The only signs of life I expect to see will be red kangaroos, dingoes and lizards. I expect to come in contact with members of various aboriginal tribes throughout the outback many of whom work on cattle stations as drovers and live in rural areas but have retained many traditional aspects of their culture. The Australian landmass is one of the most ancient on earth and the sea cut it off from other continents for more than 50 million years. As aresult the plants and animals have experienced a long and uninterrupted period of isolation to evolve to the unique forms we see today. The platypus and echidna are regarded as living fossils in that they are monotremes who lay eggs and suckle their young.
Echidnas range from the hot, dry deserts to the high, cold country of the Snowy Mountains.
Kangaroos are found throughout Australia and I can expect to see lots of them in my travels. I will probably only see koalas along the East coast of Australia since they are being driven to extinction in other areas. Some of the wildlife I am not interested in seeing are the snakes, spiders and saltwater crocodiles, all of which are deadly. Australia has the largest number of species of poisonous snakes in the world, including the taipan and tiger snake, death adder, copperhead, brown and red-bellied black snakes. Australia's most poisonous spider is the redback.