An amzing place where you get to meet the keepers and feed kangaroos!!! an amazing experience, good admission price and very clean. well worth it.
Agree, you dont just get to feed the roos, if you are lucky they will let you cuddle them as well, fantastic experience, we were all feeling very negative about our move to Oz until we went here on wk 2, then everyone just cheered right up and now we love this place, still miss everyone back home but after 4 weeks we are loving the aussie life, cant wait until summer.
Healesville is a lovely place and we visit there often. Have you been to the other two zoos, Melbourne and Werribee they are both beautiful. The bands in the zoo event they old over summer is great. Another wildlife park I like is the one at Ballarat. I use to be a wildlife ranger at one of the Victorian wildlife parks and as well as cuddling kangaroos they would let people hold the wombats for a photo which was very popular. However we could only do this when we had small wombats, as not many people would want to hold a nasty, grumpy, 30kg adult male wombat
Healesville is a lovely place and we visit there often. Have you been to the other two zoos, Melbourne and Werribee they are both beautiful. The bands in the zoo event they old over summer is great. Another wildlife park I like is the one at Ballarat. I use to be a wildlife ranger at one of the Victorian wildlife parks and as well as cuddling kangaroos they would let people hold the wombats for a photo which was very popular. However we could only do this when we had small wombats, as not many people would want to hold a nasty, grumpy, 30kg adult male wombat
I have been to Melbourne zoo and while it was really good I am not a great lover of zoos in general due to the more confined spaces the animals are kept in but I have to admit Melbourne seem to give their animals more space than any zoo in the UK do.
I plan to visit Ballarat soon for the gold mining history side of things so I will make a point of doing the wildlife park at the same time.
My partner is really looking forward to the summer so that she can fulfil one of her life dreams and that is to swim with dolphins, when we were in spain last year she swam with seals which she loved very much, but to swim with dolphins will make her smile for the rest of her life I think :)
Australia so far has been everything everyone told me it would be as far as wildlife goes.
I have been to Melbourne zoo and while it was really good I am not a great lover of zoos in general due to the more confined spaces the animals are kept in but I have to admit Melbourne seem to give their animals more space than any zoo in the UK do.
I plan to visit Ballarat soon for the gold mining history side of things so I will make a point of doing the wildlife park at the same time.
My partner is really looking forward to the summer so that she can fulfil one of her life dreams and that is to swim with dolphins, when we were in spain last year she swam with seals which she loved very much, but to swim with dolphins will make her smile for the rest of her life I think :)
Australia so far has been everything everyone told me it would be as far as wildlife goes.
If you go to Ballarat make sure you visit Sovereign Hill. It is a re-creation of the goldfields of the 1850's. It is very well done and not overly commercial. I don't know if you have kids but they enjoy panning for gold in the creek (and so do adults). You might find nothing or a few specks of gold. Sometimes they put in bigger gold nuggets. There is a school where the kids can sit in on a class from the era and they get to write will real ink, complete with cane weilding teacher. The main street has is very interesting with the old stores and businesses of the time. You could easily spend half a day there or a full day even especially if you enjoy history. My kids were also amazed at the recreation of the houses of the goldfields - how they had a family living in just 2 rooms. There is accommodation at Soveriegn Hill that you can stay at also if you want do the the 'night show'. Word of warning - it gets busy during the school holidays and weekends. We went during the winter school holidays last year and it was busy but not unbearably so. You can drive easily or you can get on the train at Southern Cross Station and it takes you to Ballarat where they transfer you to Soverieign Hill on the bus. Also it gets cold in Ballarat - colder than Melbourne so rug up. The art gallery in Ballarat is excellent also and there is also a wildlife park there but I haven't been there.
Also if you know anyone who has the 'Gold Entertainment Book' that they sell at schools you can get a two for one admission ticket.
Thanks for the tips, I will sure be going to Ballarat, mabe not till summer kicks in but I sure want to go.
Just don't go on a really hot day as it wouldn't be all that pleasant. Also a dry day is preferable as the main street is very authentic which means it is a dirt road which can get muddy. Winter has a nice atmosphere though. Last year they had snow shipped in for the kids to play with and fake snow in the main street which would fall every hour.
Ahhhh snow, now that would be cool, i thought last winter in the UK would be the last time I would see snow, would be great to let the kids make a snowman in Australia, not many ids can say they have done that lol
I have been to Melbourne zoo and while it was really good I am not a great lover of zoos in general due to the more confined spaces the animals are kept in but I have to admit Melbourne seem to give their animals more space than any zoo in the UK do.
I plan to visit Ballarat soon for the gold mining history side of things so I will make a point of doing the wildlife park at the same time.
My partner is really looking forward to the summer so that she can fulfil one of her life dreams and that is to swim with dolphins, when we were in spain last year she swam with seals which she loved very much, but to swim with dolphins will make her smile for the rest of her life I think :)
Australia so far has been everything everyone told me it would be as far as wildlife goes.
There's a day trip from Melbourne that I'd really recommend and that's the Sovereign Hill & Wildlife park trip (both in and around Ballarat).
You can buy food to feed the Kangeroos which run wild within the park, they're all Roos from Kangeroo Island and so have no fear of humans at all. Plus there's other great animals like Wombats, crocs, taz devils etc.
Soverign hill is great. They have actors/volunteers in dress pretending to be back in the 1800's plus you can pan for gold.
Other than the Great Ocean Road probably the best day trip you can do from Melbourne.
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