Cost: $6045 based on the excahnge rate of USD $0.93 US = AUD $1.00. The single supplement is $1020. Three dinners are not included, neither is breakfast at the Adelaide Airport on September 14.

International & domestic flights: LAX or SFO to Brisbane, Adelaide (Adelaide/Kangaroo Island included in cost), then to Hobart, Tasmania & return home from Devonport, Tasmania via Melbourne. All domestic flights within Australia will be on Qantas (except Kangaroo Island flights, which are included in the cost of the trip). Book domestic flights with your international flights when ticketing is available in late 2007. Qantas Aussie AirPass includes international flights from New York, Los Angeles, or Honolulu that are packaged with domestic flights in Australia. The domestic flights cost less using the Qantas AirPass. If combining the two trips, fly to Alice Springs, then Darwin from Ayers Rock, on to Cairns & Brisbane.

Deposits: $500, second deposit: $1000 on 7/1/07, with final payment on 5/26/08.

Group Size: 12. Non-smoking tour.

Leaders: Tonia Cochran throughout, Glen Trelfo in Lamington National Park, Andy Schofield on Kangaroo Island and Nick Mooney in Tasmania. (More about Tonia at the end.)

itinerary updated April 2008

• Sept 6 – 7: Cross the International Dateline to arrive in Brisbane by mid-afternoon Sept 8.
• Sept 8: By mid-afternoon drive up to Lamington NP at O'Reilly's Guest House for three nights.
• Sept 9 – 10: Search for special birds on the beautiful tracks in Lamington NP with Glen Trelfo.
• Sept 11: AM O’Reilly’s Guest House. Fly to Adelaide and on to Kangaroo Island for 3 nights.
• Sept 12 – 13: Kangaroo Is at Flinders Chase NP and other wonderful areas. Nights at the Ozone.
• Sept 14: Fly to Hobart for Tassie’s endemic birds, mammals and much more. Night at the Lenna.
• Sept 15: Bruny Island on Tonia’s property with “Forty-spots”. Penguins and quolls this evening.
• Sept 16: From Bruny Island to Mount Field National Park. Night at Fiona’s B&B in Launceston.
• Sept 17 - 18: Cataract Gorge, then the NW coast to see Devils! Nights at Arthur River Cabins.
• Sept 19: West Wynyard Reserve and French Creek Reserve. Night at Wynyard Waterfront.
• Sept 20: Latrope (“Platypus Capitol of the World”). Narawntapu NP and lovely Hawley House.
• Sept 21: Early flight from Devonport, Tasmania, to Melbourne and points homeward.
  
  Meals included indicated by B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, * = meal or snack on flight.

 
Full Itinerary:

September 6 – 8, Saturday – Sunday - Monday Brisbane to Lamington National Park
Fly to Brisbane to arrive at the latest by 3:00 pm on Monday, September 8. Qantas, Air New Zealand, United and other excellent airlines have daily flights, either via Sydney or Auckland. If you are crossing the international dateline flying west, lose one day. Perhaps depart a day or two earlier to have time on your own in Sydney or Brisbane. If you arrive in Brisbane in the morning, we’ll arrange a separate transfer vehicle from the airport to Lamington. For those of you continuing from Cairns with Tonia Cochran, plan to leave from the Fig Tree Lodge for the Cairns Airport at 11:00 am. Qantas 649 departs Cairns at 12:45 pm and arrives in Brisbane at 2:50 pm.

From the Brisbane Airport O’Reilly’s is 75 miles southeast of Brisbane in Lamington National Park on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. The town of Canungra is at the foot of the Lamington plateau. Ascend the Lamington eucalypt plateau to 3000 feet. Then on the edge of the plateau inside Lamington National Park in the MacPherson Range Mountains, where the dry eucalypt changes to rainforest, arrive at the famous O'Reilly's Mountain Resort, run by the O’Reilly family. Here the atmosphere and hospitality are as wonderful as the wildlife. With a mid-afternoon arrival in Brisbane, we’ll check in before gathering for a delicious welcome dinner with our resident guide, Glen Trelfo. We have known Glen and his wife, Helen, for years. Glen has guided at O’Reilly’s for 25 years and his fame as one of the world’s great people has spread far and wide. His warm humor, keen eyes, ears and photo talents are amazing. Their home is very close to O’Reilly’s Guest House, so we have extended a dinner invitation to Helen and sons, Thomas and Andrew, a great Aussie family whom you will enjoy meeting. (L*.D.)

