OzAnimals Travel

Archive for the ‘South Australia’ Category

The South Australian Whale Centre is located at Victor Harbor in a 150 year old heritage listed building. The building was originally a railway goods shed built in the late 1800s. You can still black soot marks from the steam engines that used to unload their goods in the building, the old railway tracks can still be seen at the eastern end of the building. Inside the Centre, there is a large crane where freight was unloaded from the trains on to platforms.

Granite Island is located off Victor Harbor on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, and is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The island is managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, with some of the northern shore leased for development. One of the popular attractions of Granite Island is the Little Penguin (or Fairy Penguin) colony, with guided tours to see the penguins commencing at dusk every night. To get to Granite Island you can walk across the Causeway (less than a kilometre), or travel in style on the Horse Drawn Tram from Victor Harbor. Granite Island is noted for its huge granite boulders, marked with patches of orange and green lichen. The island is of importance to the local Ramindjeri Aboriginal people and is known as Kaiki. European history dates back to 1802 when Captain Matthew Flinders discovered the area.

Bordertown in South Australia is the birthplace of Bob Hawke, the former Prime Minister of Australia, and is also known for the colony of white kangaroos, found in the Bordertown Wildlife Park. The 4.5 hectare park was developed in 1968 and is situated near the turn-off from the Dukes Highway at the eastern approach to Bordertown. The Park is unusual in that there is no public entrance to the park. However, you can walk or drive around and see the white kangaroos through the fence.

Gluepot Reserve is 64km north of the town of Waikerie in the Riverland district of South Australia. The Reserve was established by Birds Australia (formerly the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union) and is a publicly funded Reserve. Gluepot has protection under a South Australian Heritage Agreement, and is the largest land area in SA protected by a Heritage Agreement. The Reserve also protected by Commonwealth law as part of National Reserve.

Avenue Emus is an emu farm situated between the towns of Naracoorte and Kingston in South Australia, in an area known as the Limestone Coast. For city folks and overseas visitors who don’t get the chance to see emus in the wild, emu farm is a fascinating experience to see lots of emus and get up close to these Australian birds. At Avenue Emus you can wander amongst the emus, and photograph the birds up close, and maybe hand feed an emu. There are guided tours, where your guide will tell you about the emu, its habits, and how they are looked after on the farm. During the egg laying season, you might have the opportunity to hunt for emu eggs.

Dundee’s Hotel and Wildlife Park is located at Murray Bridge about an hour from Adelaide. The Wildlife Park is situated on 4 acres and home to a variety of Australian wildlife, including reptiles, birds and mammals. Crocodiles are a specialty as the name suggests. The Hotel offers Buffet Restaurant with full Hotel facilities. Buffet Lunch is served from 12 noon to 2pm and Buffet Dinner from 6pm to 8 pm. Counter Meals also available.

Dundee’s hosts the biggest collection of Saltwater (Estuarine) Crocodiles and Freshwater Crocodiles in South Australia. The indoor enclosure has a tropical look with a waterfall running into the crocodiles’ pond. You can view the crocodiles from a boardwalk. The undercover area also houses various other reptiles.

Urimbirra Wildlife Park is located in the Hindmarch Valley just five minutes from Victor Harbor. Urimbirra is privately operated, and opened in 1993. The site has Aboriginal history, and some of the trees show evidence of having been used by Aborigines for bark canoes and shields hundreds of years ago. The name Urimbirra is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘to preserve’.

With over 400 Australian native animals, and over six hectares of wetland bird sanctuary, Urimbirra gives you the chance to see more than 70 species of Australian animals in their natural surroundings. The paths through Urimbirra allow you to see the animals up close as you walk the 16 hectare site.

Saunders Gorge Sanctuary is located at Sanderston, 18km east of Mt Pleasant in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia about 75km from the city of Adelaide. The Sanctuary is a private conservation area of over 1300 hectares offering bed and breakfast accommodation, four wheel drive tracks, scenic areas, picnic area and bush camp sites. The property, formerly known as Clovelly Sheep Station, has been declared a Sanctuary to protect its native fauna and flora, and is now a combination of Wildlife Sanctuary and Sheep Station.

Seal Bay Conservation Park is on the southern coast of Kangaroo Island about 45 minutes from Kingscote. The main park attraction the colonies of Australian Sea-lions. The Conservation Park was declared in 1972 to help protect the Australian Sea-lion and protect its natural habitat. Some parts of the park are not open to the public to protect the Sea-lion’s breeding areas. In 1994 a Visitor Centre was built along with a new boardwalk in 1996 through dunes. The boardwalk leads to a viewing platform for self-guided tours overlooking the seal colony. Access on to the beach is by Guided Tour only.

Flinders Chase National Park is a complex of protected areas on the western end of Kangaroo Island. The park is made up of the main coastal area to the south west, the Gosse Lands to the north east and Cape Borda Lightstation on the north west tip of the Island.

Flinders Chase National Park was declared a in 1919 for the protection of native flora and fauna, and was used as a sanctuary for threatened fauna from the mainland. Twenty three species of animals were released in the park during the subsequent forty years, including Koalas in 1923 and Platypus in 1928. Many of those species thrived in the park and can be seen today.