qanda-with-guides
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Researching the Whales of WA with Jennah Tucker
Marine biologist Jennah Tucker has been in and around water since growing up in Broome, and has long been passionate about whales. "The Humpbacks come up to the Kimberley each winter to breed and calf, so I've always had Humpbacks in my backyard," she says. "And I started working in...
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Embracing the Unexpected with Leigh Dalton
Leigh Dalton loves the great outdoors, so to take guests around his backyard is a dream come true. "A great destination makes for great holidays, and as a guide I am able to enhance a place with cultural stories, history and point out rock art and other features that people...
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River Therapy with Cathy Schier
There's something special about the symphony of nature's whispers. The crunch of feet on the leaf litter. Birdsong in the distance. Rustling in the reeds. Although there's plenty to talk about, there's also a right time to talk. "It's not about filling the gaps," explains Murray River Trails guide Cathy...
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An East Gippsland Education with Hayley Forster
All Echidna Walkabout tours focus quite heavily on wildlife spotting so, for Hayley Forster, joining the guiding team was a natural fit. "I majored in Wildlife and Conservation Biology in my Environmental Science degree, and am very passionate about Victorian wildlife and ensuring that our native forests stay put," she...
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Storyteller Series: Georgia Currant from The Maria Island Walk
There are so many wombats on Maria Island, "they're a tripping hazard", Georgia Currant jokes. The young guide has spent countless family holidays on the isle off the east coast of Tasmania, so she's got firsthand experience. In keeping, she makes a point of introducing people to the particularly docile...
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Storyteller Series: David Doudle from Australian Coastal Safaris
To spend time with Australian Coastal Safaris' David Doudle is to get a window into the fourth-generation farmer's enchantingly free-range childhood. David grew up on a sheep and grain farm on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, by the cliffy edges of the Great Australian Bight. Spare time was spent exploring rock...
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Storyteller Series: James Boettcher from FNQ Nature Tours
When James Boettcher was a kid, he thought everyone swung through the trees, slid down rapids and fashioned fish traps from spiky rainforest vines. Growing up in Cairns, the World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest was at his fingertips. After finishing high school, he spotted an advertisement in a newspaper about guiding....
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Storyteller Series: Tony Sharley from Murray River Trails
Growing up in the Riverland town of Renmark, Tony Sharley saw first-hand the dramatic effects of the Murray River in flood when he was a student in high school - he even did a geography project on it. An environmental science degree followed, and a career as a field biologist...
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Storyteller Series: Roger Smith from Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours
Roger Smith remembers clearly, when he was a child, seeing a mob of kangaroos hop into a grove of trees in the middle of a paddock. "I thought I'd sneak out straight across the paddock," he says. "And if they ran away, I'd see them. But when I got there,...
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Storyteller Series: Lisa Preston from Indian Ocean Experiences
Lisa Preston first went to Christmas Island on holiday in 1996. Her visit happened to be right in the middle of one of the world's greatest natural spectacles: the red crab migration, in which millions of crabs march toward the ocean to spawn. "It was just this crazy thing going...
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Storyteller Series: Craig Wickham from Exceptional Kangaroo Island
When Craig Wickham spots a goanna scuttling across the road, he doesn't tell his guests to get out of the way. Instead, he invites them into the bush to see where it has come from. He knows that more often than not, the reptile is slinking away from a termite...
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Storyteller Series: Andrew Ellis from Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures Australia
Since he was a 15-year-old crewing on a tug boat on Sydney Harbour, Andrew Ellis has spent his career on the water. He ended up in tourism, working on floating restaurants and cruise ships. Then, 32 years ago, he took a catamaran from Sydney to Hervey Bay with the idea...
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Storyteller Series: Daniel Schoedler from Premier Travel Tasmania
When travel agent Daniel Schoedler flew from Switzerland to Tasmania for a trade show in 2015, it didn't take long for the Apple Isle to make an impression. "I was invited on a seven-day tour and I was fascinated from the first minute," he says. "You get into Hobart and...