September 9 - 10, Tuesday – Wednesday Lamington National Park at O’Reilly’s
Before breakfast both days enjoy the abundant wildlife near the lodge. The mound-building Brush Turkey, bowerbirds, parrots, and honeyeaters are easily photographed. In the lovely early morning light enchanting Red-necked Pademelons graze. Seek out the more secretive birds, Owlet-nightjar, Eastern Whipbird, Southern Logrunner, Albert’s Lyrebird and others in the prime forest at the edge of the lodge, where excellent walking tracks offer many choices. With two full days at O'Reilly's, enjoy bush birding (woodland or forest), as well as many waterbirds around billabongs and several species of macropods grazing on grasslands in the late afternoon at lower elevations. Optional evening spotlighting for marsupials and Tawny Frogmouth and even possibly Marbled Frogmouth! Nocturnal wildlife from the forest, usually Mountain Brushtail Possums (Bobuck), visit O'Reilly's fruit table adjoining the dining room after dark. (B.L.D. both days.)

September 11, Thursday From O’Reilly’s to Adelaide
On our last morning in Lamington National Park after breakfast we’ll still have time for more great photos, as we watch the fascinating interactions of the fauna here in Lamington. By mid-morning depart the plateau with a big picnic lunch, since we will need to be on our way before lunch is served at O’Reilly’s. Also prepare a small bag before departing O’Reilly’s for the three nights on Kangaroo Island. Not including carry-on, checked luggage cannot exceed 14 kilo or 30 pounds on the flight to KI. For luggage left behind, we will cover the storage fee of $5.00 per bag at the Regional Air Express check-in desk. REX (Regional Air Express) has a very efficient bag storage system and the bags come back to us at the carousel when we arrive in Adelaide on the return flight from KI. Our flight from Brisbane to Adelaide is now scheduled for 3:10 pm arriving at 5:20 pm in Adelaide to connect to Kangaroo Island at 6:45 PM on the REX flight. This 30 minute flight is included in the cost of the trip.

We’ll stay three nights at the Ozone Seafront Hotel on the ocean in the small town of Kingscote, arriving this evening after 8 pm with the 30 minute drive between the airport and lodging. Drive the short distance from the airport to our hotel, named back in 1920s when Ozone meant fresh air. The hotel has been rebuilt more than once, but the name has stayed the same! Across the street from the Ozone, there are very vocal Little Penguins that come into their burrows along the edge of the sea after dark and during the day dolphins are sometimes seen cruising by. With the late arrival and small meal on the flight, dinner is on our own this evening if you would like more.

Note: Tonia will be night spotting with us for Little Penguins while on Bruny Island next week, her home island, in Tasmania. But you may want to visit this colony also one evening (optional and costs about $15), as there is an accessible location down past the wharf to the left of the hotel facing the ocean. People are not allowed to access the colony without one of the guides in charge of protecting the colony. Little Penguins are very shy, especially as they come out of the ocean and are easily frightened back into the water. Once Little Penguins reach their burrows without any disturbance, they don’t run back into the sea and relax at the burrow entrance. Flash photography is not allowed and visitors to the colony must be escorted by one of the resident Little Penguin tour guides. Here and in Tasmania Little Penguins are fully protected to help increase their numbers. (B.L)

September 12 – 13, Friday – Saturday Kangaroo Island
We’ll have our breakfasts & dinners in the Bistro at the Ozone Seafront Hotel today and tomorrow and a delicious lunch each day in the field, as well as stops for refreshments, especially late afternoon tea and coffee. This morning meet our naturalist/driver, Andy Schofield, an excellent birder on Kangaroo Island. We’ll drive to Flinders Chase National Park, which covers the entire west end of the island. A breeding site for the rare Cape Barren Goose is in Flinders. You will again have an opportunity to see Cape Barren Goose in Tasmania on Bruny Island. Along the beautiful coastal landscapes, a New Zealand Fur Seal colony is doing well at Cape du Couedic, where they can be observed from the rocks at Admirals Arch, a spectacular coastal grotto. Flinders is famous for Koalas both there and at a private ranch property near Flinders, where the owner is planting many young Blue Gums, one of the favorite trees of Koalas. Late in the day we’ll walk into "Grassdale" to look for wild kangaroos. We’ll also have a delicious seafood barbecue at noon one day in Kangaroo Island bush (woodland).

