Bendeela Recreation Area

Visited: Autumn

Recommendation: This is a must do in the area. Even if you are not camping, there are wombats around in daylight. I don't know of any other place where you are pretty much guaranteed to see them. The area is also great for birds with Rose Robins, Glossy Black-Cockatoo and owls to find. 

We booked to stay at the Bendeela Recreation Area primarily because it is close to Kangaroo Valley which we knew has a good population of wombats. It also helped that there is only a nominal admin fee to camp at Bendeela. It was a very big site run by NSW Water with space for up to 1000 campers, so we were unsure about what wildlife would be around. Turns out the campsite was a very well run set up with 3 big and distinct camping areas. We headed right for the back, which worked well as it was a no alcohol area and nice and quiet. The other areas were dominated with families and large groups. Possibly not a great time during peak season!

Bare-nosed Wombat (Vombatus ursinus)

We set up in a corner of the back area next to the bush and waited for the dark to fall, still not sure whether we would see any wombats. We didn't need to worry as there were wombats pretty much through the whole site. It was quite the experience. I had never seen one before and can confidently say, they are the weirdest animal I have so far seen in Australia (and in the world of Koala and Wallaroo, that is saying something). 

These were Bare-nosed Wombat and they look like a huge teddy bear that has come to life. They emerge from huge burrows (watch where you are walking here) at dusk and then spend the night grazing on the lush grass. Surprisingly, they coexist with humans quite nicely. If they receive too much attention, they simply disappear back down their burrow. Otherwise, they just ignore you and carry on eating. They were quite the most unusual and remarkable animal. We estimated that there were at least 30 animals in the campsite. 

It wasn't only wombats around at night. Eastern Grey Kangaroo came in to feed on the grass and Bush-tailed Possum scampered around. We didn't hear any birds though, until around 6am when the Southern Boobook let off a few mournful hoots. But the best part of the proceedings was that the wombat (we had been warned when we arrived), just love to use parked vehicles as scratching posts. Sure enough, we were woken 3 times in the night as these dense beasts rubbed themselves on the back corners of the campervan. It was quite surreal.  

Brush-tailed Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

As the sun rose above the trees and lit up the campsite, the bush near to us was a hive of activity. We counted nearly 30 species just sitting in the van, either flying around or feeding on the plants. The best being a family of Rose Robin, which weren't terribly co-operative but I eventually got some shots of a young male. 

Whilst chasing the robin, I was able to snap one of the dozens of Silvereye that were feeding on the flowering plants. A young Grey Shrikethrush was learning its repertoire of calls and even the Yellow Thornbill were singing away. Overhead flew corella, black cockatoo and lots of currawong. It was a very noisy morning.