Overnight and longer tours from Brisbane Australia

Extended wildlife and other nature tours include:

• Wildlife 3-day wildlife tour – Australia’s most comprehensive wildlife tour – see a variety of wildlife and understand what makes Australia so different. Explore rainofrests, beaches and other habitats. Beautiful accommodation or primitive camping (we provide tents, etc.) All-includsive.
• Budget wildlife weekend camp Wild kangaroos and wallabes, rainforests, nocturnal wildlfe searching, wildlife ecology centre. Self-cater, but we provide tents, sleeping bags, camp stove etc. and take you to places you can buy food.
• 6-day outback tour (March/April, September/October only) Red sandfs, red kangaroos, emus, outback birds. All-includsive
• Forest getaway – for those who want to just relax in beautiful natural surroundings for a couople of days or more. All-includsive
• Various customized possibilities, including farmstays, adventure activities, special interest groups … Usually only for 4 or more persons.
• Educational camps for schools and other groups, or self-drive and camp near our Wildlife Ecology Centre: visit our learnaboutwildlife site

We also run occasional themed weekend camps throughout the year – introduction to rainforest plants, bird behaviour, children’s activities …. Check our blogs for details of coming camps. Mostly self-drive
Prices are per person and include GST, in Australian dollars,

Children (to 16 years) traveling with parent or guardian: 2/3 adult price.

3-day Australian Wildlife Tour

For further details on this tour (our specialty since 1997), go to our Wildlife Tour page

You can choose either:

B&B Accommodation: Beautiful double room, private ensuite $638.00 , single suppl. $55.00) Family room, sleeps five, bathroom and small ktchen: $550.00 if sharing or:

Camping: Tent, sleeping bags etc provided: $440.00

Prices include: all meals, morning and afternoon teas, wildlife information pack.

Australia’s most comprehensive wildlife tour, with lots of animals and habitats packed into three days. Get the ‘big picture’ of Australia and its wildlife while seeking examples in a variety of habitats, supplemented by a well-run wildlife park specializing in conservation breeding. See most of Australia’s icon species and some you may never have heard of. Learn about their ecology and behaviour and what makes Australia so different from other world regions.

More details of this tour on our Wildlife Tour page.

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Wildlife Weekend Camp

On a strict budget or only hve the weekend available? Visit rainforests and eucalypt forests, see wild kangaroos, wallabies and plenty of birds, seek possums, frogmouthds and other nocturnal creatures at night, and explore our Wildlife Ecology Centre on this tour designed for backpackers and others traveling on restricted funds

Self-catered Camping Tents, sleeping bags, cooking equipment etc. provided: $186.00. Leave Brisbane 9.00am Saturday morning. Receive the same wildlife information kit as for the 3-day wildlife tour. Buy food en route (at a supermarket, fruit shop or perhaps a country market if it is the first weekend of the month) for self-catered camping (we supply tent, sleeping bag, cooking utensils etc) at Running Creek. southeast Queensland. See wild kangaroos and wallabies, explore a local rainforest, camp near a creek that is home to platypus, turtles and catfish, look for birds, lizards (like the metre-lomg goanna to the right) and other fauna. Join a nocturnal search for possums, owls etc. Good swimming holes in creek (weather permitting). Return to Brisbane around 6.00pm Sunday.

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Outback tour

$1122.00: all-inclusive

Four tours a year – usually March, April, September and October  -  6 days, 5 nights

NEXT TOUR: 21st – 26th April 2010

Red sands, red kangaroos, major mitchell cockatoos, emus …..

Two of the best outback lakes in Australia are on our itinerary, one fresh, the other salt, in Currawynia National Park. They are breeding grounds for many birds, and also turtles. The small outback waterholes also attract kangaroos, emus, other birds (including Bourke’s parrot, pictured below).

We do most of our exploring in the early morning, late afternoon and under the stars at night, taking it easy in the middle of the day. It’s a pity to tire yourself out walking under the hot sun and not be able to enjoy the following dusk and dawn.

Warning – there is a lot of driving on the first and last days, but the 4WD does have air-conditioning and we will be stopping for interesting birds and other fauna and flora as well as refreshments along the way. We won’t be doing a lot of strenuous walking, so you don’t have to be amazingly fit. You will not be in a luxury coach or a five-star hotel (where we’re going, there aren’t any) but you will see some unforgettable landscapes and meet plenty of interesting locals, both human and otherwise.

NEXT OUTBACK TOUR: March or April 2010 (dates to be advised)

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Weekend camps – enjoy the forest surrounds while learning about ecology and natural history

$44.00 pp or $77.00 for a family of one or two adults and up to three chidren

Learn with experts in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere with fun activities designed to enhance understanding. Feel free to ask any number of questions (those we can;t answer we’ll try to point you in the right ditrection for finding out)

Themes for weekends (all include some gentle walking in natural surrounds):

• basic ecology: understand the linkahges between plants, animals (including us) and their environments
• wildlife ecology and behaviour: learn about some of the fascinating behaviours of our local wildlife, and why they act as they do
• bird behaviour: as above but focussing on birds (the most readily viewable animals in most environments)
• introduction to birdwatching: an overview of local birds, how to identify them even if not seen clearly, behaviours to watch for
• Australian wildlife: how does Australia differ from other regions. and why? Easy ways of remembering our major wildlife groups. Where to see the less common ones. A brief look at 500 milli0n years of our hisory.
• Introduction to rainforest plants. Introduction to identfying local rainforest trees, shrubvs, vines and understorey plants. Ecological relationships involving local rainforest plants.
• Children’s nature activities. Craftwork, puzzles, trails, games, nature observation and other activities for childten aged 6 to 12. Children must be accompanied by accompanied by parent or other guardian.
• We can customize for other themeswith sufficient notice.

Bring your own food for the camp, or drive 18km to the Rathdowney Hotek for a Saturday night meal. Camping is available at Andrew Drynan Reserve, adjacent to the Araucaria property: tents are available for hire.There are also some accommodation options within a half-hour’s drive.

These camps are primarily designed for locals (i.e. residents of southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales) but visitors from elsewhere are very welcome to join in. Most participants will have their own cars, but if you are without a car and would like to join in, if we have sufficient notice we may be able to provide transport (unfortunately there is no public transport in our area

Watch our blogs for annoncements of dates and themes.

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Forest Getaway Vacation

Honeymoon?

Anniversary?

Just want to ‘get away’ for a while and be taken care of in a beautiful, secluded, natural setting?

Leave Brisbane 9.00am Saturday, Sunday or Monday and travel to the beautiful Cougal Park, a secluded lodge set in 400 acres of tall forest bordering on the Border Ranges National Park. Spend one, two or three nights enjoying the oh-so-comfortable bed with private ensuite (complete with hand-rails for romantic seniors) and views to the forested gully, relaxing on the wide verandah, the delicious home-cooked meals, the forest, the birdlife, the wildlife paintings, the grand piano, the cosy fireplace, the charming hospitality of hosts Hugh and Elizabeth Starkey, the library of nature and other books, the scenery, the seclusion …. then travel back to Brisbane with a chance to see wild kangaroos en route, arriving back by about 5.30pm. Stop en route between Brisbane and your destination as desired for photography, birdwatching etc. $330 per person for one night, 2 days, add $110.00 for each additional day. Single supplement $66 per day.

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