I didn’t exactly have an Australian wildlife checklist for my trip but I was hoping to see some of the classics. Kangaroos and so on.
And see them I did.
Sadly, I don’t have a telephoto lens so snapping wildlife has been tricky but here are some of my highlights…
Swamp Wallabies that bounded up to us at various points in the trip, sometimes with Joeys in pouch!
I also saw rock wallabies, redneck wallabies and many, many mobs of kangaroos.
Some friendly Australian blokes pointed out a Duck Billed Platypus to me near the Jenolan Caves although I only caught a few glimpses and no photos. On the plus side, the friendly Australian blokes proceeded to have a detailed, graphic and somewhat hilarious discussion about which of the exciting wildlife in this post tastes best. Roos were a general favourite but Crocs were the winner.
Dingoes of Phillip Island.
Humpback Whales.
Various awesome birds including Pelicans, Cockatoos, Eagles, wagtail types, Sparrows, blue coloured Wrens, Eagles. I saw some white Eagles in the Blue Mountains that flew so fast you could hear their wings catching the air like a plane zooming past. I was convinced for a long time that it couldn’t be a natural sound. And, of course, the Ibis which are the Brisbane equivalent of the well known Aggressive Brighton Seagull.
I saw some Southern Hairy Nosed Wombats on the Mornington Peninsula as well as the carefully laid out skeleton of a wombat roadkill in one of the Jenolan Caves. The reason for which it was there was never made fully clear.
Some deer and many bird species of the Grampians National Park that we’re magnificent but camera shy. I’m buying a telephoto lens tomorrow.
My first sight of an emu was in a sanctuary but I happily spotted two grazing one frosty morning in the Grampians. Spot the emu…
Parrots of all colours flap around Australian cities almost like Pigeons. The red and blue ones were particularly striking.
Koalas. I saw plenty of these living wild in the Grampians National Park and stretched out on sunny branches at various points along the Great Ocean Road. But, of course, the best photo was taken at close quarters in the Koala sanctuary on Phillip Island, hence the stylish ear piercing.
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