Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park

On our recent two-week jaunt through Australia and New Zealand we saw and experienced some amazing things, but I think the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park was one of my favorite stops. I actually initially found Kangaroo Island because I was googling where I can hold a koala. I know, I know, cliche, but I've always wanted to hold one! I should add in a note here that I am quite passionate about ethical eco/animal tourism. I didn't want to give my business to a place that would mistreat animals in any way. Fortunately, I found Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park!

You can't book your koala holding ahead of time, so we headed to the park bright and early! It's a first-come, first-served system and is completely dependent on the koala's health and happiness. That means if a koala is sick or it's too hot out for the koala, they would cancel your holding and refund your money. I LOVE that mentality. At no point did I want to force a poor, tired koala to be held when it was far too hot out for them. Fortunately, we booked the first koala holding which meant the heat of the day had not yet hit! More on that later.

When we pulled up to the park there were very few cars in the parking lot - likely because of the early hour. We made our way into the park and were greeted with a cheerful g'day! As we were buying our tickets, the clerk gave us a little bag and said "Here's some food for the kangaroos and wallabees. You can just let yourselves on it when your ready." I knew there was a chance to feed koalas and wallabees, but I just assumed that was a paid experience. NOPE. It was included in our ticket! This was seriously awesome! You literally could just open the gate and let yourself in to pet, feed and hang out with these amazing animals. No supervision or anything! It was a crazy experience and so so so so fun!!

They also had periodic talks featuring different animals - koalas, dingoes, birds etc.  These talks were awesome, informative and sometimes interactive. The koala talk let you come into their pen and pet them while they relaxed on their trees. There were rules on how to pet them and certain ones that didn't enjoy being touched. I liked that they respected the animals while engaging the tourists.

Alright, back to the big event - Alfie!! AKA my new koala best friend. The caretaker gave me a few tips, handed me some tasty leaves and then it was time. I held Alfie like you would a baby and it was the best few minutes ever! He was so snuggly and chill and just adorable. As long as he had some tasty leaves to munch on, he really didn't seem to mind hanging out with me.

All in all, my experience at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park was incredible. 10/10 would recommend and visit again. If you'd like some unique and exciting adventures in your life, check out my website at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.