This small zoo in Gold Creek Village at Nicholls, which is also home to the National Dinosaur Museum and Cockington Creek Gardens, started its life as a pet shop. Over the years it has expanded to include displays of turtles, frogs, lizards, snakes and even a saltwater crocodile, as well as an affordable gift shop. Gigantic python and boa constrictors that have been rescued from smugglers overseas are among the highlights.

Of course, the best place to see animals is in the wild – and this predator-free habitat, around an hour’s drive from the city – offers the chance to do just that. Koalas, kangaroos and wallabies are among the native species living in diverse sub-alpine habitats, including wetlands, grasslands, wet and dry forests and woodlands. You may also spot platypus, potoroos, bandicoots, wallaroos, echidnas, emus, lyrebirds and many other birds and reptiles.

Frogs, water dragons, bats and birds such as ducks, magpies, kookaburras, crimson rosellas, honeyeaters and fairy wrens are among the creatures you are likely to see in this beautiful oasis at Acton. You can also spy kangaroos and echidnas on the surrounding Black Mountain Reserve at dusk, but the shy swamp wallaby may be harder to spot.