Australia Wildlife Park

How do I get from the accommodation to the project?
A member of staff from the park will come and pick you up every morning (around 6.30ish or 8.30ish) from the guesthouse to take you to the project. They will also drop you back at the end of the project day (day ends at 3 or 5pm)!

Will I have free time?
You will have free time. Your evenings are your time to spend as you wish after a day on the project and you will also have two days off in a row every week. There are plenty of things to do in Townsville…(see below!)

Also included in the price is two nights accommodation on Magnetic Island, which you are able to use at some point during your time on the project.

What’s Townsville like?
Townsville is one of the main stops along the East Coast tourist trail and is definitely worthy of this honour! Though not as popular as Cairns, Townsville is still part of tropical Queensland (300 days sunshine a year!) and is situated parallel to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef – a great opportunity for you to get out and do some scuba diving and snorkelling on the largest reef in the world.

The Townsville beaches are also great, and if you don’t really fancy heading out to sea, then the Aquarium is the next best place to experience the flora and fauna of the reef. There is also Magnetic Island, a 52km squared island just off the coast of Townsville. Most of it is dedicated National Park and as mentioned above, you have two nights accommodation included on the Island included in the project price.

Is food included?
Only your lunches are included in the project price, they will be supplied for you whilst you are at the sanctuary, so you will be responsible for your own breakfasts and dinners everyday (and your lunch on days off). You are also supplied with morning tea on the days that you are at the project. You can buy your food from the supermarket and cook for yourself at the accommodation or you can sample the Townsville restaurants of an evening.

What sort of things will I be doing?
You will be working on a variety of conservation, environmental and wildlife tasks and projects, enjoying an experience of Australia that most people miss out on. You will learn loads. See the Further Information for a more detailed account of what you will be doing.

Will I be with other volunteers?
Volunteer places on this project are limited to just two volunteers at a time. Whilst you won’t be with a big group of people, the fact there will be just you and one other has a great many advantages, the main one being the amount of one and one time that you will get with the Park Ranger. This gives you a great opportunity to learn loads from an expert in the wildlife field – a really unique opportunity. And you will definitely not get lonely; the long-term staff are really friendly and always about and anyway, the park is open to the public.