The Travel Sage
Day Tour from Sydney
Heads Up: This page includes one affiliate link, which is marked by an “*”. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. But rest assured – my opinions are my own, I would never recommend something I haven’t or wouldn’t purchase for myself.
I arranged for us to be in Sydney for 4 full days and 5 nights before we embarked on our cruise to New Zealand. Knowing that Mark and I tend to like nature more than big cities, we decided to plan a full day in the less developed areas of New South Wales. Viator listed a lot of day trip options out of Sydney but most of them involved going to the Grampian Mountains – which appeared to be where most of Sydney’s day trippers went to get some nature. It is such a popular destination that the Grampians even feature an attraction called “Scenic World“. Wanting to go to a less touristy destination, we opted for the “Wild Wombat and Kangaroo Day Tour*” by Perfect Day Sydney – a small group tour with a maximum of 13 passengers that departs Sydney around noon. Dave is the owner of the company and he was our driver/guide. He was good about communicating with us about when and where to meet. Dave was a great tour guide and the most incredible host!
We drove south out of Sydney through the sprawling suburbs. Our first stop was Sublime Point overlooking Wollongong. As we took in the views and did some birding, Dave laid out a spread of breakfast pastries and drinks.
After the overlook, we headed southwest to the “famous” Robertson’s pie shop to get a taste of genuine Aussie pies. Our tour guide treated us each to our choice of pie (there were lots of options both savory and sweet).
Our next stop was Carrington Falls in Budderoo National Park. It was a short leisurely walk to the various overlooks, one of which was at the top of the falls.
The next item on our itinerary was Fitzroy Falls in nearby Morton National Park. Unfortunately the weather turned incredibly foggy at this point and the skies were threatening rain. Our fabulous host had plenty of umbrellas on hand just in case! We managed to avoid a downpour, and the walk was pretty, but the view of the falls was almost non-existent.
Despite the fog, it was an interesting walk. I was amazed at the size of some of the termite mounds!
We were hoping to find a Superb Lyrebird here since they are known to frequent this park. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see one, but check out this video to find out why these birds are incredible!
Our final stop on this tour was Bendeela Recreation Area along the Kangaroo River. In addition to having countless kangaroos, this spot is home to a lot of wombats that come out at dusk.
While we mingled with the kangaroos our host fired up the barbie! We had a choice of hamburgers, chicken burgers or veggie burgers. But we also got to try grilled kangaroo thighs.
The kangaroo meat was surprisingly delicious! It had a unique flavor but it wasn’t gamey at all. And it was incredibly moist and tender. I had previously learned Australians don’t tend to eat kangaroo, but once I tasted how delicious it is, I was really surprised that it wasn’t a popular food. I asked our guide why that was the case and he said that he thinks it is because Australia’s First People (that is what they call the native aboriginals) ate kangaroo. And he believes that since the natives ate it, the British settlers thought it was beneath them.
After we all finished our dinner and our dessert of Aussie Tim Tams (cookies), it was time for the main event – meeting some wombats!
Not all the wombats would allow people to come up close to them, but Dave knew where the friendlier wombats hung out. One thing I learned that was very surprising is that these short-legged stocky animals can run fast – up to 25 miles per hour! At one point I separated from the group and walked along the river for a few minutes. As I found my way back to the others it was almost completely dark. I was scared to death when I suddenly heard loud sounds and thought I was being charged by some animal. As it turned out two wombats were spooked by me and ran past me to get to their burrow. It was really dark when I took the photo below but I was able to lighten it.
Mark and I were really glad we took this tour. If you enjoy nature and wildlife and would like to have a relaxing day outside of Sydney, we highly recommend the “Wild Wombat and Kangaroo Day Tour*” by Perfect Day Sydney!
3 thoughts on “Day Tour from Sydney”
What a great side trip! Well worth getting out of the city! That bird is really amazing!
FANTASTIC! 2nd only to Kangaroo Island. WOMBATS! ‘ini, LOVING YOUR GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY in all these reports!
Pingback: A Little Bit of Sydney - Travel Sage