The best activities and locations for wildlife watching and encounters along the East Coast.
I have been travelling on Greyhound Australia’s 30-Day East Coast Whimit Pass across June this year. One of my key reasons for coming to Australia was to encounter the wonderful wildlife found here, which is found nowhere else in the world. Images of kangaroos and koalas pop up automatically when thinking about Australia, but there is so much else to be discovered here. Although I was slightly wary after watching Simon Reeve’s latest documentary all about the poisonous cane toads, the box jellyfish being the world’s most deadly animal as well as finding out you should always hold a platypus by its tail – although I’m not sure when this piece of advice would come in handy!
This blog is all about the best activities you can do along the East Coast between Melbourne and Cairns to see Australian animals and wildlife. The 30-Day East Coast Whimit pass gives a good number of days for both travel and sightseeing.
Great Ocean Road and Phillip Island
From Melbourne, there are lots of day trips you can take to nearby wildlife wonders!
Phillip Island is around 1.5 hours from central Melbourne and is home to one of the largest colonies of Little Blue Penguins aka Fairy Penguins in the world! The experience involved sitting on the beach and watching them come in on the waves and forming groups to walk across the sand to their burrows! It was a very magical experience, however unfortunately I did feel it was overcrowded, which caused a lot of disturbance to the penguins. There was also a no photography policy, as the penguins have very sensitive eyes, but this rule was not followed by many which was disappointing. I’d potentially consider paying extra next time for the premium experience, as hopefully there wouldn’t be so many people.
I also did a tour along the Great Ocean Road, which would have been ideal to do over a couple of days. Some of the main stops were the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and The Wreck which were just beautiful! I did both tours with Autopia.
Surfer’s Paradise Whale Watching
Humpback whales undertake their migration from Antarctica to warmer waters in the tropics from June onwards. Their route involves passing the whole east coast of Australia so you can be blessed with this sight no matter where you are! Whale watching tours are offered along the coast with Sydney and Byron Bay offering some of the earlier sightings in the season. Later on, Hervey Bay is apparently a great place to spot them! Alternatively you can spot whales on coastal walks, even the popular Bondi to Coogee walk.
I did a tour with Whales in Paradise from Surfer’s Paradise and although it was the start of June I was lucky enough to see a mum and calf who played around the boat for 45 minutes. To see these animals up close was such a privilege and something I won’t forget quickly! We also saw bottlenose and common dolphins!
Australia Zoo
You can easily catch the train to Beerwah station from Brisbane city centre, where a courtesy shuttle will take you up the road to the zoo. The zoo is so big and has a whole days worth of things to see! You can purchase bags of kangaroo and wallaby food from the kiosk, and can hand feed them yourself which is very cool! I was able to gently pat a koala, which enabled you to get so close to them. You can also pay extra to have unique experiences with some of the animals if you wish. One of the main highlights was the show in the main arena in the afternoon, where natural displays of animal behaviours were shown including crocodiles and recorded clips of Steve Irwin were shown.
Moreton Island
From Brisbane you can visit Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island and embark on a Marine Discovery trip to search for their resident Dugongs, and passing marine life such as turtles and dolphins. We spotted a few turtles – the giveaway being round, darkened patches in the water. And waited around for them to poke their head above the water and take a breath every 6-8 minutes. Very cool!
K’gari Island
From Noosa, I went on a day trip to K’gari Island, where we drove 220km along the beach there and back, including along Rainbow Beach in a big 4×4 truck. The drive alone was just magical! We spotted dolphins on the ferry and then once on the island we saw several wild dingos eating fish they’d caught that day and a lace monitor lizard which was very impressive.
Whitsunday Islands
From Airlie Beach I went on a two-day, one-night boat excursion on British Defender to the Whitsunday Islands. We stopped at the infamous Whitehaven Beach where we saw stingrays in the water, hunting crabs in the shallow waters. Lemon sharks are also commonly spotted here too. The boat trip included two snorkelling spots and we explored two sites – one being a fabulously colourful coral reef and the other being a playground for wonderful tropical fish.
Magnetic Island
Now I think Magentic Island has to be my favourite experience of Australia! The perfect way to see the island is to hire a 4WD car to visit the majority of the island very easily. Also I’d reccomend at least 3 full days here! The island was abundant with wildlife including birds, butterflies, mammals and marine life! A walk along the jetty at Picnic Bay featured a passing stingray and turtle which were absolute unexpected gems. I fed the Rock wallabies at the peninsula of Arcadia Bay. I saw sleeping butterflies in the forest near Horseshoe Bay and I also joined Selina’s Rainbow Lorikeet feeding sessions which were great fun! I also did the Forts Walk which included some very special sights of wild koalas! One of the most common places to see them in the whole of Australia! Really recommend a visit here!
Great Barrier Reef Snorkelling
Cairns is a great place to explore the Great Barrier Reef and I did my trip with the Passions of Paradise boat. The journey out to the reef took a couple of hours and unfortunately it was really choppy on the day I went. However I was still able to experience the beauty of the reef and the plethora of corals found there. Despite the conditions, I was lucky enough to see some black-tipped reef sharks, clown fish (the real Nemo!), green humphead parrotfish and so many others I don’t even know the names of! A definite must if visiting the East Coast!
Daintree Rainforest and Atherton Tablelands
I did the 2-day Best of Both Worlds tour with Uncle Brian’s which featured the best of the Atherton Tablelands and Daintree Rainforest. The tour began in Cairns. The first day was all about waterfalls and we visited some of the tallest and most impressive in the area, including Josephine Falls. The second day was my favourite where we travelled to Cape Tribulation. The day was filled with cool wildlife, including giant Golden Orb spiders, beautiful blue butterflies and cute wallabies. With the highlight being visiting the Daintree River for a crocodile tour to see wild crocs – and we weren’t disappointed!
Other recommendations from people I met, but didn’t have chance to visit myself!
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- Sydney Zoo
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- Blue Mountains from Sydney – my trip was cancelled because of the weather unfortunately.
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- Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Gold Coast
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- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane
The travel pass: www.greyhound.com.au/east-coast-whimit