gumbuya park

The reluctance of Victoria's kangaroo population to permit my wife and I to glimpse them in the wild brought us, at a friend's suggestion, to Gumbuya Park; about one hour's drive south of Melbourne. Here, you are absolutely, 100% guaranteed to be able to not only see several mobs of kangaroos, but also to have them feeding from your hand (the park shop sells bags of animal feed)! The park features examples of many forms of indigenous wildlife and our trip around the aviary had us splitting our sides with laughter at the cheeky white cockatoo who shouts out "Come over here!" to visitors, who cannot resist offering him food in return (so that's his motivation!).Avoid the emus and don't try to feed them - they are vicious! A lovely place to visit. Another 'box ticked' on our trip (OK, so maybe we cheated a little :-) ).

As the park's brochure says this really is 'A great place for a day out for the whole family'. In a large, tranquil park setting the park offers rides such as toboggans, paddle boats, go karts & water slides for the active, bird aviaries & native animals for the nature lovers, numerous bbq & picnic areas amongst the gum trees for the foodies (and a café for essential ice creams etc!). The entry fee initially seemed expensive however we were there from 10am-5pm, could have stayed longer, & did not have to cue for more than a couple of minutes for rides - good value after all!