Australia's 5 Best Zoo Sleepovers

Ever dreamed of a sleepover in the middle of a zoo for the night? Here are Australia’s ‘Big 5’ of zoo stays that take the term ‘roar and snore’ quite literally.

1. Jamala Wildlife Lodge, Canberra

Jamala offers you a well-appointed ‘African-savannah’-style safari experience with five-star trappings, only 10 minutes from downtown Canberra. Rooms sit adjacent to many of the National Zoo’s animal enclosures, giving you face-to-face encounters with a menagerie of interesting beasties through reassuringly thick glass.

On the outside of the uShaka Lodge, Giraffe Treehouses and Jungle Bungalows you can survey roaming animals as diverse as hyenas and Bengal tigers, while inside you can check out others including a massive bear from the safety of your bubble bath.

2. Roar & Snore, Taronga Zoo Sydney

Zoo with a view: Taronga's safari tents — Zoo with a view: Taronga’s safari tents looking straight across Sydney Harbour.

The safari tents at Roar & Snore at Taronga come complete with show-stopping views to wake up to: straight across the harbour to Sydney’s skyline. On the inside, wooden floors and comfy beds elevate the accommodation well above normal camping.

Behind-the-scenes activities such as giraffe feeding and getting up close with echidnas and meerkats will have the kids in raptures, while nibbles and drinks before the torch-in-hand nocturnal tours will see you right. If you haven’t seen enough animals overnight, you have the entire next day to browse as part of the package.

3. Slumber Safari, Werribee Open Range Zoo

Family accommodation Slumber Safari-style at the Werribee Open Range Zoo (photo: Trent Browning).

Slumber Safari proves that zoo sleeps aren’t just for the young ones.

Half-an-hour out of Melbourne, an evening at Werribee Open Range Zoo comes with grown-up-friendly essentials; drinks and dips at sunset and an ‘African-inspired’ dinner and buffet breakfast.

The children aren’t ignored, of course, with a night walk around the 225-hectare property and scones, jam and cream by the campfire. The safari is an intimate affair, with just eight tented lodges with en suites – each with a balcony – overlooking the Werribee River and the rhinos, hippos, lions, and zebras et al on the ‘savannah’.

The zoo’s showers get the green tick of approval: they are solar powered and with a three-minute time limit.

Slumber Safari - Werribee Open Range Zoo

On the savannah, Werribee Open Range Zoo (photo: Trent Browning).

4. Roar & Snore, Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo

The wide opens spaces around Taronga Western Plains Savannah Cabins.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo is as spacious a zoo experience as you can expect; the animals getting plenty of room to roam around on the New South Wales plains. The accommodation options are similarly generous, ranging from the family friendly tents of Billabong Camp, to self-contained Savannah cabins (sleeping up to six with free wi-fi) and Zoofari Lodge (10 comfortable lodges) right on the cusp of the antelope and giraffe-filled enclosures.

There are plenty of chances to interact with the animals too; hear a talk from a dingo keeper or spotlight African wild dogs after sunset. Zoofari Lodge guests have access to a saltwater pool and bike hire is included too. Dinner itself can be a culinary adventure with crocodile and kangaroo on the menu.

5. Roar ‘n’ Snore, Melbourne Zoo

Road ‘n’ Snore Melbourne Zoo — Family time: Road ‘n’ Snore, Melbourne Zoo.

More camping than glamping, but certainly a city zoo sleep worth trying out. Melbourne Zoo’s old elephant exhibit has been transformed into a camping area apt for a family adventure.

You only have to bring a sleeping bag and pillow with just about everything else included: tents, beds, BBQ dinner – with a few wines and beers for the grown-ups – supper and breakfast from the bakery are all included.

The enthusiastic young zoo guides are adept at wearing out the children with a slew of night-time activities centred on the nocturnal animals. The calls of the zoo’s gibbons are a particularly effective alarm clock.

Slow down and find your rhythm on a Murray River journey through time and place.

Trust is a funny thing. It seems not that long ago that my mother was insisting on pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, because she didn’t trust me not to slosh it over the table, and yet here I am on the Murray River at Mildura in far north-west Victoria, being handed the keys to a very new and very expensive luxury houseboat.

After a crash course in how not to crash, I’m at the wheel of the good ship Elevate – pride of the All Seasons fleet – guiding her upstream past red-ochre cliffs as pelicans glide above the rippled river and kookaburras call from reedy banks. There’s a brief moment of breath-holding while I negotiate a hairpin turn around a jagged reef of skeletal, submerged gum trees, before a cheer rings out and calm descends as the timeless river unfurls in front of us.

The Murray River winding through Yarrawonga. (Image: Rob Blackburn)

Setting sail from Mildura

Murray River birds — Home to a large number of bird species, including pelicans. (Image: The Precint Studios)

A journey along the Murray River is never less than magical, and launching from Mildura makes perfect sense. Up here the river is wide and largely empty, giving novice skippers like myself the confidence to nudge the 60-tonne houseboat up to the riverbank where we tie up for the night, without fear of shattering the glass elevator (the boat is fully wheelchair accessible) or spilling our Champagne.

