Sunset Way Tourist Drive
Take the road less travelled, through a string of tiny country towns along Queensland’s Sunset Way Tourist Drive.
Some are furry, some feathered and sometimes they fly. Tick off the top 5 ‘wild things’ in Southern Queensland Country!
Some are furry, some feathered and sometimes they fly.
Tick off the top 5 ‘wild things’ in Southern Queensland Country!
1. Wallabies in the Bunya Mountains
Pardon the pun but you’re bound to see wallabies (red-necked pademelons) at the beautiful Bunya Mountains. In fact we’re on a quest to make sure Wallaby Selfies overtake Rottnest Island’s Quokka selfie craze - so get snapping and tag your shots #sqcountry
Top tip: Best times are dawn and dusk (watch out for the furry critters on the road as soon as the sun starts going down but you can see wallabies around Dandabah Village and in the National Park any time of the day).
2. Koalas in Crows Nest
Image credit: Tweeters Country Getaway
They can be hard to spot but keep your eyes peeled for sleepy koalas in the treetops while you’re walking the trails in Crows Nest National Park.
3. Fireflies in the Bunya Mountains & Toowoomba
Image credit: The Economist
You might find these illusive iridescent creatures - which are actually winged beetles - buzzing around the night skies in Bunya Mountains National Park or in Toowoomba's Redwood Park.
Top tip: Just on dusk in September is the best chance of seeing fireflies in Toowoomba, while October is the best month for the Bunya Mountains.
4. Albert's Lyrebird in Killarney rainforest
Perhaps the most timid and hard to find of all of the birds in Southern Queensland Country, you’ll only see and hear the magnificent mating calls of this gorgeous creature for a very short window in winter (mid-July to mid-August).
Its distribution is the most limited of all Australian birds and it’s only found in the rainforests around the border of far south-east Queensland and far north-east NSW.
Males are the ‘prettiest’ of the species; their spectacular tail features two long, dark brown ribbon-like plumes and six pairs of long, black-brown fine and luxuriant filamentary feathers which they display in an attempt to win a mate.
Top tip: For the best chance of catching a glimpse of the Albert's Lyrebird, head out pre-dawn with Killarney Lyrebird Experience guide Anna on her private property rainforest sanctuary.
5. Emus in Western Country
Image credit: Experience Oz
You’ll encounter these large native flightless birds (they can grow to almost 2 metres tall!) almost everywhere in our Western Country...sometimes in the middle of towns, sometimes crossing the roads, and most likely in the bush in places like Nindigully and St George.
Top Tip: Take care on our Western Country roads as Emus can run at a speed of up to 50 km/hr and may cross a road in a mob or singularly before you realise it!
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