We had a pretty clear weekend and decided to make a family day trip to Healesville Sanctuary, one of three zoos operated by Zoos Victoria. Healesville Sanctuary is renowned for being one of the greatest places to see Australia’s native wildlife and being in the heart of the Yarra Valley & the Dandenong Ranges there is an added bonus of being a beautiful drive to get there.
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It was a perfect day weather-wise for Todoing and on arrival we were greeted by very friendly staff both whilst lining up and once we reached the ticket office. In fact, this went well beyond the front of house. As we walked around on a day that was quite busy, all the staff were approachable and keen to share with us their exhibit or specialty. We got to touch a snake, meet a newborn baby bird on its first trip outside of the nest and even touch a turtle! All things that you wouldn’t normally get to do as part of the exhibits at Healesville Sanctuary
The first show we attended was the Spirits of the Sky, which was all about Austalia’s birds of prey. It was amazingly interactive with Justin nearly losing his hat when a giant Parrot nearly took it off swooping through the crowd. The boys were blown away by how intelligent all of the birds were, in particular the Black-breasted Buzzard. Check this out:
We took a packed lunch to save some costs as a family on a budget, but there were plenty of food options if you wanted to purchase onsite. After lunch we visited the Tales from Platypus Creek show which was really educational for the children. They got to see a native duck, a swimming platypus chasing bubbles for fun whilst weaving in and out of the presenters legs and learn how pollution impacts our native animals like the platypus.
It was a really warm day and there were misting and water play activities throughout the zoo. There were also plenty of shady spots, drink taps to drink from or fill up water bottles and picnic tables and other forms of seating.
Our kids love to read, and as a result Harry Potter is currently their favourite book. Healesville Sanctuary allowed them to not only check out a python exhibit (without the risk of falling in!) but also Barnowls which being snow white looked just like the snow owls seen in the movie. The boy’s were in heaven!
Our Top 5 things you have to see and do:
- Don’t miss the Spirits of the Sky show. The line is really big when waiting for it, but don’t panic. The arena is massive and there is great viewing from everywhere. The birds vertainly work the crowd.
- The frogs and snakes were great. Harry is currently fascinated by frogs (he has 3 at home!) and the exhibits were great, also allowing a nice cooler experience out of the sun!
- The Australian Wildlife Health Centre onsite is an amazing experience. Depending on your timing they may well be operating on or treating a life animal. Caution is advised, but wow talk about education. We saw a small bird being treated. There is also an interactive play area for children which all of the kids present were enjoying.
- The echnidas were really entertaining! It was a warm day, so a lot of the animals were hiding away from the heat. But the echindas were on a mission. Cutting laps of their enclosure and genuinely showing off was a lot of fun to watch.
- Animals of the night was unreal! It’s set up so you can see the animals being active in the nighttime, adjusting the light so they can’t see you and they think it’s playtime. The small marsupials jumping from branch to branch was amazing to watch.
Healesville Sanctuary was a lot of fun for the whole family! We really liked seeing how close to their natural habitats the exhibits were, and how the animals clearly were happy and enjoying themselves. Zoos certainly have come a long way! You can get a Zoos Victoria membership which provides you with unlimited access to not only Heallesville, but also the Werribee Open Range Zoo and the Melbourne Zoo. These are all very different and very much must-sees!