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Dubbo New South Wales Australia

White Rhinoceros

Dubbo New South Wales

Located in the central west of New South Wales, Dubbo was our first main stop during our road trip. A five hour car trip from Sydney, or a three and a half hour trip from our home in Singleton, stops along the way are needed. The first European settlement was established in 1828, but aboriginal history dates back over 40,000 years.

With so many attractions to visit in the area, we planned a two day stay here, to see as much as we could, without rushing.

Attractions

Dubbo Visitors Information Centre

Our first visit was the Visitors Information Centre, so that we could get a map of a street walk of historical buildings in town. Only available here, it was also a good chance to see if anything else was happening in town, that had not been mentioned online.

Outside the visitor centre is an information board detailing the dwarf planet Pluto. This forms part of a giant solar system model, centred on the Siding Springs Observatory in Coonabarabran. We passed the position of Neptune at Dunedoo.

Outside the centre is a medicinal garden growing plats that the Wiradjuri People used. An information board describes the uses of the plants.

Town Centre

Following the Dubbo Heritage Trail, we got from the Visitor Information Centre, we found some nice old buildings spread through the centre of town. With 37 buildings and locations, there is a lot to see, but we decided to only find ones that interested us.

Of interest was the old post office, which was designed by the famous architect James Barnet. Another great building was the Old Bank, which is now a pub and restaurant, where we had dinner.

Street Art

Spread all over town, is a variety of street art and sculptures. We noticed them while driving around, but were not aware how many there were.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo

Taronga Western Plains Zoo is the most popular tourist attraction in the Dubbo area because of its collection of endangered animals in an open range setting. To view all of the exhibits, we spent a full day at the zoo, walking between enclosures. Your entrance ticket is valid over two days, so you can return the next day if you want to see more. To read our full blog about our visit, click on the link above.

Black Rhinoceros  Dubbo
Black Rhinoceros

Old Dubbo Gaol

Old Dubbo Gaol is one of the locations on the heritage trail and is a popular attraction for many tourists. Maintained in excellent condition and easy to access from the centre of town, it’s a fun place to visit and learn about the gaol’s past. The buildings are all close together, so a visit here only took us an hour. The blog of our visit can be found here.

Male Prison Building at Old Dubbo Gaol
Male Prison Building

Dubbo Regional Botanic Garden

If you like Japanese gardens, you will love this one. Rated one of the best in Australia, the Shoyoen garden is beautiful to walk around and very relaxing. The other section of the Regional Botanic Garden display’s local flora, so if you want to see some without bushwalking, this is a great place to visit. Our full blog can be found here.

 Dubbo Japanese Gardens Dubbo
Japanese Gardens

Old Bank

The Old Bank Restaurant and Bar is, as the name suggests a converted bank. Bookings are essential, as we were lucky to get a table when we arrived. To read our blog on the Old Bank, click here.

Main Meal Lamb Rump
Main Meal Lamb Rump

Western Plains Cultural Centre

The Western Plains Cultural Centre is a combined museum and art gallery, showcasing local talent and history. From high school students’ art, international artists, aboriginal artefacts, and old horse drawn carriages, there is something here for everyone.

Dubbo Wilkins Kennedy and Spence Coach Builders Buggy Dubbo
Wilkins Kennedy and Spence Coach Builders Buggy

Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor Centre

The RFDS Visitor Centre is a new, state of the art museum which details the RFDS history. Not only does it have old equipment and two aircraft on display but uses large screens and interactive video to tell its story. We enjoyed our visit and spent longer than we had originally anticipated because it had so much to offer.

 Dubbo de Havilland Fox Moth VH-UQM Replica
de Havilland Fox Moth VH-UQM Replica

War Memorials

As with most towns across Australia, a war memorial commemorates those who were killed fighting for their country. Dubbo is no exception, but’s its Shrine of Remembrance is huge and surrounded by several other memorials. One of these is in memory of a local pilot who earned the Victoria Cross flying a bomber during World War Two. Although he was killed, he saved the lives of five others onboard, while flying the plane home despite being severely wounded.

Macquarie River and Emile Serisier Bridge

Located near the Visitor Centre, the Emile Serisier Bridge caught our attention because of its solid steel work construction. It spans the Macquarie River, so while looking at the bridge, we had a look at the river too.

A better view is available on the opposite side of the river, where you can walk under the structure.

Dubbo Observatory

We booked tickets ahead if time for the observatory, opting for the 10:30PM to 12:30AM visit. This allows visitors to use their own cameras on the telescopes to take photos. Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy so our session was cancelled(with a full refund), so next time we are in Dubbo we will try again.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo

Sumatran Tiger

Taronga Western Plains Zoo

Located near Dubbo in the central west of New South Wales, Taronga Western Plains Zoo is one of Australia’s premier zoos. The zoo is home to over 5,000 animals from over 350 species, many of them rare and endangered. Taronga is part of an international breeding and conservation program to ensure these animals survival.

Getting Around Taronga Western Plains Zoo

Being an open range zoo allows the animals to move freely, which is spread out over a huge area. The circuit road is five kilometres long, with numerous sidetracks showing various exhibits adding many kilometres. We managed to walk over 14km during our visit.

If you don’t feel like, or are unable to walk around the zoo, there are option including drive your own car, hire a bike or golf cart. Each of these has its own appeal, depending on your circumstances and the weather.

Refreshments

Food and drinks are available at the entrance where the Zoo Café and Bar is located, or at the halfway point at the Waterhole. We ate at the Waterhole because it was four hours into our visit and near lunch time.

The tables at the Waterhole are next to cages with meerkats. This is nice, because you can eat while watching them play. If you have children, this area has a small water park and play equipment, allowing them to play while you relax.

Throughout the park are several vending machines and water refill stations, which is great for that quick snack.

