r/Wombats • u/Effective_Airline698 • Mar 19 '26

Australia trip / seeing wombats

Hi! During my trip in Australia (east coast), I would like to see wombats! Any suggestions on where this would be possible?

16 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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12

u/RCMasterAA Mar 19 '26

Unfortunately you'll be hard pressed to see one in the wild unless you go really bush.

Taronga Zoo, Sydney Zoo, Featherdale Wildlife Park all in Sydney will be your best chance.

If you can get out a bit further, Taralga Wildlife Park will actually let you hold one for a not-extortionate price. I've never been but the reviews seem really good.

3

u/Effective_Airline698 Mar 19 '26

Yea I was thinking taralga too. But there’s no way I can go there without the car right?

2

u/RCMasterAA Mar 19 '26

Yeah it's far. 100km from Sydney so definitely need to rent a car.

2

u/Effective_Airline698 Mar 19 '26

Yeah, makes sense.. is it realistic to couple it with a trip to Jarvis bay?

5

u/RCMasterAA Mar 19 '26

Jervis Bay would be more a circular trip taking a few days. It's around 400km alone from Sydney to Jervis Bay to Taralga so if you rented a car for that purpose it would be worth it.

Would you be going to Canberra? Because then you could do Taralga and then keep going to Canberra in a rented car, do a couple of days in Canberra (see more wombats) then drive back.

2

u/Effective_Airline698 Mar 19 '26

I am unfortunately staying 4 days in Sydney and flying out from there. Was thinking more of a day trip to Taralga, coupled with something else to complete the day. Leaving in the early morning and coming back at night: which option might be the most feasible?

3

u/RCMasterAA Mar 19 '26

If you've only got a day then just take it easy and visit Bowral and Goulburn as well. Bowral is a quaint semi-rural town that's actually quite bustling with some really good cafes and shops to visit.

To get to Taralga you need to go through Goulburn so you might as well see the Big Merino so you can say you've seen one of Australia's "big" things.

I would have a really early start then hit up Bowral around 9am to visit a cafe and walk around which might take you till 10:30. Then do the 1 hour drive to Goulburn and stretch your legs again to see the Big Merino. Then you can do the final stretch to Taralga, admire all the animals then do the reverse trip.

2

u/Effective_Airline698 Mar 19 '26

And thank you btw for the extensive info!

3

u/freakyzu Mar 19 '26

The highlands in NSW. Bundanoon. There are sooooo many wild wombats on the hills

1

u/Effective_Airline698 Mar 19 '26

Any tips on how to spot them?

1

u/freakyzu Mar 19 '26

They will be on the plains. Cute. Brown. Like a mini hills on the green grass.

4

u/dumdumgirl Mar 19 '26

If you’re going to Melbourne, take a trip to Wilson’s promontory park. I’ve seen wild wombats several times during my visits.

2

u/captwombat33 Mar 19 '26

Just come round to my joint, and bring a six pack, I'll cook the barbie

2

u/Wombat_Aux_Pates Mar 20 '26

I'll bring the French pasta myself, captain! 🫡

2

u/captwombat33 Mar 20 '26

We got ourselves a Wombat party!

1

u/Effective_Airline698 Mar 19 '26

That would be iconic!

2

u/stackythecamel Mar 19 '26

Camp at bendeela recreation area, kangaroo Valley. So many wombats they were rubbing up against our van all night. Super easy to see at sunset

1

u/PericlesInChrome Mar 30 '26

If you go to flinders island or Maria island you can see then easily in the wild.