Follow the wonderful wildlife of Oz
So long, stoats and sp arrow hawks, says Spring watch presenter Michaela Strachan. We’re off to see...
AFTER wrapping up another Springwatch series, it was time to put on my rubyred slippers and follow the yellow brick road to Oz. I waved goodbye to stoats and sparrowhawks in Suffolk before setting off with the Tin Man and my little scarecrow to say hello to koalas and kangaroos.
My partner Nick is very Afrocentric when it comes to wildlife, so I’ve made it my mission to introduce him to the wilds of the world.
He’s never seen a koala, kangaroo or wombat, let alone heard of a pademelon (smaller than a wallaby) or a potaroo (a nocturnal rat kangaroo), and neither had my 11year-old son Ollie.
We flew to Cairns for the start of our three-week holiday, and our first adventure was a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef.
The conditions on the day were challenging – it was cold and windy and visibility wasn’t great. But this was the Barrier Reef, one of the wonders of the world, and Ollie found everything fascinating, especially the fact that clownfish are born males – the dominant male turns female when the female of the group dies.
We were staying first at the Kewarra Beach Resort, just north of Cairns, and I woke up one morning to the sound of bats. I followed the racket and found the roost of thousands of spectacled flying foxes, or fruit bats.
Later, we went on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway over the Barron Gorge National Park. It is very touristy but fabulous nonetheless.
After our stay at Kewarra we moved on to the Thala Beach Nature Reserve, about 10 miles from Four Mile Beach. Like Kewarra, the comfortable rooms were set within a rainforest.
After the bad weather of our previous visit, we decided to head back to the Great Barrier Reef, travelling from Port Douglas. The weather was perfect this time – it was sunny and calm, which of course made all the difference. I saw lots of bright white coral on my second dive, signs of coral bleaching caused by rising sea temperatures. The white looked like snow, which was quite bizarre. But there was plenty of gorgeous colourful coral too and so many fish.
From Thala we moved on to the Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa, which has 15 beautiful treehouse-style rooms set along a river with a view of the forest. You immediately feel all the stresses of life disappear. We loved the place. I had a fantastic massage during our stay, which was a real pampering treat. On our way to the lodge, we had stopped at Mossman Gorge and did the gorge walk – a two-hour amble through the rainforest, with an Aboriginal guide telling us stories about the site. It was fascinating. We also went on a sunset cruise from Daintree with the resort’s boatman and enjoyed spotting crocodiles, kingfishers and, my favourite, the well camouflaged Papuan frogmouth (a nocturnal bird related to a nightjar). But the highlight of the trip was definitely Jungle Surfing – zip-wiring is surely the best way to experience one of the oldest tropical rainforests in the world.
After the delights of Daintree, we moved inland, where we stayed at Jabiru Safari Lodge on the Mareeba Wetlands. It was totally different from anywhere we’d stayed so far. The place had a real safari feel thanks to the bush tents. I loved the safari vibe.
The next morning I set the alarm for 4.30am to go on a hotair balloon ride. The excitement of the early morning, the inflating of the balloon, the sunrise flight – I find it all so romantic.
Once we had returned to Earth, we went in search of a wild platypus and with patience saw two in the river at Peterson Creek.
We later drove on to the Tolga bat hospital near Cairns, a place I’d filmed at 15 years ago for the Really Wild Show. Staff rehabilitate lots of species but mainly fruit bats, and we loved seeing them close up.
We had a relaxing final morning at Jabiru before we left – although we were woken early by a laughing kookaburra.
After the end of the Cairns leg of our holiday, we flew to Darwin in the Northern Territory, known as the Top End.
WE PICKED up a car and headed to Wildman Wilderness Lodge in the Mary River Wetlands area. This was a gorgeous lodge with large, comfortable, family tent-style accommodation or air-conditioned, pod-like rooms. Later in the day we did a wetland cruise on the Home Billabong and saw crocs and plenty of birdlife, followed by a sunset drive to the wetlands to see thousands of whistling ducks and magpie geese.
We also went on an air boat wetlands cruise and saw so many birds. We loved every cruise, but
this one was magical. Ours was the only boat on the wetlands. Our guide, a young lad called Josh, was full of enthusiasm and we loved skimming across the surface of the water.
After our boat trip we headed off to the Kakadu National Park, famed for its cultural significance, history, wildlife and internationally important wetlands, which we enjoyed on another cruise. Once again our guide was fantastic, pointing out more species of birds and some crocodiles.
At Anbinik Kakadu Resort, the cabin suites were comfortable with great outdoor showers. The resort also caters for caravans and campers.
After a good sleep, we set off for the vast wilderness of Arnhem Land, filled with gorges, waterfalls and rocky outcrops.
We really enjoyed our visit to the Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre too, where Aboriginal artists such as Simon Badari paint.
The final stop on our itinerary was Nitmiluk Gorge. We stayed at Cicada Lodge and spent the morning canoeing in the stunning scenery..
We all felt as if we’d followed the yellow brick road and had experienced the wonderful wildlife of Oz. Unlike Dorothy, we weren’t ready to tap our ruby-red slippers together and fly home – we could’ve easily stayed another couple of weeks.