Sydney Itinerary: Featherdale Wildlife Park

After an early-early-morning flight to Sydney, we did my traditional walk to the waterfront to check out the Opera House and Circular Quay, then took the train to Featherdale Wildlife Park, about 45 minutes west of the central city. It was a nice, sunny day, and most of the animals were out and about. I've gone to the Taronga Zoo twice and saw online that this one was more intimate with a focus on Australian animals, so I thought I'd switch things up. There were indeed lots of wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, penguins, and a few echidnas, birds, and dingoes. One koala was just the most precious thing, and it doesn't even seem real in the photo!

soo precious!!

You could feed them, and they enjoyed the ice cream cones more than the grass.

So tall - one of the weirdest birds I've ever seen.

Tasmania: Salamanca Market and Bonorong Wildlife Park

We managed to go to three major tourist attractions in one day, but it meant we didn't get quite enough time at each of them, though that's what happens when you only have so much time. First was the weekly Salamanca Market in downtown Hobart, which had tons of stalls. I got stuck at one selling cards and the cutest reusable tote bags with screenprinted Australian animals. I also tried a garlic bratwurst at a German food stall, which helped me power through the rest of the long day of driving.

 

Bonorong Wildlife Park was a great place to visit if you like animals. It is a rescue and rehabilitation place, so they really care about their wellbeing and do try to re-release if the animals are able to survive on their own. You get a bag of kangaroo food, so I finally got to hand-feed kangaroos, and there was a huge paddock full of them! One grabbed the bag out of my jacket pocket as I attempted to take photos, so they were not afraid to stuff their noses and hands around to get the food.

We heard the keeper talk about the wombat - didn't know that it has a large, thick plate on its backside so that if an enemy follows it into its burrow, it can basically crush its head against the roof of the burrow (including dogs!). It also is affectionate for about one to two years, then goes into a kind of 'adolescent' phase where it suddenly wants nothing to do with its mother (or human keeper). That's when they can re-release it because it doesn't need to be mothered anymore.

The keeper fed the Tasmanian devils, which look pretty peaceful until they are feeding. Apparently they got their name because they would make these devilish howling noises in the forests, and the Europeans had no idea what was making the sounds. 

 

Finally, we heard about koalas and got to pat one. They also have a bone structure that allows them to sit comfortably in trees for long periods, kind of like a V-shape.

This was our first time seeing spotted quoll - pretty much polka dot rat-looking animals! There was a black one and a tan one. There were also several colorful birds and an owl-looking bird with no neck that had an ominous look.

 

Tasmania: Maria (Muh-RYE-uh) Island

With the conference over, we rented a car to check out some of the east coast of Tasmania. The first must-do was Maria Island (the Australians pronounce it Muh-RYE-uh, and it definitely sounds more Australian that way!). This island used to have convicts, so there are some buildings, but it has been turned into a nature reserve with all kinds of animals. It is nicknamed Wombat Island, and sure enough, we got our fill of the cute wombats!! We took a ferry over with a couple dozen other folks and hiked around for several hours, seeing wallabies, kangaroos, birds, and plenty of wombats. The tide was too high to see all of the painted cliffs, but we saw a little of them. It was such an incredible opportunity that not many people will get to do, so I felt fortunate to be able to see so many Australian animals in the wild and enjoy a sunny day on an island at the bottom of the world.