Feeding Wallabies at Featherdale
Featherdale Wildlife Park is a great, low-key Australian animal park located in Sydney’s west. It’s surprising to find out that many Sydneysiders don’t even know about it while others haven’t been since their school days.
Best accessible by car, Featherdale provides an enjoyable day out for the entire family and overseas visitors. It’s also reasonably priced especially if you’re lucky enough have a Shop-A-Docket’s 2-for-1 voucher. Kids under 3 get in for free.
The park has plenty to see and do and there are nice picnic areas so if you want to take advantage of all activities, plan a whole day there. If you can’t get there at the opening time and you’re driving, don’t bother going into Featherdale’s small carpark, but find street parking nearby. The park is well sign posted from Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
There are lot of animals to check out and the collection of Australian birds is extensive. Kids will enjoy feeding wallabies and kangaroos and patting koalas. The park serves as a great introduction for toddlers to our native animals.
Other animals can be enjoyed from the safety of a barrier or glass – you’ll find emus, pelicans, wombats, echidnas, turtles, a crocodile, and various reptiles just to name a few. There are also albino kangaroos which I didn’t even know existed! Watching a turtle swim underwater is particularly fascinating – its body glides around gracefully as the mesmerised crowd stands without moving a muscle.
Great collection of Australia Birds
When hunger strikes, head to the onsite café or even better, grab a picnic table and enjoy your own packed goodies. It’s a good to grab a table early or if your group is small, share one with other guests. Barbecues are also available.
At the back of the park there’s the Farmyard section, another interactive section of the park. Children’s shrieks of laughter can be heard from far as they chase geese and chickens around!
Try and come at feeding time as you can help feed the pigs or give a bottle to the cute lambs. Be wary of the hungry goat though which may sniff around your pram for food! Also, be prepared to spend some time here as it’s hard to encourage the kids to move on.
If you manage to move on, ensure you visit the entire park. It’s definitely worth it and the kids will talk about it for months.
See their website for further information – www.featherdale.com.au
The above post is courtesy of Magda Biniaszewski, a freelance writer based in Sydney. She enjoys weekends away, with or without toddlers in tow.
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