Australia’s exotic wildlife is nothing without the dainty, sweet, pouch-bearing koala. So naturally, seeing a koala in the wild is a huge goal for most tourists. But, in most areas finding them isn’t as easy as walking in the bush looking up at trees. Except if you’re looking for koalas on Raymond Island, on Victoria’s coast.
This is coming from my experiences of finding no koalas in the wild for months while travelling Australia. But then, while travelling up Australia’s east coast I heard about the mystical Raymond Island and its abundant koala community.
It was finally a chance to see koalas in the wildlife, and this island did not disappoint in that department.
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What is Raymond Island?
Raymond Island is a tiny island accessible by ferry off Victoria’s coast. It’s in the area of East Gippsland and it’s known for a few things, including garage sales and koalas. But the latter attracts more tourists.
The island is strictly non-commercial, so there’s a few places to stay, but aside from this, it doesn’t have any restaurants or cafes. So grab a coffee in Paynesville before heading across with the ferry.
How to Get to Raymond Island
Raymond Island is only accessible by boat or its local ferry. Vehicles have to pay to use the ferry, but cyclists and pedestrians can walk over for free. There’s free parking in Paynesville for those interested.
Most days, Raymond Island’s ferry runs every twenty minutes starting at 7 a.m. onwards to 11 p.m. But check the ferry timetable to be sure.
It’s not necessary to bring a vehicle or bicycle across the ferry. It’s easy to walk around the entire island to see koalas. There’s drinking water, washrooms and other facilities available to visitors.
Why are There so Many Koalas on Raymond Island?
This island might be a paradise for koala viewing, but it hasn’t always been this way. Koalas were once hunted for their fur throughout Australia, eventually leaving them nearly extinct, according to Raymond Island Koala and Wildlife Shelter.
It didn’t happen quickly by any means, but Australia worked to combat the koala extinction by introducing them to island life. This meant there was less predators or other hazards. Thus, the koalas could live in the paradise they deserve, with all the young gum trees leaves available to eat.
According to the Wildlife Shelter, in 1953, over 30 koalas were moved from Phillip Island to Raymond Island. From there the koala population continued to grow. Eventually, it grew so much, koalas took over Raymond Island. Gum trees were dying, and koalas were starving.
The Victoria Government put in a new program to move these koalas again, this time back to the mainland. It was successful and continues to be a pathway to grow Australia’s koala population.
Especially after the 2019/2020 summer bush fires in Australia, it’s a reminder that programs like these exist with a strong purpose. Had there been no programs like this, the koala population may have plummeted even more than it had.
How to See Koalas on Raymond Island
There’s many other places in Australia with signs and information on koalas in the wild, but I never saw any there. This isn’t the same for Raymond Island, they’re everywhere.
Raymond Island is easy to navigate and find wildlife. When arriving on the ferry across to Raymond Island, visitors should head straight to Ferry Reserve. This is the small nature reserve across from the ferry. It has electric barbecues, picnic tables, drinking water, a playground and toilets. Most importantly though, it has a map and directions that point to The Koala Trail.
The Koala Trail is the perfect way to start a trip to Raymond Island and to see the cute little animals.
Pro tip: Koalas live in trees, look up to see the koalas in the trees. It’s a good time to have you head in the clouds.
Follow the trail to see the koalas. The first one I saw was in a tree in someone’s front lawn. There seems to be no problem with walking on people’s lawn to see koalas.
The trail continues along the road through Raymond Island suburbs until it reaches another nature reserve. This is the spot to see the most koalas. Koalas are in nearly every tree. It’s easy to see how koalas could starve if there wasn’t programs in place to re-home them.
Take pictures, enjoy the sights of the koalas, and most importantly, don’t get too close. They’re still wild animals, after all.
Koalas sleep for about 23 hours of the day, so most of the koalas will be sleeping or close to sleeping in the trees. While on Raymond Island in March I saw a few baby koalas with their mothers! Also on the table could be mating, eating and general koala cuteness.
Seeing koalas on Raymond Island is a sweet stop on the coastal road trip from Melbourne to Sydney (or reverse).
