Whenever I have international visitors staying in Adelaide and the weather is nice, my favourite place to take them is Gorge Wildlife Park. It is on of those “quintessential Australian” things to do (spoiler alert: think feeding Kangaroos and holding Koalas!). Whilst I despise the generalisations put on Aussie’s in regards to Kangaroos and Koalas – no, I don’t have one as a pet haha – I do love coming here!
Gorge Wildlife Park is located about 45 minutes North-East of Adelaide in the suburb of Cudlee Creek – very fitting name! Given that it’s not that far, it’s definitely easy to drive in a day, it just has windy roads that wouldn’t be nice to be navigating in winter – but I would avoid the Park in winter anyway – March or April/September or October would be my top picks on when to visit due to the nice weather. There are also buses that run between the Gorge and the city, but it’s much nicer to drive it yourself!
At the time of posting, entry into the Park was $17 for Adults and $10 for children under 15 years old – Australian dollars that is 😉
KOALA CUDDLES
When you purchase your ticket to get in, you also receive one pass to cuddle a Koala per ticket purchased. Obviously dependant on the weather, there are usually 3 Koala sessions a day.
Now, whilst the Gorge are willing to let you hold these guys, you need to remember that they are animals, so any instructions given by their handlers must be followed – not just for your safety, but the Koalas too.
ANIMAL FEEDING
Whilst I love being able to hold the Koalas, my favourite park of the Gorge is having the chance to feed all of the roaming animals. When purchasing your tickets, you can also buy a bag of animal snacks to use to feed them – we found that one bag is enough for two people by far!
If you’re planning on doing this, aim to arrive at the Park early, as the animals tend to get fed by the park workers around 11am-midday-ish. If you do get there earlier before they’ve been fed, you’ll make a lot of furry friends – the Kangaroos especially will love you!
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- They got a little enthusiastic
Cute pictures aside, the Gorge is one of my favourite places to take visitors to Adelaide and should be right up there for you when planning a trip!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you visited the Gorge Wildlife Park before? What was your favourite animal to meet?
Very cool Cassie! We visited a sanctuary very similar to this one while we were in Brisbane earlier this year! We loved you country so much, but unfortunately couldn’t make it all the way to Adelaide… but we came close! We did the epic Great Ocean Drive road trip. Oh well, it gives us another reason to come back!
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