Healesville Sanctuary

In the forested Yarra Valley an hour from Melbourne, Healesville Sanctuary has specialised in Australian native animals for more than a century, its bushland enclosures set among towering mountain ash and fern gullies. Platypus glide in a purpose-built stream, dingoes and Tasmanian devils pace their runs, and the free-flight birds-of-prey show sends wedge-tailed eagles wheeling low over the crowd. The sanctuary's wildlife hospital treats thousands of injured animals a year, much of the work visible to visitors. Walking the shaded paths feels less like a zoo than a stroll through the bush with the animals brought close. It is among the best places in the country to meet the native fauna.