anything happens to them in Australia there is a back up programme..

I do agree again with you Sludge that Melbourne and Sydney are the most beautiful city's in Australia if not the Universe. Making Perth or any other city in Australia an ugly eye sore and a back water.

I only have one fault to pick on Sludge is that you neglected to add the "Stupid clause" into your post. Please for everyone's sake and clarity don’t let this happen again.

**This post by this member of Cruise Critic no way reflects the views of Cruise Critic or it’s Members. All information posted above should not be believed or tried at home or on any cruise line. Any similarities between real events is purely coincidental and his ramblings are pure fantasy and Stupid..further more any Stupid questions should be stated so at the start of each rambling**

[moyaroo]

Do they not have Koalas and Kangaroos in zoos overseas?

Is Australia the only place you can see them?

 

It seems a bit of a waste of a day to visit one of these parks, that in my experience have not been very good and miss out on seeing the equally beautiful cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

 

Paul

It would seem that you are correct, sludge [sludger that is, not the product but the one who produces same, as the youth of today say, my bad :o], if frequency of posting is any indicator of truth. But as Scurvy Dog has pointed out posting does not equal truth - only perception. :D

 

The sad truth is that we foreigners are absolutely possessed by dreams of kangaroo and koala encounters. Wombats not so much and possum-we gottum.:cool:

[Scurvy Dog]

Thanks Moyaroo for your clarity in a difficult situation..I know that there are possums in every corner of the world.. But we can never be seen to be sleeping on the job when it comes to the little creatures of this world..esp with possums New Zealand apparently needs more possums..:rolleyes:

 

Sludge is a friend of mine and we have a mutal respect of possums and the rights on Cruise Critics...when I was young my family couldn't afford shoes when my sister and myself walked to school if our feet got frost bitten during winter we would use possums for shoes...:(..hence my luv for possums :D

 

I'm sure that Sludge would agree that being that we are from a backward place called Western Australia we welcome.

 

1: Your tourist $..as we actually can not afford Koala's in W.A.

2: Sympathy

3: Understanding

4: The knowledge that you bring..(We have Sludge thats good at maths and thats it)

5: Any funds that can be sent to lighten our plight.

 

Any funds gratefully given can be given to 'Friends of Sudge.com' or alternatively 'Friends of Dority co/Sludge.com'....(please see link under the Australian link 'G'day Mate' for further information)..p.s Jockstraps and Manikins are on special at the moment :)

 

I just hope you are a overseas visitor with a name called Moya-ROO :D

 

Good onya :D

 

**This post by this member of Cruise Critic no way reflects the views of Cruise Critic or it’s Members. All information posted above should not be believed or tried at home or on any cruise line. Any similarities between real events is purely coincidental and his ramblings are pure fantasy and Stupid..further more any Stupid questions should be stated so at the start of each rambling**

[sludger]

It would seem that you are correct, sludge [sludger that is, not the product but the one who produces same, as the youth of today say, my bad :o], if frequency of posting is any indicator of truth. But as Scurvy Dog has pointed out posting does not equal truth - only perception. :D

 

The sad truth is that we foreigners are absolutely possessed by dreams of kangaroo and koala encounters. Wombats not so much and possum-we gottum.:cool:

 

Sorry but your answer has gone right over my head, we're a little slow here in WA.

 

My question was genuine, are overseas zoos not allowed to have these animals? If not, I cannot understand why they couldn't send a few Kangaroos overseas, we have to drive slowly at night in fear of running them down here in WA.

 

I know that the Chinese allow overseas zoos to sometimes be granted a Panda, I was just wondering if the government value our marsupials the same.

 

I suppose someone might know the answer.

 

Paul

[moyaroo]

Sorry, mate, got the question all upside down-probably a location thing :-)

 

Kangaroos and Koala are in zoos everywhere, but we of the otherside of the world are still intrigued. "Can I/Will I see a kangaroo/koala?" is about the first question asked of a TA followed by How do I and where do I?

 

And true enough nothing draws crowds to a zoo faster than Panda and Koala.

[zebra]

I am so sorry that this thread has been highjacked by "loony tunes". I posted an original, SINCERE, post about wanting to see your countries wildlife and mentioned that I would prefer NOT to see the animals in Zoo's. Yes we have Zoo's all over the world with these animals in them and we are not interested in the slightest in seeing them behind bars. By the way we have possums in our backyard. :) We would like to see YOUR animals in their natural habitat but will only have a day in each city, which is a huge disappointment to us .... so the reality is???????? We do not visit zoo's back home as we have no desire to elephants and lions caged and contained.

 

And yes we also have interesting cities all over the world, which for some people is the most important thing to see on their trip. Not so much for us.

 

We have lived and worked in National Parks in Africa for over 20 years and don't have a lot of desire to see skyscrapers but have a huge interest in native wildlife. Each to his own.

 

I would politely ask that you give us helpful answers on the question at hand - we were hoping that maybe we could experience the kangaroo and koala's on private farms/ranches or similar. Thank you.

[Sandielle]

As I said previously I can't help with Sydney or Melbourne, but I do understand your feelings about caged animals. We often see kangaroos/wallabies on a drive in the country, but that is not feasible for you in one day. (Actually there is a colony of them roaming free in prison grounds in Brisbane, which you can see as you drive past.)

 

Koalas are a different matter. It's very sad that they are dying out because of greedy developers cutting down trees everywhere. Oh yes, they replace the trees, but not the correct gums. The government/councils say they must do something, but.........the almighty dollar rules, it seems. Also they tend to cross roads at night time which doesn't help their survival.

 

We live in a suburb of Brisbane and I used to regularly see one in the tree next door, but sadly haven't seen one there for at least 18 months. Occasionally I see one or two when I go for a walk by the river.

 

Do hope you get to see some. Most of us our proud of our native animals. and get a thrill out of seeing them in their own habitat. :)

[Scurvy Dog]

Hi Zebra,

I can answer you honestly In my opinion, If you are cruising and only have a day to spend it will be the luck of the draw if you get to see either Kangaroo's or Koala's in there natural habitat without going to a wildlife park. I am sure that you can understand that wildlife do move around(more so the kangaroo's) and at dawn or dusk which is going to be even harder with cruise docking and embarkation times. Although I am not in Sydney or Melbourne I suggest someone local may know where you may see Koala's there are some in some suburbs but that again is probley not what you are after. As for tours who could help I would not know. Sometimes you can see alot of Kangaroos at golf courses but I doubt this is the experence you are after either.

I think your main problem will be time and distance both cities are large hence the natural animals have mostly been pushed out to the fringes.

Most tours will take you to a wildlife park not a farm/ranch.

 

I don't know if anyone else can help, but if I am wrong on anything above someone please correct me.

 

I will take the comment of "loony tunes" on the chin (I might even wear that badge with pride :)).

Unfortunatley I am compulsive and do not mean to offend. I am blaming my Australian larconic humour.

Good Luck on you quest to see our unique wildlife :)