On route to Ayr, past Townsville and down the east coast, we happened upon Billabong Sanctuary, boasting 25 acres of rain forest, eucalypt forest and wetlands and an unforgettable hands-on adventure with the Australian native animals.

Having drove a couple a thousand of kilometres through the forest wetland and the outback and not seen that much wildlife, which we know exists, we thought this sanctuary would be a great opportunity to get up close and personal with the animals.

Up to this point we had only seen one kangaroo running in the wild, a few dingos, millions of wild cockatoos and other weird colourful parrots and a few wombats. I think we just expected The Great Tropical Drive to be one big long nature safari which was not the case.  But now we know that most animals don’t come out until dark as it too hot during the day and you don’t want to be driving in the outback at night.

Billabong was everything we expected and more and Sam got to touch a Koala which just made her day. Wombats, Koalas, Crocs, Pythons, Cassowarys and much much more. The croc feeding (fresh and saltwater) was the highlight for me. Those predators are so fast it’s beyond belief once they get a sniff of meat. They even chased the rangers out of the cage at one point. See how high they jump in the pictures, in less than half a second – damn scary!

A great all round experience and we seen and learnt so much about Australian wildlife and their habits. And what made it for us was how the animals were treated, they had acres of room and all looked well feed and comfortable within their environment – well done Billabong!