Wildlife in Australia - 2025

'Oh I couldn't go to Australia with all the snakes and the spiders'

I'm sure they're there somewhere, but I've only seen two snakes. A diamond python sunbathing in a tree over a walk way in Manly, just outside Sydney and a mildly venomous collared whipped snake in Cairns. I saw them on my last visit in 2023.

This visit other than a trip to Tasmania, we didn't venture outside of Sydney and the local coastal area. It also poured with rain for most of the visit and spring was late this year so we didn't see as much wildlife as we've done previously.

I did however take a trip to the Aquarium and the Wildlife Park in Darling Harbour as I wanted to see the Koala's.

I love how obliging this wallaby was lining up under his sign so I didn't miss him. Sadly several of his friends/family had been hit by cars in the neighbourhood in Tasmania.

These Ibis are known in Australia as Bin Chickens as they scavenge through the rubbish.

The magpies are a real pain the end of winter start of spring. We watched this one attack 4 people in the park, chasing one woman, pecking at joggers hats and swooping down on a bloke who was reading a book. We did issue verbal warnings. 

There are signs warning you about their behaviour.

Rainbow Lorikeets.

Parrots.

Cockatoo.

Beach Turkey. An absolute nuisance, but protected.

Cormorant.

Heron.

Dolphines. We saw a whale breeching but I didn't get a photo.

Black Crab.

Water Dragon.

We saw loads of Galah's, bright pink birds, but I failed to get any photos and the same with the Kookaburra's although I did get recording of their laughing at 5am every morning.

Week 37 2025 - One Daily Positive and Project 365. Australia to Dubai.

Our few days in Australia was mixed. We had temps of 28c on Monday and had a dip in the sea. Then more torrential rain, just like when we arrived. The sun broke through the clouds on Thursday afternoon just before we flew to Dubai.

Whilst we were sad to be leaving our son, as we probably won't see him for 2 years now, we were also glad to be going back to our own home and very much looking forward to some heat in Dubai.

Sunday 

Day 250 Up early and out on a photo walk. Sadly my ‘big’ camera was still on moon settings with a long exposure, so no photos came out. Into Hobart for coffee, shopping and lunch. Flight at 7.30pm to Sydney, back at our apartment at 11pm.

Monday 

Day 251 A dip in the sea at Rose Bay with shark nets. Temp 28c and a circular coastal walk north of Bondi.

Tuesday 

Day 252 I visited the koalas and sea-life centre. Peter went for a walk and read his book. Last minute souvenir shopping and over to see child 3 for the evening and out to dinner.

Wednesday 

Day 253 It absolutely chucked it down, full waterproofs on and we opted to go to the Australian Museum for the day to keep dry. it was fascinating and I was particularly taken with the taxidermy of every animal you could imagine, including the DoDo and other extinct animals, which was sad. We then headed out to the Botanical gardens when the rain eased, but we were fooled and had to take shelter for an hour under a rock on the harbour front. Our last night with our son and we joined him and his girlfriend for dinner.

This photo was taken in colour.

Thursday

Day 254 Our son took our bags to his last night and left us a key as him and his girlfriend flew north this morning to a wedding. it was chucking it down and we caught the bus to Bondi Junction for a coffee, then another bus to our son's where we spent the day, repacking, reading, blogging and having lunch. Off to the airport at 4pm for our 14 hour flight to Dubai.

Friday 

Day 255 Arrived at 4am, luggage was in arrivals before we were. Sorted a SIM, got a coffee and arrived at our accommodation at 7am. We dropped bags and changed and went out to our old neighbourhood then onto Ibn Battuta Mall where I had my nails done while Peter drank coffee and read his book.

Saturday

Day 256 After breakfast we headed out to The Beach for a swim and sit and read our books for a while. Back to the apartment for a shower and get ready for the Wanderlust Brunch at JW Marriott Hotel. I had lots of sea food, several cocktails and lots of desserts. Back to chill in the apartment then off to visit a couple of Peter's ex colleagues for more drinks.

Things to make you smile:

On the plane we were sat in front of the galley. The air con was leaking and making a funny noise. The air steward without listening to me properly said 'madam that is the sound of the engines, if we turn the noise off that is irritating you we will fall out the sky' Another air steward quickly put her in her place and offered to move us.

Things that made me happy:

Spending time with child 3 and his girlfriend, seeing koala's and a fantastic 3 weeks of walking, reading, coffee and chilling out.

