With my friend Marsha here from the US, I had to take her to Healesville Sanctuary. It is part of Melbourne Zoo and where you go to see everything Australian. All the indigenous animals, birds and plants are there. I don’t know if they are all there, but must be pretty close and you get a good idea of what is here. We do have some rather unique flora and fauna.
The sanctuary is located just out of the city in a town called Healesville, hence the name. It is easy to get to from my place. It is open daily from 9 to 5 and costs $32.50 for an adult to enter. If you live locally becoming a member is worth it. At $96 for the year you can go any time you like. you can go into all three
of the zoos here any time you want to go.
Australian animals are nearly all nocturnal, so it can make it hard to see them awake. It is a good idea to check out the feeding times when you get there and try to see them. They wake up some of them so you can you see them and give them some special food to reward them. You can see in the gallery the wombat Florence, she was given some treats.
We did manage to see a couple of Koalas awake as well. I loved an image I got of a koala jumping from one tree to another. Action shots, not something you get very often with the Koalas.
We also visited the new wetland area. There are so many birds in there and we spent a lot of time just watching them.
I had a great time, as I usually do at the sanctuary. I’ve been there many times now and will put links at the end of the post for previous posts I’ve done there.
Love all these pix.
Thank you Peter, that’s great.
LOVE you koalas and birds, Leanne!
They are pretty amazing, though I don’t think the koalas are cute up close.
Thank you Leanne, love the photos. This has been a timely reminder for a place to take our overseas visitors when we visit Melbourne in April this year. I will look forward to it as much as they will.
You’re welcome Ardys, I’m sure you will all love it, they have encounters with them as well, so you might be able to feed the kangaroos or something like that, check their website for what is available.
Wonderful images, Leanne. That looks to be a lovely zoo, one my kids and I would enjoy exploring.
Thank you Laura, it is a great zoo, I’m sure you would love it.
Florence is adorable!
I thought so as well Lois.
Wonderful start to the day. Thank you Leanne Cole.
That’s great Jonathan, thank you and you’re very welcome.
That standing Koala.. wow 🙂 Lovely shot! And yes, the animals in Australia are unique.. very beautiful too!
Not sights you see a lot, Koalas love to sleep during the day. Thank you, and yes they are, I think we take them for granted sometimes.
I’ve seen one on magnetic island near Townsville.. only just before dusk and it wasn’t happy with us photographing and flashing lol
Yeah they aren’t as cute as they look really, can be aggressive. Good you got to see one. Down near Apollo Bay there are a heap of them as well just in the wild.
i didnt know they could be aggressive.. but i guess each animal has it’s limits.. good for us then 🙂
I’ve looked up Apollo Bay, not too far away from Melbourne. Never been to that side of Auzzie though.. perhaps in the future 🙂
Yeah, I’ve heard it, but never seen it. I think they can be aggressive towards one another, though their claws would do some serious damage.
Yeah around Cape Otway there is a colony of them, they are, unfortunately eating themselves out of their home and they are starving, too many there and the area isn’t big enough.
So beautiful and lovely dear Leanne. Fascinates me your photography always. Thank you, by the way I changed my blog to private, if you wish to visit as before, you can make a request. I would like to see you, be sure. Love, nia
Thank you Nia, thanks for that.
Very lucky shots of the koala, Leanne. Nice timing. They came out just at the right time. Would you believe it, I have been in Melbourne for so long and I have yet to visit Healesville Sanctuary. I really must make a trip there at some point and from your photos and previous posts on it, there seems to be a lot to see and each visit is something different. $96 is a good yearly price to visit all the zoos all year round anytime you want, come as you please 😀 Looking forward to seeing more zoo shots from you this year, and also those of the city 🙂
Thank you Mabel, sounds like it is something you should do this year, it is a great place and the settings are really nice. It is not a formal zoo which is nice. I love the membership, I think I went to the zoo almost 10 times this last year. Thanks again, I’m really enjoying photographing the city at the moment.
Beautiful shots. Awesome pick for the lead photograph for this entry. Glad you had a great time and I assume you’re friend Marsha was kept smiling while looking at all the wonderful animals there.
Thank you Craig, I did, and I think Marsha loved it, the animals are so different.
Healesville is a wonderful place to take friends from other countries. Great photos of the koalas.
It is Carol, part of the reason for being a member is so I don’t have to pay to go there. Thank you.
Beautiful animals!!
They are John.
Beautiful shots.
Thank you Nicci.