The best place for waterbirds is at Duck Lagoon with Musk Duck, Black Swan, Australian Shelduck, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Chestnut Teal, Hoary-headed Grebe, Australasian Grebe, White-faced Heron, Purple Swamphen and others too. We’ll seek out the Kangaroo Island subspecies of the Glossy Black Cockatoo at Latham Conservation Park, where biologists have taken steps to expand the breeding opportunities of this endangered species. This is an excellent area to see Tammar Wallabies and Grey Kangaroos. The coast here has a protected beach site for Australian Sea Lions coming ashore to rest, along with several species of cormorants and possibly Hooded Plovers. Walk in great habitat also for possible encounters with Superb Blue Wren, Dusky Woodswallows, Striated Pardalote, Purple-crowned Lorikeet and a range of honeyeaters. (B.L.D. on both days.)

September 14, Sunday Flights from Kangaroo Island to Hobart and spotlighting in Hobart
This is mainly a travel day, but ending with an exciting evening of spotting for Tasmanian
small mammals. Fly from Kangaroo Island at 8:05 am on Regional Express (REX) back to Adelaide to connect with the 11:40 am flight to Melbourne. Breakfast will be on our own today in the Adelaide Airport between flights. We arrive in Melbourne at 1:25 pm and fly to Hobart at 4:00 pm. We’ll have time between flights at the Adelaide and Melbourne airport shops. Arrive in Hobart at 5:05 pm with the present schedule. We’ll transfer to the Hotel Lenna in a great location by Hobart’s Fisherman’s Wharf, where we can choose one of the Wharf restaurants before gathering at the hotel at 9 pm.

Meet Nick Mooney, our outstanding bird and mammal guide, who will join Tonia for the week. Nick is directly involved with promoting and protecting the Tasmanian Devil and other native species. He works fulltime for the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service to increase protection for Tasmanian native species. His specialties are raptors and Dasyurids (carnivorous marsupials). We have been very fortunate to have him as our guide on many Tasmanian tours. Depending on energy levels, join Nick and Tonia nightspotting for an hour or so with the hope of finding Eastern Barred Bandicoots and Tasmanian Bettongs, possibly even the shy Long-nosed Potoroo, which are all absolutely charming marsupials. Sometimes the Masked Owl is found hunting in this area. (L*)

September 15, Monday Bruny Island
Travel to Bruny Island this morning after a leisurely breakfast. All twelve of the endemic Tasmanian birds are found in these southern regions of Hobart and Bruny Island in surrounding native vegetation, plus the Short-beaked Echidna. We’ll look for Scrubtit, Yellow Wattlebird and other honeyeaters, Yellow-rumped Thornbill and Forty-spotted Pardalote. This evening enjoy a range of mammals, including Eastern Quoll, Tasmania Pademelon, Bennett’s Wallaby & Brushtail Possum (the latter two species with a chance of seeing a rare cream color mutation). Another great highlight in the evening are Little Penguins at their burrows. Overnight in private cottages near Tonia’s property. (B.L.D.)

September 16, Tuesday Mount Field National Park and Launceston
Mount Field National Park offers a huge diversity in vegetation, ranging from tall swamp gum forests and massive tree ferns at the base of the mountain to rainforest along Lake Dobson and alpine vegetation in the higher elevations. It’s a great place to see Pink Robin, Scrubtit and a possibility of Platypus. We’ll also look for Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Eastern Rosella, Swift and Blue-winged parrot. Tasmanian Native-hens and both Wedge-tailed Eagles and White-bellied Sea Eagles, some of the incredible species we may encounter today. Going north up the Midlands highway, overnight in Launceston. We’ll stay at the quaint Fiona’s B&B, which is within walking distance to the city. Dinner on our own choosing from a variety of restaurants. (B.L.)

September 17 - 18, Wednesday - Thursday Cataract Gorge and the NW Coast with Devils
We’ll search in Cataract Gorge Reserve for Short-beaked Echidnas, which can be a fantastic place for this special monotreme, then travel over to the NW coast of Tasmania and check in at the Arthur River Holiday Units. Out on the Marrawah coast meet up with Geoff King on his property. We’ll do Tasmania Devil nightspotting, as Geoff King will be setting up a Devil smorgasbord at his ocean side hide or “shack” each evening, which is large enough for half of us at a time to have good views of a Devil at a carcass when one approaches. Devils are now very endangered, due to a cancer that is transmitted orally among them, which has killed many Devils in the southern part of Tasmania. This has been a big challenge now over the past 4 years for Nick Mooney and others to find a solution to save the Devil. Fortunately here in the NW tip of Tasmania, the Devils are still healthy. The Tasmanian Devil’s interactions within the species are very interesting, especially at a feeding site. Half of us will be spotlighting with Nick each of these two evenings. We could see Southern Brown Bandicoot, Eastern Barred Bandicoot, Wombat, Common Ringtail Possum, Brushtail Possum, Bennett’s Wallaby (a sub-species of the Red-necked Wallaby) and Tasmanian Pademelon (also called Red-bellied Pademelon or Rufous Wallaby). There is a good chance of seeing Tawny Frogmouth and Southern Boobook, a small owl that calls “boo-book”.

