Healesville & Puffing Billy Day Trip

Trip Itinerary

Healesville Sanctuary is located in the heart of beautiful Yarra Valley and is one of the best places in the world to see Australian wildlife in their natural habitat. The Sanctuary covers 70 acres of bushland and is home to koalas, kangaroos, wombats, emus, dingoes, bird of prey and platypuses! It’s the ideal place to get upclose and personal with these beautiful animals and learn more about Aussie fauna.

We discover Australia’s majestic birds of prey and colourful parrot species in the Spirits of the Sky show, a spectacular flight presentation. You might even get the chance to compare your arm length with the wing-span of a Wedge-tailed Eagle and meet a Peregrine Falcon, the world’s fastest animal, which can reach speeds of more than 300km/h! We then visit the Wildlife Hospital, a working veterinary hospital which treats over 1500 sick, injured or orphaned animals each year. The expert team will happily share insights of animal rescue, rehabilitation and their release.

Time to take a train ride! We board Puffing Billy, a century old steam train which back in the 1900s was used to serve the local farming and timber community. The train stopped running in 1953 after a landslide blocked the line and is now open to the public! A ride on Puffing Billy will take you through stunning forests and gullies of the Dandenong Ranges. You can dangle your legs over the sides of the carriages whilst cruising the original track, it’s even more fun this way!

Our Healesville Sanctuary day trip departs from Melbourne every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday!