Bushfire Recovery Sample Itinerary
Approximate Duration: 12 days
Months Available: July & August, 2020
Regions: Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Far North Queensland
On this epic Australian trip, you will assist with land rehabilitation activities to refuge bushfire affected wildlife and critical remaining populations of native species. You will enjoy Australia's most remarkable wildlife encounters and landscapes, combined with conservation projects that are timed correctly, to create meaningful impact on local ecosystems and a better future for our wildlife and planet!
Featured Expert: Janine Duffy, Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours
Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours was founded by Janine Duffy in 1993, with the vision to bring people and wildlife together for mutual benefit. After five years of operating tours, Janine Duffy discovered a revolutionary method of identifying individual Koalas by their natural nose markings. That discovery launched a non-intrusive wild Koala research project that continues to this day. It also provided the platform to launch the Koala Clancy Foundation, with the aim to secure a better future for Koalas west of Melbourne.
Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours is internationally-recognised in wildlife in the wild conservation travel, and winner of the 2014 World Responsible Travel Award. Janine is regularly invited to present to conferences, advise on wild koala tree-planting and research projects. Recently she gave guest lectures to ecotourism students at the University of Surrey, UK and Kansas State University, USA and a series of lectures on board the Olivia Cruise Ship.
Day 1: Explore the cosmopolitan city of Melbourne at leisure. The many attractions of the city vary from the spectacular parklands and gardens that surround the city, to the museums and festivals that are a continuing part of the city life. Excellent restaurants are on every corner and cater to every taste in the world!
Day 2: Koala Recovery Experience (Conservation Action Day)*
Make a home for wild Koalas by planting and nurturing new trees with Koala Clancy Foundation! Koala tree planting will take place in the rivers and creeks around the You Yangs and Brisbane Ranges, just outside Melbourne, to establish much-needed Koala habitat on some beautiful Western Plains farms. There is no digging, just planting trees in prepared holes and arranging stakes and guards. Across these days, the groups will plant hundreds of trees or remove around thousands of weeds to create Koala habitat. Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours is the major supporter and donor of not for profit Koala Clancy Foundation. Please note that this tour is not for profit, with 100% of proceeds being donated to Koala conservation.
Day 3: See some of the world’s most spectacular coastal scenery as we follow the Great Ocean Road along surging surf coast, and walk in the magnificent rainforests of the Otway National Park. Your Wildlife Guide will explain the formation of these mighty forests and help you find parrots, kookaburras, koalas and wallabies. Travel through Port Campbell National Park, looking out for echidnas, wallabies, lizards and colourful birds which make their home in the coastal heathlands. Linger a while to take in some of nature’s handiwork at the Twelve Apostles and the Loch Ard Gorge.
Day 4: This morning we have one last look at the coast in the dramatic morning light before returning to Melbourne across the vast grasslands of the Western Plains. Created by intense volcanic activity over the past 2 million years, the 7,000 volcanoes of the Western Plains are now extinct but the resultant savannah is pasture to a rich wool growing area. We stop en route to drive to the top of an extinct volcano with spectacular views across the plains. This is a great place to view raptors – birds of prey – including Wedge-tailed Eagles, Nankeen Kestrels and Brown Falcons. We pass Lake Corangamite, the largest permanent lake in Australia, often covered with prolific birdlife, before returning to Melbourne in the late afternoon.
Featured Expert: Craig Wickham, Exceptional Kangaroo Island
Owner and wildlife guide Craig Wickham has been guiding since 1985 - much of this on Kangaroo Island. Craig studied wildlife and park management and has travelled extensively observing and photographing wildlife. Other interests are spending time with his family, birdwatching, food and wine, community development, painting, gardening and bee-keeping. Having spent 10 years in Local Government, Craig also keeps up with issues impacting on the planning, development and management of the Island and has led several management and wildlife survey events. He has recently been recognised as one of the world’s top guides by Outside Go.
