Plan for Australia

Asking where to see wild animals is a lot different to asking posters to plan your trip for you.

What is "CS"?

Wombats are reasonably common to see in southern NSW, around Canbera, Braidwood. I do wonder how much in the wild you would need to be to see a devil in Tasmanina. I think it is Maria Island where this is efficiently possible.

Correct about the desert and timings. You could travel in September- October (spring in Tasmania). That should still be very good weather for desert around South Australia.

Thanks for replies.
CS is Couchsurfing.

I try to estimate the time needed for Tasmania.
You surprised me with Maria island. Examining the map I saw large national park areas in the west of of the island.

Generally I see that I should look for flights to Melbourne, because all animals I seek seems to congregate in the vincinity (Australia scale !).
Also - Tasmania is nearby.

if you can choose when to travel, i would consider going in september or october, which will be not as busy as december and january.

with 3 weeks, and especially travelling with a child, the main thing in my opinion is not to include too much. i dont think that you will have a good time if you have to move every day, or spend days in the car just driving.

i very like kangaroo island, and its great for animals. it has beautiful beaches and rock formations and is not very big. you can spend 2-3 days there and will see koala, kangaroos, wombats, pinguins and seals. also the drive from adelaide via the fleurieu peninsula to take the ferry in cape jervis is beautiful. we saw plenty of kangaroos and some wombats on the drive.

if you want to include the red centre, i would very much consider flying, and doing a 4-5 days tour to uluru, katja tjuta and kings canyon from/to alice springs.

Seeing koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils and emus in the wild, plus rock paintings is going to be hard to achieve in one 3-week trip. Just the fact that there are national parks does not mean that Tasmanian devils or wombats are going to appear in front of you. The only sure way to see these animals is in a zoo. I have lived and travelled in Australia all my life and have only once seen a koala in the wild. I fear your expectations are unrealistic.

On the Great Ocean Road near Cape Otway is probably the best place to see koalas. Maybe you could drive from Melbourne to Adelaide, then visit Kangaroo Island for other wildlife, followed by a flight to Alice Springs for a drive to Uluru - guaranteed to see kangaroos, emus and camels on that trip, plus rock paintings. That covers everything except the Tasmanian devils - I'd go to a zoo for them.

Many thanks !
So far my plan looks like this:
- flight to Melbourne (if I find a chep one)
- renting a car
- overnight ferry to Tasmania (I stil can't skip it)
- 3-4 nights on Tasmania (I must rethibk it twice :-) )
- ferry back to mainland
- one week for Great Ocean Road up to Adelaide and Kangaroo Island
- car drop off (means additinal costs)
- flight to Alice Springs
- one week in the outback with car rented in AS
- flight back to Melbourne
- flight back home

Does it look OK ?

yes, this looks okay. it will be rushed, but its feasible. i very much like the red centre, but still, i would consider spending 1-2 days less there, and 1-2 day more in other places.

Just a couple thoughts: If you time your Tassie trip right, you can probably avoid the car rental in Melbourne. The trams and trains are easy to get around. Drive down the Peninsula on your way out to the GOR.
A week isn't much for the GOR all the way to Adelaide then Kangaroo Island. Might prioritise.
Finally, the "car" for the drive to Uluru, which is fantastic, will definitely have to be a hefty SUV or caravan to handle the roads. We had a Land Cruiser and still had a puncture 100kms from anywhere. Wouldn't have missed it though.
Cheers.

You have planned a very awesome trip.It will be very good and everything is wonderful in your plan package.
Heathrow Terminal 3 Taxis