The Australian Reptile Park is a couple of hours drive from Sydney, up near Gosford. It's easy to reach as it is just off the Pacific Highway in Somersby. I decided to take a quick trip up there via the backpacker tour operator Surfing Kangaroo. The tour included the Australian Reptile Park and wine tasting in the Hunter Valley.

I'd last been to the Reptile Park when I was 8 years old and was surprised and pleased to see that extensive renovations had taken place. I was also very happy to finally see a platypus at the platypusery! Crocodiles were everywhere and I got to get my photo taken with a koala. (Something else I hadn't got around to doing)

After we got there and got our tickets we went down past the tortoises to the Koala sanctuary. Two baby Koalas were out and about and we got to line up and have our photo taken with them. It was great to see the Koalas up close and their fur felt really soft. I chatted to the park ranger for a while and found out that only the babies can be held. The older adults are quite dangerous so any Koalas you do get to meet will probably be up to a year old. The males are the worst and, as soon as they start moving about a bit more violently, its time for them to go back out into the wild. The reason why Koalas sleep for 20 out of 24 hours is because that is how long it takes them to process the toxins in eucalyptus leaves. (Which is why WE can't eat eucalyptus leaves)

Afterwards we had time to wander the park. I walked into a large crocodile mouth containing a vast array of lizards and snakes. I finally got to see some skinks as well as other creatures you may have seen in Yowie chocolate eggs.

Outside were crocodiles lazing in the water and kangaroos jumping about being fed. You may be lucky to get a brown bag with bread in it for the kangaroos when you enter.

It was feeding time so we got to see a lot of the animals before they headed back to their holes to sleep. The wombat was very cute but can give you a nasty nip if you get too close.

There were a number of places that I didn't have time to see but planned to come back another time anyway. I especially wanted to see what had happened to a giant dinosaur sculpture that I used to climb up when I was a kid. If you've been there recently and have a photo of the dinosaur, please tell us about it on the forum.

We had time for a quick coffee and biscuit before heading over to the spider sanctuary to see various types of dangerous spiders and tarantulas. Got to see funnel webs being milked - fascinating!

The best bit though was the platypusery where you can see a happy platypus swimming about. It is quite dark and so almost impossible to take a photo of him. So here's a video clip!

After the platypus and checking out the dingoes we headed to the gift shop and then the van. It was on to winetasting.

All the creatures looked happy, healthy and energetic in their environments so I'm sure the ARP is taking good care of them. Please visit and support the park. You may even get to see them milk funnel web spiders!
Next page - Hunter Valley Wine Tasting