Hey you little traveller! Let’s talk eco travel, shall we?
One of my new year’s resolutions this year is to explore somewhere new each month even when I’m not travelling. I always feel so blessed living here on the East Coast of Australia where choices of accessible road trip routes and beautiful destinations to be explored are endless. Even now that I’ve lived here for over twelves years, I still feel like a traveller in my own ‘backyard’ with a bucket list of places to see all within a few hours’ drive from my home base.
So when I spotted this awesome ‘adults @ kids’ prices’ deal for Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast from Shop A Docket coupon site (valid for the weekends too!), I jumped right at the chance to spend a leisurely Sunday hanging with ‘roos.
Before visiting I did some reading about Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on their eco and community initiatives. I’ve read a lot about animal cruelty and the shocking truth behind how animals such as elephants and tigers are being treated at ‘touristy shows’. These days if I smell any sense of dodginess about the ethics of a touristy site that involve animals, I simply walk the other way without a second thought. Becuase there are a whole lot of splendid animal encounter experiences that we can take part of in the most non-intrusive way for cruelty-free memories (such as this turtle hatchlings experience at Mon Repos Beach in Bundaberg).
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has got my ticks of approval as an eco travel experience. It’s often being mistaken as a zoo, but in fact it’s an animal sanctuary operated to support its purpose, which are wildlife education, conservation and research. On thing that makes them very special is that within the Sanctuary is where the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital is housed. What a great feeling knowing that the every dollar you spend at the Sanctuary goes towards funding the hospital that admits over 8,000 native animal patients a year brought in by the community (tip: pay a visit to the Wildlife Hospital to get a bird’s eye view of their vets at work).
Here’s my photographic journey through the Sanctuary with all their creepy crawly residents (plus a few sleepy heads):
Had your green soul calling?
Here I’m sharing my top 6 things to do at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary to make the most out of your little excursion!
1 ♠ Climb up to the Blink Bill Treehouse that looks like a set straight from your childhood favourite storybook!
2 ♠ Snap a selfie with a Short-Beaked Echidna (at extra cost). The chance to get up close with this gentle yet spiky mammal isn’t commonly available elsewhere – no doubt it’ll be a holiday selfie that makes your Insty friends insanely jelly…
3 ♠ Visit the onsite Currumbin Wildlife Hospital. If you’re lucky to be there while an operation is on, you can even watch the procedure from a surgeon’s eye view on the big screen, shot by a camera mounted on the surgical light!
4 ♠ Experience the liveliest day of the week at the Sanctuary Market that is on every Friday from 4pm to 9pm. Think mouth-watering street food, hard-to-find art & craft and live entertainment by local artists. Did someone say chilled craft beers from Burleigh Brewing too? #Hmm…
5 ♠ Free flight bird show at 10:45am every day for your close encounter with Australia’s beautiful bird species including pelicans, parrots and the majestic wedge-tailed eagle. Make sure you hang around to have your photos taken with these birds of prey at the end of the show.
6 ♠ You absolutely can’t miss feeding a rainbow lorikeet (which is their Insta-famous star)! By close I meant really close like having one resting right on your head (or where they can find their favourite snacks). Lorikeets are curious birds who love showing off their vividly-coloured feathers.
So tell me dear fellow eco travellers, have you ever visited the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary? Are you a massive animal lover? Do you travel for animal encounter experiences? What are some of the most mesmerising eco travel moments you’ve ever had? Would love to chat! Let’s start the conversation here.
Until next time. Stay adventurous.
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Disclaimer: this post was written in collaboration with Shop A Docket while all opinions are genuinely my own.
I missed Australia so bad. I lived there before I move to London. and funny enough during my six year I didn’t get a chance to visit the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, it looks like an amazing place. And i love the fact that they are so aware of the animal cruelty issue. I stopped going to zoos and animal shows long ago, and i’m so glad I made the choice. Even happier now because there’s a place for animals to support the purpose. thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Tiffany! I have to say I feel pretty blessed to live in Queensland to be able to get to so many natural habitats of some truly amazing wildlife. You definitely have to come this way if you ever head down under again! Did you make it to any other spots in Queensland or Gold Coast? Next of my wanderlust list for wildlife observing is Costa Rica and their baby sloth sanctuary – they’re simply heart-meltingly adorable!