Wildlife

big cassowary mission beach
In tropical Queensland, especially in the area around Mission Beach, it is possible to see one of the most unique and intriguing birds. They are big, flightless, and somewhat resemble a dinosaur. This is the cassowary, a protected species of bird with a bright blue neck and a red wattle. It was my favorite Australian bird until I discovered the […]

Australia’s Big Things: The Big Cassowary in Mission Beach

 in Wildlife  tagged Australian Big things / bigthings-guide / cassowary / Mission Beach / Wildlife
A day with Rockingham Wild Encounters. There are several places in the world where you can get in the water with the sleek creature, but where can you go and get up close and personal with a wild dolphin? You know, the ones that aren’t there just for a tourist attraction, or the ones that aren’t fed on a regular […]

Why Swimming With Wild Dolphins Rocks

 in Wildlife  tagged Dolphin Watching / Planning a Trip / Rockingham Wild Encounters / swim with dolphins / wild dolphins / Wildlife / wildlife-guide
st. andrews cross
Warning: The images in this post might frighten you, but it is always good to know what you may encounter on your Aussie adventures. Don’t let this influence your decision to catch a flight to Australia! When it comes to gigantic, monster spiders in Australia, there are a few that I can handle better than others. One is the St. […]

The St. Andrew’s Cross Spider

 in Wildlife  tagged Wildlife / wildlife-guide
quokka sitting
Australia has brought out the animal lover in me and bumped it up to another level. There certainly are some cool native animals in Australia, and even though my all-time favorite is probably still the rock wallaby, I recently ran into the quokka over on Rottnest Island and cuteness overload! The quokka is a small member of the marsupial family […]

An Ode to the Quokka

 in Wildlife  tagged quokka / Rottnest Island / Wildlife / wildlife-guide
Move over cassowary; I’ve got a new favorite Australian bird these days (I know that sounds weird, but it’s true). While the cassowary definitely reminds me of a dinosaur, the lyrebird can remind me of just about anything: a kookaburra, a camera, a car alarm or even a chainsaw! To understand exactly what I’m talking about, I suggest you watch […]

Is That a Bird or a Chainsaw? Why the Australian ...

 in Wildlife  tagged australian birds / birds / cassowary / kookaburras / lyrebirds / video / Wildlife / wildlife-guide
Australia is known for a lot of things – its wildlife, its beaches and its language – but, it is also unfortunately known for its long list of things that might freak a person out, or just plain give them the heebie-jeebies. Yes, these wonderful creepy crawlies are found across the country and are often on many travelers’ “beware of […]

10 Things in Australia That Will Make Your Skin Crawl

 in Wildlife  tagged box jellyfish / cane toad / cockroaches / creepy crawlies / flying fox / Planning a Trip / sydney funnel web / taipan / Wildlife / wildlife-guide
Where I come from back in America, we have cute little birds that don’t do much besides the typical cheep-cheep singing that you might picture in Snow White. They aren’t very big, and you probably won’t have any issues with them unless you happen to park your car underneath the wrong tree. Australia’s birds, on the other hand, are a […]

Birds of NSW – Beautiful, Gigantic, Unique & Annoying

 in Wildlife  tagged birds / cockatoos / ibis / kookaburras / lorikeets / New South Wales / NSW / pelicans / Planning a Trip / Wildlife / wildlife-guide