My friends and I spend three days on the water, swimming and fishing, sitting around campfires onshore at night, and basking in air so warm you’d swear you were in the tropics. The simplicity of river life reveals an interesting dichotomy: we feel disconnected from the world but at the same time connected to Country, privileged to be part of something so ancient and special.

Stop one: Echuca

19th-century paddlesteamers — A historic 19th-century paddlesteamer cruises along the Murray River. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The six-hour drive from Melbourne to Mildura (or four hours and 20 minutes from Adelaide) is more than worth it, but you don’t have to travel that far to find fun on the river. Once Australia’s largest inland port, Echuca is the closest point on the Murray to Melbourne (two hours 45 minutes), and you’ll still find a plethora of paddlesteamers tethered to the historic timber wharf, a throwback to the thriving river trade days of the 19th century. The PS Adelaide, built in 1866 and the oldest wooden-hulled paddlesteamer operating in the world, departs daily for one-hour cruises, while a brand-new paddlesteamer, the PS Australian Star , is launching luxury seven-night voyages in December through APT Touring.

The town is also a hot food and wine destination. St Anne’s Winery at the historic Port of Echuca precinct has an incredibly photogenic cellar door, set inside an old carriage builders’ workshop on the wharf and filled with huge, 3000-litre port barrels. The Mill, meanwhile, is a cosy winter spot to sample regional produce as an open fire warms the red-brick walls of this former flour mill.

Stop two: Barmah National Park

Just half-an-hour upstream, Barmah National Park is flourishing, its river red gum landscape (the largest in the world) rebounding magnificently after the recent removal of more than 700 feral horses. The internationally significant Ramsar-listed wetland sits in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country, with Traditional Owners managing the environment in close partnership with Parks Victoria. Walkways weave through the forest, crossing creeks lined with rare or threatened plants, passing remnants of Yorta Yorta oven mounds and numerous scar trees, where the bark was removed to build canoes, containers or shields.

The Dharnya Centre (open weekdays until 3pm) is the cultural hub for the Yorta Yorta. Visitors can learn about the ecological significance of the Barmah Lakes on a 90-minute river cruise, led by a First Nations guide, or take a one-hour, guided cultural walking tour along the Yamyabuc Trail.

Stop three: Cobram

Continue east to Cobram to find the southern hemisphere’s largest inland beach. Swarming with sun-seekers in summer, the white sand of Thompson’s Beach is shaded by majestic river red gums and dotted with hundreds of beach umbrellas, as beachgoers launch all manner of water craft and set up stumps for beach cricket. But the beach is at its most captivating at sunset, when the crowds thin out, the glassy river mirrors the purple sky, and the canopies of the gum trees glow fiery orange.

The region is also home to some fine resorts and indulgent retreats. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has two riverside championship golf courses, luxury apartments and self-contained villas. While not strictly on the Murray, the historic wine town of Rutherglen is rife with boutique (and unique) accommodation, including an exquisitely renovated red-brick tower in a French provincial-style castle at Mount Ophir Estate. Fans of fortified wines can unravel the mystery of Rutherglen’s ‘Muscat Mile’, meeting the vignerons and master-blenders whose artistry has put the town on the global map for this rich and complex wine style.

Stop four: Albury-Wodonga

First Nations YindyamarraSculpture Walk — First Nations Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is part of the Wagirra Trail. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

Follow the river far enough upstream and you’ll arrive at the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. The Hume Highway thunders through, but serenity can be found along the five-kilometre Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk – part of the Wagirra Trail that meanders through river wetlands just west of Albury in Wiradjuri country. Fifteen sculptures by local First Nations artists line the trail, conveying stories of reconciliation, enduring connection to culture, local Milawa lore and traditional practices. It feels a long way from Mildura, and it is, but the pelicans and kookaburras remind us that it’s the same river, the great conduit that connects our country.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

New Mildura motel Kar-rama. (Image: Iain Bond Photo)

Kar-Rama is a brand-new boutique, retro-styled motel in Mildura, with a butterfly-shaped pool and a tropical, Palm Springs vibe. Echuca Holiday Homes has a range of high-end accommodation options, both on the riverfront and in town.

Playing there

BruceMunro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura — Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura. (Image: Imogen Eveson)

Artist Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights installation, comprising more than 12,000 illuminated ‘fireflies’, is currently lighting up Mildura’s Lock Island in the middle of the Murray. Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) is a hub for contemporary art, with a rotating roster of exhibitions, and is a major outlet for young and First Nations artists.

Eating there

Mildura’s diverse demographic means it’s a fantastic place to eat. Andy’s Kitchen is a local favourite, serving up delicious pan-Asian dishes and creative cocktails in a Balinese-style garden setting. Call in to Spoons Riverside in Swan Hill to enjoy locally sourced, seasonal produce in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.

5 of Australia’s best zoo sleepovers