Sanctuary Point – Our First Wild Kangaroo Sighting!

Are you looking for a relaxing weekend adventure from Sydney? Interested in exploring the south coast? Want to bring your camera to photograph some of Australias amazing wildlife? Want to see Kangaroos? Sanctuary Point is 15 minutes from Vicentia and Jervis Bay, and it checks all those boxes. 

When we mention Jervis Bay people either respond with zero recognition, or with a comment about the whitest sands in the world. We were in the former group, but during our recent trip we managed to explore a considerable bit of Shoalhaven, the council which includes Jervis Bay and surrounds.

We covered the amazing coastal hikes and white sand beaches in our post on the White Sands Walk, and now we share the hidden gem we uncovered at the Sanctuary Point Reserves on the St. George Basin surrounding our Airbnb rental.

Sanctuary Point is about a 15 minute drive from Jervis Bay proper (Vicentia, Hyams Beach, etc.), and it sits at the top of the St. George Basin, an estuary fed by water from the Tasman Sea via the Sussex Inlet.  Two largest towns around the basin have a combined population of under 10,000 people. All this to say, it truly unique in offering a secluded largely unspoiled stretch of nature along the Basin’s shoreline.

Honestly, we probably never would have seen it, had we not booked our trip last minute. There was no availability closer to the beaches so we settled for a house and a yard, in Sanctuary Point. This let us have a kitchen, and the yard would be good for Cecilia’s first Easter Egg Hunt.  Other than that, the plan was to drive in to the walking tracks in the national park on the bay. Thankfully, the weather forced a little extra time at our lodging, and we decided to venture out around the house between rain showers. Really though, our discovery started with the Kangaroos.

Every time we drove towards Vicentia and the beaches, we passed a stretch of road consistently lined with tourists, cameras, and selfie sticks along a row of fence. What were they gawking at? Kangaroos, lots of kangaroos in a field. After passing a couple of times we had an idea of when it would be less crowded, and made a note to return.

We have been on the lookout for wild Kangaroos since arriving in Australia, and we are not above gawking with other tourists on the side of the road.  However, something amazing happened as we turned into the neighborhood of our Airbnb rental one evening. The neighborhood was full of Kangaroos! And this is how we discovered the beauty of Sanctuary Point.

We hopped out f the car and began canvassing the streets in search of Kangaroos. A few houses down we found an empty lot between two houses that turned out to be a public reserve, and there were several Kangaroos hanging out. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! It may have taken a year, but the unique experience was worth the wait!

Inspired by the kangaroo sighting, we decided to explore the reserves, and when the Easter forecast called for light rain, we knew there would be a gap at some point for us to go explore. Little did we know, we would see so much more than kangaroos.

The salt-marshes provide a valuable buffer and ecosystem for the area, with a diverse group of wildlife. Our photos focus on the birds and water fowl, but we did se a few lizards as well. Oh yeah, there are also KANGAROOS!

It started with a pod of pelicans hanging out with wedge of black swans (yes, I had to google that), and continued along the water line with a variety of birds and wildlife. For the first time in a while, EZ and I fell into our comfortable routine of exploring the world through a viewfinder, lost behind the lens. It was great to be someplace with so many photo opportunities, and the time to explore them.

Naturally, we snuck a few photos of each other, but the main focus was the wildlife. CZ was a happy companion with everything to see, and even helped me out with a second set of eyes. Although her feed back consisted of “NO, NO, NO” and “COCKADOOOOOOO!”

Sanctuary Point is a great spot for exploring off the beaten path, and it is full of wildlife to photograph, from kangaroos to pelicans. The weather stopped us from making it along the entirety of the Basin Walk, but it is certainly on our list for a return visit. If you wand a unique opportunity to explore an “unspoilt” part of the south of the South Coast, we highly recommend a detour through Sanctuary Point on your way in or out of Jervis Bay.

A Few More Photos of the Sanctuary Point Wildlife: