While talking to a park ranger in Wilson’s Promontory I asked about seeing koalas and was told I wouldn’t see them in the wild there, but there was a nice conservation on Phillips island. This was on our way to our next destination, Great Otway so we decided to swing by.
The conservation was very nice, with boardwalks directly through the habitat instead of cages and we were able to see koalas that had been rescued in the 2020 bush fires (referred to as “black summer” by Australians). Koalas sleep 18 to 20 hours a day and are mostly active after dark, so we expected a low level of activity. As luck would have it, a male koala woke up for a snack during our second walk through, and he walked right by us on his branch.
I was thrilled to see koalas in the conservation, but I left still hoping for a wild sighting.
We passed through Melbourne during rush hour, only stopping for a Costco lunch (and to buy a case of 12 mangoes) before heading down along the coast to Great Otway National Park. As we pulled up the gravel drive to our destination, we saw what we thought was another wombat along the road and pulled over. I was elated to find out it was actually a koala, that we watched climb a tree and bellow (they sound quite strange).
Our home for the next three nights was a campervan at a campground, and when we arrived two goats were standing in front of our camper and a koala was in the tree overhead.
The next two days were mostly spent finding and watching koalas, which were everywhere. Every evening we would walk the gravel road and spot them in the trees. In the campground there were two mothers with babies as well. As if that wasn’t enough wildlife, we did a beach hike one day where we saw three echidnas right along the trail.
This was definitely the peak of our Australia road trip for me, I’ve always wanted to see koalas in the wild and the campground was so quiet and with nice facilities. I was quite sad to leave, and hope to go back in the future.
Not Sew Fancy Travels 