Serendip Sanctuary – Tour from Melbourne

Arrive at the Serendip Open Range Sanctuary, where you are immediately amongst wild kangaroos and native birds. Often the entrance is heralded by the screeching of cockatoos or the chattering of honeyeaters.

After a short walk to meet the kangaroos, begin a special Safari Drive around the Sanctuary to see emus and huge wild mobs of kangaroos. Stop often to enjoy the antics of the animals, and disembark for short walks to the billabong (home to large populations of waterbirds) and through the gum trees.

Before lunch visit a protected population of wallabies and get close to some strange Australian birds.

A picnic lunch is served in an open-air setting at the Sanctuary, and includes fruit and cakes, coffee and delicious Australian "Billy tea". Your guide will explain the history and recipe for the traditional tea of the Swagmen (bushmen).

Leaving Serendip, travel just 5 minutes to the bushland of the You Yangs Ranges Regional Park or the Brisbane Ranges National Park. The park is home to a large and healthy population of wild koalas, which are monitored to ensure the best possible sightings. Enjoy a very easy walk through the gum trees, searching for koalas, wallabies, kangaroos and birds in their natural setting. Your guide will point out plants and features of interest, explain some of the history of the area and where possible, introduce you to known named koalas that are part of the research project. The area that is walked through is of great significance to the local aboriginal people of the Wathaurong Tribe. Freshwater lakes and billabongs nearby provided a rich food source for them, and some signs of their occupation still remain. Your guide will share their knowledge with you.

At the end of the tour, you will be dropped back at your hotel in Melbourne.