Itinerary
Tour day-by-day
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Day Tour: Koalas & Kangaroos in the Wild
Travelling 45 minutes from Melbourne, guests will reach the magnificent open woodland of the You Yangs Ranges. The park is home to a healthy population of wild Koalas, which the wildlife guides research to ensure premium sightings.
Walking through eucalypt gum forests, the group will search for Swamp Wallabies, Eastern Grey Kangaroos and numerous birds including Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Long-billed & Little Corellas, Galahs, Laughing Kookaburras, Superb Fairy-wrens, White-winged Choughs, Emus, Cape Barren and Magpie Geese, Brown-headed, New Holland and White-plumed Honeyeaters, Whistling and Black Kites, Australian Magpies, Magpie-larks, Red Wattlebirds, Red-rumped Parrots and alluring Eastern Rosellas.
Every Koala seen on the adventure is an individual that has been watched by researchers their whole lives. Your Wildlife Guide will share the history and community life of each koala with you. We observe the Koalas from 10 metres away, a self-imposed limit we maintain to ensure the Koalas do not experience undue stress, but this provides amazing photographic opportunities.
Afterwards, guests stop for a few minutes to create koala habitat by removing invasive Boneseed weeds. A picnic lunch of gourmet sandwiches, fruit and cakes, and delicious Australian “Billy tea” is served under the gum trees for a truly remarkable day in the Australian bush.
Key Details
Pricing: from AUD $250 per adult (based on shared touring, including touring and lunch), $187.50 children (aged 13 years & under).
Group Size: Maximum of 10 guests.
Pick-up and Drop Off Point: 5 central Melbourne pickup locations
Pick-up and Drop-off Time: 7:50am-8:30am until approximately 4:00pm
Private Touring: Available at additional cost - please enquire with your group size & interests.Responsible Travel
Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours is internationally-recognised in wildlife in the wild conservation travel, and winner of the 2014 World Responsible Travel Award. Our extensive policies with respect to conservation and social enterprise are available for your reference. As a social enterprise tour company, we invest more than 50% of our profit into our mission. Most of that investment is through our Koala Research Project, and through in-kind and direct financial support to the Koala Clancy Foundation.
We strongly support the concept of privately-owned land to increase the habitat available to wildlife – this is essential if wildlife is to survive the upcoming challenges of climate change. Through Koala Clancy Foundation we plant koala food trees in river valleys and along creeks on private farmland near Melbourne – returning the indigenous flora to that denuded environment.
Recent Awards
WINNER Best for Wildlife Conservation at the World Responsible Tourism Awards London • 2014
WINNER Seatrade Cruise Award for World’s Most Innovative Shore Excursion • 2017
WINNER TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014Recent Testimonials
"Where to begin?! Such an incredible time! We were picked up near our hotel and went on a tour with 6 other people. It's about an hour drive outside of Melbourne. Our guide Hailey was extremely knowledgeable and is so passionate about nature and conservation. We saw a mama koala holding a baby. Then we went out in the bush and must have seen 100 kangaroos! I would definitely recommend this tour!," - Kristen, California
"This was the highlight of my visit to Australia. I am a big animal lover and this place does not disappoint. We were lucky to have Dan as our guide and he was the best. He was not only friendly but his knowledge was top notch. I love shooting photos of wildlife and the challenge is it can be hit and miss to see any animals in the wild running free ..as it should be. Why I do not visit zoos. I care more about the animals then I do my own entertainment .But we got to see Kangaroos, possum, birds and Koalas. The respect of the animals they have makes this a worth while time. I couldn't be happier and got some nice photos." - Gary, Colorado