Day 5: This morning you will fly to Kingscote, Kangaroo Island to begin your three day experience with Exceptional Kangaroo Island, which combines a range of wildlife encounters on the island. Travel through some of the Island's best farming country to the North Coast and visit the habitat of one the world's rarest cockatoos. Seek out wallabies and kangaroos in the wild before enjoying a delicious seafood barbecue lunch. Visit Seal Bay where you can walk amongst the Australian Sea Lions with your guide. Explore more of the island before being set down at your accommodation for an overnight stay.
Day 6: Today we will explore the eastern region of Kangaroo Island with gorgeous landscapes, exceptional food and wine, peaceful rural landscapes and ideal habitat for several marsupials species. Explore Pennington Bay and the south coast, with awe-inspiring rugged limestone cliffs and the mesmerizing Southern Ocean swell. Observe Kangaroo Island Kangaroos, Tammar Wallabies and countless bird species across the marine sanctuary of Pelican Lagoon and Baudin Conservation Park, along with a picnic at a local winery to enjoy the region's famous produce.
Day 7: Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife (Conservation Action Day)*
Help regenerate Kangaroo Island's habitat for the endangered Kangaroo Island Dunnart and Glossy Black-Cockatoo! In partnership with Land for Wildlife Kangaroo Island, guests will remove key threats to plants and animals across private landholdings, giving threatened species populations an opportunity to recover from the bushfires and increase in population. Kangaroo Island supports over 200 native fauna species and over 900 species of plants, seventeen of which are nationally threatened. Activities across these days are likely to include biodiversity surveys, weed control, checking survey equipment (cameras, fencing materials) and tree planting.
Featured Expert: Alberto Vale, Australian Quoll Conservancy
Alberto was born in Lisbon, Portugal has made Australia his home. His passion for the great outdoors and the myriads of surprises held within these world heritage tropical rainforests are now his passion, from conducting personally for 16 years, his successful wildlife spotlighting tours, to becoming an established and recognised producer/director of Australian natural history documentaries. Back in 2014 with another co-founder, Alberto started the Australian Quoll Conservancy. Now and exclusively in North Queensland, Alberto wishes to bring to the world, in an amateur biologist hands- on approach like Charles Darwin, his spotted-tailed quoll field survey projects.
Day 8: Today you will depart South Australia and fly up to Cairns in Far North Queensland, with a day at leisure.
Day 9: A visit to the ‘oldest continually growing rainforest in the world’ at night is the feature of this full day tour, with FNQ Nature Tours encompassing the World Heritage Listed Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation area. You will experience the region's incredible array of landscapes including waterfalls, mountain ranges, idyllic streams, deep gorges and dense rainforest Wildlife enthusiasts will be captivated by the wildlife cruise of the Daintree River, full of opportunities to observe and photograph the region’s apex predator, the Saltwater Crocodile, along with iconic species such as the Boyd’s Forest Dragon, Ulysses butterfly and countless bird species. After dining at one of the region's finest restaurants, you will experience an interpretative guided nocturnal walk, revealing a different side to the incredible Daintree Rainforest.
Day 10: Australian Quoll Conservancy (Conservation Action Day)*
Help save the Spotted-tailed Quoll, Australia’s largest carnivorous marsupial, across the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in Far North Queensland; one of the richest areas for biodiversity in the world. With an estimated population of less than 350 animals left in the region, conservation efforts are critical to save this lesser-known but fascinating species.
This program offers you an exclusive opportunity to work alongside industry experts and assist in conducting valuable research that will aid in the preservation of Far North Queensland’s endangered wildlife.You will join the researchers and other team members as they check camera traps and motion detection areas to catalogue sightings, document food sources, locations and behaviours and search for evidence of visits form the Spotted-tailed Quolls.
Day 11: After breakfast, check in for your Great Barrier Reef day cruise. Set sail aboard the beautiful 32 metre sailing catamaran to experience Michaelmas Cay’s unique reef environment - a pristine sand cay surrounded by fringing reef and a protected sanctuary for migratory seabirds. Be active and enjoy all the included activities – snorkel in the cay’s protected shallow waters, cruise in the semi-sub for a diver’s view of the reef, watch the fish feeding presentation, observe the island bird life and learn about this fascinating ecosystem from expert marine biologists.
For more informaton, please contact:
John Daw | Executive Officer
john@australianwildlifejourneys.com