Vacation Care Groups
Join in the adventure of our daily talks, tours and workshops!
Visit the animals and explore the bush tracks any day
Special Vacation-Care prices for bona-fide Vacation Care Organisations
Explore our wildlife sanctuary. Meet the friendly wildlife. Feed the farm animals. Follow the bush tracks.
- Vacation Care Groups – Self-Guided – Minimum 20 or Pay for 20
| Vacation care children | $18.70 per child (usual entry $30) |
| Up to 1 adult supervisor per 5 children* *We understand that keeping children safe can need extra hands. This is why Walkabout does not charge for extra adults actively engaged in looking after the children. | No charge |
| Additional adults e.g. parents (not actively supervising the group, enjoying visiting the sanctuary with your group) | $33.00 per extra adult (usual entry $45) |
| Fenced area undercover reserved for your group.* This applies to groups with 30 or more paying participants, and is subject to availability. | No charge (usually $120-$200) |
- Ranger-led Vacation Care Group Workshops – NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME
| We have temporarily suspended our ranger-led vacation-care workshops. At this time, our rangers need to spend extra time doing extra animal-care work to keep our birds safe from this new bird flu. But you won’t miss out. Our usual daily schedule of ranger-talks and animal introductions continues. You can explore the “animal loop” and the bush-tracks, and our rangers are always around to answer questions. |
- Suggested Day-Plan
| 9:45am | 20 minutes | Arrive. Safety briefing by Ranger |
| 10am | 30 minutes | BYO Morning tea. Use amenities. Larger groups divide into smaller groups. Recommended group size: 10 children with 2 (or more) adults. |
| 10:30am | 1 hour 30 minutes | Head out to explore the Animal Loop. |
| 12:00pm | 30 minutes | BYO Picnic Lunch |
| 12:30pm | until 3pm | More exploring! Meet more animals, or walk the bush-tracks. |
- Things to do and see and hear and smell!
| Some of the animals you may meet: | Things to do: |
|---|---|
| Chatty Dancing Parrots | Explore the Animal Loop |
| Friendly Free-ranging Kangaroos & Emus | Attend the roundup at 10am or 1pm |
| Snakes and Lizards | Visit the Turtle Ponds |
| Alpacas, Goats, Bunnies and Guineapigs | Feed the Farm Animals |
| Waffles the Pig | Organise the kids into a choir. Waffles’ favourite song is “Old Mac Donald had a Farm” with all the sound effects. But he loves all songs! |
| Step beyond the Animal Loop to explore the Bush Tracks | Go exploring! You are safe inside the fox-proof perimeter fence. You might feel like you’re lost, but you’re never too far from the Visitor Centre. Keep going – every track runs in a circle and brings you back home (eventually). Stay on the tracks. Don’t touch the electric fence. Your adventure awaits you. |
Vacation Care staff’s responsibilities
Children must be actively supervised by the Vacation Care staff throughout the program. The Vacation Care staff’s responsibilities include ensuring the children (and attending parents) follow all of the rangers’ safety instructions.
What to wear and bring
- flat closed shoes
- sun hat
- rain gear, even if no rain is forecast
- sunscreen even if it is overcast
- insect repellent
- water bottles (or you can buy water at reception)
What makes Walkabout Workshops different?
At Walkabout, guests learn what “Connecting with Country” and “Caring for Country” means.
At Walkabout, you literally “step into the animals’ world” of native wild bushland habitat, making this quite different from a conventional zoo experience.
Vacation Care Groups get very special prices, and extra adult supervisors are encouraged.
A unique environment
170 acres of old growth Australian bushland, unspoiled nature and rich cultural landscape
Friendly wildlife roaming free
Heritage listed Aboriginal art and shelter sites
Bush tucker and bush medicine growing along the tracks
The real Australian bush
Native wildlife and small farm animals
Knowledgeable rangers
Cultural permissions
Our Education Coordinator is both an educationist and an anthropologist.
We work with our cultural advisers to ensure that all Aboriginal content in our programs is both appropriate and respectful, and that any knowledge shared is always with permission.
Workshops tailored for all ages and abilities
Our workshops offer combinations of activities including animals, the bush and traditional Aboriginal content.
Our team adapts each workshop for age and ability, keeping in mind the age-range that can be quite wide with Vacation Care groups.
Wet Weather Policy
Make sure the children and adults bring their rain gear.
Except in extreme weather, the program will go ahead in the rain.
If the weather is expected to be too extreme for the rangers to be able to run the program, or if it might be dangerous, Walkabout will contact you to reschedule your excursion or give you a credit for a future excursion.
If Walkabout does not assess the wet weather conditions as too dangerous but you would like to reschedule anyway, we respect this and will work with you to find an alternate date.
Calga weather patterns are quite different to the Sydney Basin and the Central Coast. It can be pouring with rain down the road in Kariong or Hornsby, but dry in Calga. You can contact Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary up to 5 days before your excursion to make general enquiries about expected weather conditions, with more accurate weather information available 48 hours prior.
Deposit and Refund Policy
A $100 deposit secures your booking.
The deposit is non-refundable because, once your booking is confirmed, Walkabout will turn away other bookings (and income) for that day.
In the event of bad weather, your deposit is transferrable to another date or as credit for a future booking.
How to book
Please complete the enquiry form (below).