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Storyteller Series: Paul Cross from Naturaliste Charters
Paul Cross has travelled more than 52 countries, but if you ask him to pick the most beautiful place in the world, it's his ocean-lapped backyard every time. Growing up near Bunbury, south of Perth, Paul and his brothers spent every spare minute fishing, surfing and diving along the Western...
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Storyteller Series: Debbie Ferguson from Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo
The first time Debbie Ferguson saw a whaleshark was on her honeymoon. She and husband Mark wanted something to remember their special occasion with, and the enormity of the gentle, spotted giant - a filter-feeder that bears a vacuum-like mouth filled with 300 tiny teeth - definitely fit the bill....
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Storyteller Series: Peter Clutterbuck from Australian Coastal Safaris
More than 30 years ago, when Peter Clutterbuck was a teacher, he was posted to the town of Port Lincoln, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. He spent some time driving around, looking for a place to call home. "Luckily, I found a spot which was exactly where I wanted to...
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Storyteller Series: Sab Lord from Lords Kakadu & Arnhemland Safaris
You'd expect a man raised on a Kakadu buffalo and crocodile-hunting station to be a character, and Sab Lord doesn't disappoint. He also knows everything - and everyone - there is to know in the outback, enabling him to unlock places and people that few others have access to. Sporting...
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Tracking Marine Debris with Andrew Ellis
A recent study of marine life found that flexible plastics are responsible for the largest proportion of marine life deaths. In the case of whales, once ingested the plastics can accumulate in the stomach, the mass eventually becoming so big that it obstructs the bowels and the whale starves to...
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Explore the Botanical Ark with Alan Carle
A mini rainforest of useful plants awaits FNQ Nature Tours guests visiting Botanical Ark, a private sanctuary owned and managed by husband-and-wife team Alan and Susan Carle. “Botanical Ark is my wife and I attempting to leave a green footprint on the planet – and at the same time educate...
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Researching Christmas Island’s Endemic Birds with Mark Holdsworth
According to Mark Holdsworth, Indian Ocean Experiences' bird expert, one of the best times to experience Christmas Island’s birds is during Bird ‘n’ Nature Week. “May to November is our dry period here, and this year Bird ‘n’ Nature week falls between 30 August and 6 September,” Mark says. “The...
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Birdlife in a River Floodplain with Tony Sharley
Owner and founder of Murray River Trails, Tony Sharley, never tires of seeing guests discover a destination through the presence of its birds. “We spend the bulk of our time in the Riverland Ramsar wetlands, which is home to more than 180 species of birds. We can see migratory water...
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Swimming Alongside Humpback Whales with Corrine Matthews
Marine scientists say that the Humpback Whale call is one of the most complex animal sounds there is. “It’s a very beautiful and melancholy song and sounds a little like a door creaking or a violinist warming up,” spotter and snorkelling guide, Corrine Matthews, says. “Some days when we snorkel...
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Absorbing the Ethereal Sounds of Humpback Whales with Dr Barry McGovern
The complexity of a Humpback Whale song astounds scientists every day, and anyone who is privy to hearing a Humpback Whale sing firsthand is almost always left breathless by the beautiful – and what is sometimes described as haunting – melody. “It’s one of the most complex communication signals in...
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Witness one of the World’s Most Spectacular Migrations with Lisa Preston
When Christmas Island is mentioned, most people first think of the Red Crabs. It’s estimated that there could to be close to 120 million crabs on the island (many more than the previous estimate of 50 million) and, from afar, it can look like the island is covered in a...
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Hike the Lamb Range with James Boettcher
With each step, the climb gets a little more challenging, but the reward of the sprawling views of Lake Morris and Dinden National Park below is worth every step. “As we hike up to the summit, we pass giant gum trees and beautiful savanna habitation, but there are no glimpses...