On the blog this week:

Post Comment Love - Link up with any post written this week.

Word of the Week - Tasmania

The poo machine

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Post Comment Love 12th-14th September 2025. Goodbye Australia - Hello Dubai.

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

We've had an amazing 3 weeks in Australia visiting our son and his girlfriend. We left on Thursday for a 14 hour flight to Dubai where we are visiting our old neighbourhood and seeing a couple of friends if time permits.

We're hoping to acclimatise to the time difference over the 5 days we're here as previously when we've stopped over in Kuala Lumpur or flown straight home, it's taken nearly 2 weeks to adjust to the 9 hours lost. There's only a 6 hour difference with Dubai, so it should help.

We've gone from 16c and rain to 40c and humidity. Australia has just come out of winter, but had almost 3 months of solid rain. We've walked around in full waterproofs, we've climbed a mountain in the snow and on Monday the temperature was 28c and I was swimming in the sea.

Apart from our visit to Tasmania for a few a days, all our time has been spent locally, exploring previous places we've enjoyed, discovering new walks and my highlight as always (apart from seeing child 3) are the koala's.

Want to find out more about Post Comment Love #PoCoLo? 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Word of the week - Tasmania

Tasmania is a 2 hour flight from Sydney. Child 3 booked the flights and car hire and his girlfriend booked the accommodation.

We arrived in Hobart at 9am, collected the hire car and by 11am we were climbing Mount Wellington. In the snow. Our son's girlfriend had never experienced snow and she was super excited at the age of 30 to build a snow man, throw snow balls and just enjoy the walk and the snow.

There was lots of reading and I swopped a book in the accommodation.

We visited MONA to see the Poo Machine.

We took a ferry to Bruny Island. The next bit of land from here is Antarctica.

The wildlife was very obliging lining up under their sign.

No idea when we'll see child 3 next. We're planning to travel out here alternative years until we are no longer capable. We're back in the UK on Tuesday, then I start a new job the following Monday. 

Word of the week - Walks (Australia) Part One.

We've walked a lot in Australia averaging around 8 miles a day.

Each walk we complete is a walk for Stephanie and a practice for the sponsored walk I'm doing on September 27th in the Chilterns for Bowel Research. I'm at 60% of my set target. I'd really appreciate it if you could share this post.

We can walk 3-4 miles just getting to and from places to start our walks.There's an excellent bus service from our accommodation and a great network of buses, trains and trams to get us around the city and to and from our sons and his girlfriends. 

We're out by 9am and don't get back till late. On top of these walks we've also been out in the evenings.

I'll update the walks as the rest of our holiday goes on in Part Two.

So far we've walked 115.9 miles.

Thursday 21st August Clovelly to Paddington. 6 miles

I caught the bus to Bondi Junction then I walked to Paddington to see my son and his girlfriend.

Friday 22nd August Clovelly to The Crypto Castle. 6.4 miles

Despite the pouring rain we managed half of our walk.

Saturday 23rd  Haymarket and Darling Harbour. 7.6 miles

Sunday 24th Centennial Park. 8.3 miles

Monday 25th Clovelly to Coogee. 10.1 miles

Tuesday 26th Bondi Beach to Clovelly. 6.4 miles

Two buses to Bondi and a walk back.

Wednesday 27th Sydney. 9.6 miles

Thursday 28th Maroubra Beach to Coogee. 9.1 miles

A bus to Maroubra and a bus back from Coogee. The hill to Clovelly is just a step too far as we discovered yesterday.

Friday 29th Spit Bridge to Manly. 11.1 miles

Three buses to Spit, a long walk. A ferry from Manly to Circular Quay and two buses home.

Saturday 30th Paddington and Clovelly Beach. 6 miles

A day walking around Paddington Markets and the town, followed by a walk to the beach and back for sunset.

Sunday 31st The Blue Mountains. 8.6 miles

A 90 minute drive away.

Monday 1st September Manley. 6.8 miles

A bus, ferry, walk, ferry and a walk to the bus home.

Tuesday 2nd Sydney Harbour Bridge. 5.4 miles

A bus and a walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a walk to Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden. Ferry back into the City and a bus to sons, then a walk home from the pub.

Wednesday 3rd 

Bus to Bondi Junction for some shopping and lunch, bus to Bronte Beach, walk to Clovelly. 5.9 miles

I'm promoting my fundraising as we go for Bowel Research in memory of Stephanie.