We love staying near the broadwater on the Gold Coast. The broadwater is located at the Northern end of the Gold Coast and is a tidal strip of water inside “The Spit” and South Stadbroke Island. It is not as busy as the Surfers Paradise part of the coast and is only about 8km to the North. You can read more about it in my blog.
If you are around this area, it is just a short distance to a special location at Coombabah just 6 km on from the center of the brodawater area. There are Kangaroos and Koalas living in the wild in an area at Coombabah which is only about 15 km from Surfers Paradise. You might make a day of visiting the quieter end of the Gold Coast and Coombabah.
I am going to include google maps links that will hopefully make it easier to find the right locations.
The Kangaroos
They can be found on Shelter Rd, Arundel QLD 4216.
Google maps link.
Kangaroos are usually everywhere on the opposite side of the road to the airport.
At the time of writing this blog, the area is open from 6 am to 6 pm with no entry charges.
We’ve been here a few times, and there is always a large mob of Kangaroos. We have seen Mothers with their Joeys here as well.
For safety, I suggest keeping a reasonable distance from the male Kangaroos but they don’t seem to scare some tourists who think they can pat them. For the most part they just ignore people and you can walk past them very close as they don’t have much fear of people. This trust is nurtured by any good behaviour of people. Remember they are wild animals. On one of our visits, we even saw a Wedding happening in the middle of the mob of Kangaroos.
The Koalas
You walk from Shelter Road at the “Koala Trail” marker on the map for about 550 meters. Koalas are usually in the trees around this spot or a little bit further on. Here is the walking trail route to the Koalas (past the kangaroos usually). You have to look for them, but we have seen them on our last three visits. You might see a small group of people looking up into the trees pointing. That usually means someone has spotted one.
Maybe see a plane or two
The airport often has interesting aircraft taking off and landing. See the ‘Pitts Special’ and WWII aircraft photo. I think it is a “Havard”. Please send comments if I am incorrect and I will update the blog.
Melalueca Boardwalk
“Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area“
There is a nice walk of approx 1 km looping back to the car park here. As you walk into the area you come across the boardwalk surrounded by Melalueca trees, often known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees. The scenery is beautiful and you might get a great photo in the late afternoon when the sun filters through the trees.
Coombabah Lake
I found this spot to be pretty good for taking a few photos of bird life on the lake. There is a bird hide here so you can watch the birds without disturbing them.
I hope you enjoy this area if get to visit. It is worth a visit and you might see some extra birds and animals as well.