Track: Mostly level trail. Some minor inclines.
Fitness: Average
Time: Allow 35 mins
The kangaroo is Australia's most iconic marsupial and most of our international tourists can't wait to see one in the wild. If you're hoping to spot one while staying at Oldbury Cottage, there's a short morning walk you must do.
Just south of the cottage, a couple of open fields near Australia Street are home to a large mob of Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Most mornings you're almost guaranteed to see them grazing quietly, while keeping a very close eye on you.
Where To Go
Start by leaving the cottage from the pedestrian gate beside the sandstone cottage in the rear courtyard.
Turn left and walk up the hill on the track known as Stockade Street - an old unformed road. You'll shortly reach a gate. Go through the gate (please close it behind you), turn right, and then head down the hill on Nicholson Street (another unformed road).
At the bottom of the hill, you'll reach Burwan Street, where you should turn left. Continue along the roadway for approximately 20 metres until you reach the last private driveway, veer right across the small grassy brook, then continue walking south along the grassed area (the unformed part of Burwan Street).
From this point, walk straight ahead (up the gentle slope) which will return you to the next formed part of the road. Keep walking straight ahead through the bush section. Shortly, you'll reach the intersection of Odessa and Burwan Streets, which looks like this.
Continue straight ahead until your reach the below intersection.
The field to the left and the field to the right is where you will see our resident roos.
Eastern grey kangaroos are frequently seen in either of these fields, or travelling between the two. If you don't see any, stand very still and watch for a while. You could be looking at 30 kangaroos and completely miss them, so effective is their camouflage when they're sitting still.
The best advice is to walk straight ahead, turn right at Australia Street, and complete a loop around the block, returning to the above intersection via Odessa Street (off the Old Hume Highway).
Some of the sights along the way
Eastern Grey Kangaroos
Eastern grey kangaroos are found in eastern and southern Australia and are quite large. Adult males can weigh between 50 and 66 kgs and are more muscular than Red Kangaroos and can stand almost 2 metres tall - just look at the male at the top of this blog post! Females usually weigh in at 17 to 40 kgs.
Like most kangaroos, they're mostly nocturnal but remain active around dawn and dusk. That said, our resident Australia Street mob are typically still visible throughout the morning.
Eastern grey kangaroos are outgoing and form open-membership groups. These groups typically comprise 2-3 females and their joeys, with the similar number of males - one of which is dominant.
Although these kangaroos enjoy the safety of the large open fields during the day, they range large distances at night and sometimes come right up to our land adjacent land beside the cottage. Please don't feed them if they approach.
Females reproduce during summer so there are almost always joeys visible amongst the pack throughout the warmer months.
More Reading