Tour day-by-day
Guests will travel with their expert guide and Koala researcher, about an hour west of Melbourne to the tree planting site near the You Yangs Regional Park.
Tree planting sites are located along rivers, creeks and near waterholes on farms on the Western Plains. The mornings will be spent planting Koala trees in these high-quality, fertile sites, with holes pre-dug to make tree planting quick and easy. These trees will provide future habitat for koalas as climate change forces them out of the dry hills and into moisture-rich valleys.
“Our tree total is going up every year and managing the work is a huge job. We need to plant at least 30,000 trees every year to reach our target of 300,000 by 2030. We need that many trees to support the population of Koalas. It’s a myth that they only eat one type of tree leaf. We plant a variety of tree species, which is vital for long- term ecosystem health – and the health of our Koalas.”
Janine Duffy - Guide & Co-founder
Lunch will be picnic-style for guests, either at the planting site or in nearby bushland.
The afternoons are spent on nature walks to visit the Koalas that will benefit most from the tree planting. Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Swamp Wallabies, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, corellas, Galahs, Laughing Kookaburras, Superb Fairy-wrens, White-winged Choughs, New Holland and White-plumed Honeyeaters, Red-rumped Parrots and Crimson and Eastern Rosellas, are common sightings. We sometimes see Echidnas, possums, Blue-tongue or Jacky Lizards, Wedge-tailed and Little Eagles, falcons or goshawks.
Dinners are at a local hotel restaurant, adjacent to accommodation.
Pricing:
$1,140.00 AUD per person - 2 days
$1,750.00 AUD per person - 3 days
Child rate (7-13 years)
$855 AUD per person - 2 days
$1,315 AUD per person - 3 days
Single supplement: Please add $260 to price per person for the 3 day tour; or $130 to price for 2 day tour if you wish to have single rooming.
Accommodation: Please note that accommodation is only available in queen configuration.
Pick-up and Drop Off Point: Melbourne city hotels
Pick-up and Drop-off Time: 8:00am on day one, approximately 4:00pm on day two or three
Grade/Difficulty: medium fitness required
Your guide will be an experienced Wildlife Guide and Koala Researcher. Wildlife guidance throughout, air conditioned transport to and from Melbourne city. Gloves and gumboots (rubber boots) are available for participants (gumboots only if weather is wet).
Meals & accommodation as below:
- 2 day experience: includes 2 lunches, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast and 1 night accommodation
- 3 day experience: includes 3 lunches, 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and 2 nights accommodation
WINNER Best for Wildlife Conservation at the World Responsible Tourism Awards London • 2014
WINNER Seatrade Cruise Award for World’s Most Innovative Shore Excursion • 2017
WINNER TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours contributes observations of flora & fauna via iNaturalist, the world’s leading global social biodiversity network. This platform allows our team to create research-quality citizen science data that enables a more detailed picture of our national biodiversity, and assists bodies such as the CSIRO, ecologists and other decision makers to deliver better outcomes for the environment and our species.
Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours has been at the forefront of policy development for responsible Koala viewing based on over 27 years of research. In 2006, the organisation launched the Sustainable Koala Watching Code, implementing a welfare policy for guides, researchers and staff members in order to reduce human behaviours that cause Koalas to respond negatively as much as possible.
In 1998 Echidna Walkabout’s co-founder Janine Duffy discovered a revolutionary method of identifying individual Koalas through their distinctive natural black and white marking patterns inside their nostrils. That discovery launched a non-intrusive wild Koala Research Project that continues to this day.
Research conducted by Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours and the Koala Clancy Foundation, estimate that there are around 100 Koalas still living in the You Yangs, down from an estimated 200-250 in 2007. Of concern is that a 46% decline over 10 years has been reported for the overall population.
Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours created, and remains the primary supporter of, the not-for-profit Koala Clancy Foundation. The foundation is set up to support, advocate and plant trees for wild koalas, particularly around the You Yangs and on the Western Plains of Victoria. Started in 2015, the charity relies on the donations and promotional reach of international travellers, and the willing hands of local volunteers and private landowners to restore koala habitat to the rivers and creeks of western Victoria.