Experiencing Australia's Wildlife (without going too far out of town!)

One of Australia’s main attractions is its remoteness. And one of the advantages of being so remote is having some of the most unique animal species on the Planet. But as many an international visitor quickly realises, kangaroos, koalas and wombats do not roam down the main street of every city and town in Australia. In fact, what becomes even more surprising to visitors is that many Australians have yet to meet their furry outback neighbours due to a large proportion of the human population living in coastal urban areas.

In Sustainable Australian Travel For Dummies, I list some of the great destinations for seeing wildlife in the flesh and in their natural habitat. These include the Daintree National Park in Tropical North Queensland; Kakadu National Park in the Top End of the Northern Territory and Kangaroo Island just of the southern Australian coast near Adelaide. But you don't necessarily have to travel long distances to see Australia's unique wildlife. You can witness these animals in as natural as setting as possible closer to some of the Australia's main cities and towns. I’m not talking about the many city-based zoos that exist but large wildlife parks and sanctuaries that have received Ecotourism Australia accreditation for their promotion of natural area tourism. Four of the most popular wildlife sanctuaries that are located close to some Australia's main cities and towns include:

* Walkabout Creek Wildlife Centre, Brisbane Forest Park, Brisbane. This place is part of Brisbane's huge urban bushland area which at its south-eastern entry is only 6km from the Brisbane CBD. You can find platypus, wombat, rainforest birds, reptiles and nocturnal marsupials residing naturally at Walkbout Creek.

* Healesville Sanctuary, 65km north-east of Melbourne, which is as healing for animals as it sounds. It is not only home to over 200 unique animal species, but is one of Australia's pre-eminent animal injury recovery centres. The importance of Healesville Sanctuary was highlighted in the aftermath of the recent Black Saturday bushfire disaster on Melbourne's northern outskirts, where it has saved the lives of many burnt and injured animals, especially echidna.

* Alice Springs Desert Park located on the outskirts of the Red Centre's main town. It brings all the dry outback flora and fauna you'd find if you travelled through the unforgiving Simpson Desert (where many an early explorer perished) to a more accessible natural area location.

* Phillip Island Nature Park, just off the Victorian coastline south of Melbourne. This is one of Australia's most popular nature parks and its not because of the stunning coastal views and pristine wetlands...it's the daily penguin parade ritual of course!