Koalas and bandicoots: the wild side of the Hills

For a region within sight of a capital city, the Adelaide Hills are remarkably wild.

Koalas are the obvious headliners. They doze in the eucalypts of Cleland, Mount George and dozens of roadside reserves, and after a few visits you start to spot them everywhere - a grey smudge in a fork of a gum, a flash of movement in the canopy.

The rare and the hidden

The real treasures take more patience. Scott Creek Conservation Park, south-west of Mylor, is a stronghold for the endangered southern brown bandicoot, a small, secretive marsupial that snuffles through the leaf litter at dusk. The park's wildflowers and orchids draw botanists; its quiet draws everyone else.

Birds, everywhere

Then there are the birds. The fern gullies below Mount Lofty ring with superb fairy-wrens and eastern spinebills; the gorge reserves echo with cockatoos. At the Laratinga Wetlands near Mount Barker, boardwalks lead past herons, ducks and the occasional sleeping tortoise. You don't need a wildlife park to meet the locals here - though Cleland and Warrawong are wonderful. You just need to slow down and look.