Australia is famous for its unique wildlife, especially its characteristic mammalian fauna. Australia split off of Gondwana, a large supercontinent in the southern hemisphere about 135 million years ago, before the first placental mammals appeared on Earth and exploded in diversity. Thanks to the isolation of Australia, the ancient groups of mammals such as the monotremes and marsupials lived and evolved here undisturbed from the more adaptable mammals. Monotremes are egg-laying mammals, while marsupials give live birth. Their very undeveloped young ones climb to their mother’s pouches where they continue to develop until they are big enough to leave the pouch. They are also called pouched mammals. I’ve always found these group of animals very interesting. Outside of Australasia there are only a few marsupials in the Americas, but they are a very diverse group in Australia. One of the main reasons we wanted to visit Australia was to see these remarkable animals. We knew that kangaroos are relatively abundant and somewhat easy to spot all across Australia, but we wanted to see koalas and wombats too. During our research we learned that the best places to see koalas and wombats in the wild are in the southern part of the country, and we planned our road trip to maximize our chances. After returning our camper, we rented a “normal” car and drove the beautiful Great Ocean Road, and visited a few perfect-looking koala habitats along the way. Of course, we stopped at the famously beautiful Twelve Apostles too at Port Campbell National Park (map) and enjoyed the spectacular view in a very moody weather. Gear: Canon EOS 5DsR, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4
Our first stop to look for koalas was at Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve (map). Spotting koalas in the wild needs some knowledge and good eyes. The koala is a herbivorous marsupial that feeds exclusively on eucalyptus leaves. We did a short hike in the best-looking part of the park and got lucky as we found several koalas in this reserve. The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is one of the most iconic Australian animals so we were very happy to see them in the wild. We became even more joyful when we found a koala mama with her little joey. Our first try to find koalas turned out to be a great success.
Probably the most famous place on the Great Ocean Road to spot wild koalas is the Great Otway National Park (map), especially the forests around Kennett River. Here, we walked a few miles on the Grey River Road, which is a dirt road into the eucalyptus forest in the mountains. This was the most healthy-looking koala habitat we have ever seen, and it didn’t take long to find the first koala up in a eucalyptus tree. The next koala we spotted was in a great place for a thorough observation. We spent an hour watching this little guy. Koalas usually spend their days sleeping, and at late morning it was time for this animal too to go to bed, which was in the fork of the tree below him. It didn’t take long until he fell asleep. I was very happy to be able to see and photograph some wild koala activity.
The koala’s closest living relative are the wombats. They are a short-legged robust nocturnal marsupial. Wombats are expert diggers with sharp claws. Their pouch faces backwards to avoid it filling up with soil as they burrow. There are three different wombat species. They are all endemic to Australia and they are found throughout the southeast part of the country. They are not commonly seen, so we knew we won’t have too many chances to spot them in the wild. One of the best places to find wild wombats is the Wilsons Promontory National Park (map). Here, a common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) is relatively common.
They are also known as bare-nosed wombat. As all wombats, they spend most of their days underground, but they sometimes venture out to feed on overcast days. We were very lucky as we only had one day to spend in this national park and it was really cloudy and sometimes even rainy. The wombats came out late afternoon when the rain stopped and we found several animals during our hike, including a female one with a little joey in her pouch. Interestingly a group of wombats are called a ‘wisdom of wombats’. The nice, soft light made photography easy. We also saw many kangaroos in this park and I couldn’t resist to take a few photos of them too. Gear: Canon EOS 5Ds + 300mm f/4. For the koala photos I used a 1.4x extender too.
Our Australia trip was an absolute blast. We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the ancient cultures, and the unique wildlife of this continent. We planned this trip very carefully and achieved almost all of our goals. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the platypus, and although we saw one red kangaroo, it was sadly too far away to be able to photograph it. However, we saw many wonderful animals in the wild and were able to take photos of the most common marsupials in their natural habitat. I dreamed about visiting Australia since I was a child and I’m very happy how our five-week long vacation turned out. We are grateful for all the amazing adventures and experiences we had Down Under.