If you bring you own food, picnic areas are available, so you to eat surrounded by animals.

The Animals of Taronga Western Plains Zoo

With so many animals to see don’t rush, take your time. This way you will have a great visit while seeing lots of different animals.

Cheetah

We were lucky at the cheetah enclosure because they had just been fed. They were playing a game of tug with a piece of food, even though there was another piece lying nearby.

Lion

Sumatran Tiger

More tigers are located in Taronga’s Sydney Zoo, but this one looked very relaxed by itself. Taronga is proud to be part of a regional conservation management plan for Sumatran Tigers including breeding, research, fundraising and community action to support sustainably produced palm oil, which we all know has ruined the tigers natural habitat.

Rhinoceros

The zoo has three species of rhino on display. Each has its own large enclosure, where you can view them. It was great to see all three species, especially the critically endangered black rhino.

Black Rhinoceros

The black rhinoceros is classified as critically endangered, due to hunting and habitat loss.

Southern White Rhinoceros

The Southern white rhinoceros is the most abundant of the rhino sub-species, with around 20,000 living mostly in South Africa.

Greater One Horned Rhinoceros

The greater one-horned rhinoceros is native to the Indian subcontinent, and is listed as vulnerable, with under 4,000 animals globally.

Camels

Hippopotamus

The hippos were active while we visited, munching grass while slowly walking around.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Giraffe Herd

Seeing a herd of giraffes was great, as they acted like a family group[ with adults and calves moving together.

Ostrich

Ostrich Taronga Western Plains Zoo
Ostrich

Emu

Two enclosures hold emus, including the walk around Australian section, where you can get up close to one. If you would rather see them from a distance, a large enclosure nearby has a flock of them walking around.

Swamp Wallaby

Banteng

Addax

Eland

Bongo

These vividly striped animals were eating breakfast, so we were able to see them up close.

Takhi / Przewalksi’s Horse

Taronga Western Plains Zoo holds a large herd of Takhi or Przewalksi’s Horse. The story of the Takhi is told on information boards, inside building resembling Yurts, because the horses come from Mongolia.

Persian Onager

White Handed Gibbon

Meerkats

Always fun to watch, the meerkats put on a fun display, chasing each other and play fighting. There are two meerkat displays, one near the entrance and a second at the Watering Hole Café.

Otters

Sunning themselves on the grass, the family of otters were sleepy but curious about the people looking at them. Several are staring at the camera while the photo was taken.

African Wild Dog

Galapagos Turtle

The last exhibit before you exit the park is the Galapagos turtles, what a great sight they are. We have seen them on TV shows, but to see them up close really lets you grasp how large they are. They are also very old, with the male around 50 and the female over 100 years old.

Look at the exhibit behind the turtles, because there are several young ones there, around five to seven years old when we visited.

Interesting Statues, Sculptures and Buildings at Taronga Western Plains Zoo

What Did We Think?

Taronga Western Plains Zoo is a great place to visit, not just for the animals you see, but because of the understanding you get about how fragile their existence is. On your trip around the zoo, you learn about their endangered environments. At the same time it is enjoyable and kids have great fun here.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

Our photos are available for purchase on

Hunter Valley Zoo

Lion Hunter Valley Zoo www.destinationsjourney.com

Getting There

The Hunter Valley Zoo is located in the vineyards near Cessnock New South Wales. There is a small car park near the entrance as well as parking on the road outside.

Although a small zoo, it has a wide range of animals ranging from native Australian to lions, cheetahs, meerkats birds and reptiles. If you are local or an international visitor it’s a fantastic place to visit.

The staff were all friendly helpful, letting us know what was available to see and when various displays were happening. A map of the zoo is included in the entry fee, to help find your way around.

Food

There is a good variety of food and drinks available inside the admission building. A spacious grassed area is available for visitors to use, and has a free gas BBQ.  Families are encouraged to being eskies and have a picnic in this outside area.

Feeding the Animals at Hunter Valley Zoo

The admission building sells animal food so that kids and adults can feed animals. Staff will tell you which animals can be fed, but generally it was any enclosures that you could enter.

There is a petting zoo where visitors can get up close to some animals and feed and pat them. Animals here ranged from kangaroos and deer to farm animals.

Getting Around the Zoo

All tracks at the Hunter Valley Zoo are dirt and grass and constructed to make them wheel chair friendly. As it’s not very big, getting around is very easy.

All enclosures have steps for the kids to stand on to see animals better. This is a great idea, even for shorter adults.

During the day there are scheduled shows for different animals. These are great as they give an inside into the animals and there needs.

Koala Hunter Valley Zoo www.destinationsjourney.com
Koala
Cheetah Hunter Valley Zoo www.destinationsjourney.com
Cheetah
Lion Hunter Valley Zoo www.destinationsjourney.com
Lion
Ostrich Hunter Valley Zoo www.destinationsjourney.com
Ostrich
 albino kangaroo hunter valley zoo www.destinationsjourney.com height=
Albino Kangaroo

Animal Encounters

The zoo offers encounters with the meerkats and some of the smaller monkeys. For a fee, you get access to the enclosure with a guide for twenty minutes. Participation is limited to groups of four. We went into the meerkat enclosure and had a great time. They climbed all over us, ate from our hands and even perched on top of our heads. If you can afford it, we highly recommend the experience.

Meerkat Encounter Hunter Valley Zoo www.destinationsjourney.com
Meerkat Encounter
 meerkat encounter hunter valley zoo www.destinationsjourney.com height=
A Meerkat on Lookout Duty

Other Facilities

The toilets were clean with disabled access and change tables.

There is a good souvenir shop near the entrance.

The zoo is busier in school holidays as families take the opportunity to visit with their children.

To see what else there is to do in the Hunter Valley, please see some of our other stories.