Thursday travel along the Arthur River and stop for a short walk to Lake Chisholm, a great place to see Pink Robins along the shady shore of this small lake situated in a magnificent tall eucalypt forest. Along the west coast drive through large tracts of coastal heathland. Some of the special birds are Red-capped Plover, Hooded Plover (a species of special concern), Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher, Blue-winged Parrot, White-fronted Chat, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Crescent Honeyeater, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Flame Robin, Scarlet Robin, Pink Robin, Dusky Robin, Olive Whistler, and Black Currawong. We’ll have picnic lunches in beautiful places and one evening dinner at the Marrawah Tavern with Nick or in the ‘shack” with Geoff and swap the following evening. (B.L.D both days)

September 19, Thursday West Wynyard Reserve and French Creek
Enjoy a leisurely breakfast after two big evenings of nightspotting. Travel back to the north coast of Tasmania on the Tasman Sea to Wynyard. Stop at West Wynyard Reserve in a beautiful gum forest, an excellent place to look for the endangered White Goshawk (the white morph of the Grey Goshawk) and for Brush Bronzewing. We also visit a new reserve in a small canyon along French Creek with wonderful riparian habitat. During our week here we’ll encounter many raptors, including Wedge-tailed Eagle, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Swamp Harrier, Brown Falcon, two species of accipiters and other birds of prey. Overnight at the Wynyard Waterfront in Wynyard, where a seafood dinner is most delicious. (B.L.D.)

September 20, Friday Fernglade, Latrobe Reserve and Narawntapu National Park
We’ll head to Latrobe, “Platypus capital of the world”, its claim to fame with a beautiful meandering stream perfect for Platypus in a well protected native gum forest. We’ll also look for some of the birds that we haven’t yet seen. Check in at beautiful Hawley House by mid-afternoon to enjoy this beautiful setting during our last day in Tasmania, as by the time we return for dinner, it will already be dark. About 4 pm arrive at Narawntapu NP when an amazing number of wombats come out to graze. We had wonderful photos on one of our trips of a wombat baby poking his head out of the mother’s pouch under her tail. Narawntapu National Park also has good numbers of waterfowl on a large lagoon, plus at dusk many Bennett’s Wallaby and Forrester Kangaroo appear, so it’s worth waiting until dusk to drive the 30 minute trip back to Hawley House. We’ll have a delicious, farewell dinner and overnight at beautiful Hawley House at Hawley Beach near Devonport for our final evening together. (B.L.D.)

September 21, Saturday Flight from Devonport and homeward
Hawley House is only a 20 minute drive from the Devonport Airport. Our flight from Devonport on September 21 is scheduled for 6:30 am to Melbourne in time to connect with flights homeward, arriving back in the USA on the same day, gaining back on the return the day lost crossing the international dateline on the way to Australia. (B*)

Lodging:
Sept 8 – 10: O’Reilly’s Guest House, Lamington National Park
Sept 11 – 13: The Ozone Seafront Hotel, Kingscote, Kangeroo Island
Sept 14: Lenna Hotel, Hobart
Sept 15: Bruny Island private cottages
Sept 16: Fiona’s B&B, Launceston
Sept 17 - 18: Arthur River Holiday Units, Arthur River
Sept 20: Wynyard Waterfront in Wynyard
Sept 20: Hawley House, Hawley Beach near Devonport

Present flight schedule for Qantas (10/06)
Sept 6 LAX/Sydney or SFO/Sydney depending on airline and to Brisbane on Sept 8
Sept 8 Qantas 649 Cairns/Brisbane 12:45 pm – 2:50 pm if continuing on this tour
Sept 11 Qantas 663 Brisbane/Adelaide 3:10 pm – 5:20 pm
Sept 14 Qantas 682 Adelaide/Melbourne 11:40 am – 1:25 pm
Sept 14 Qantas 5041 Melbourne/Hobart 4:00 pm - 5:10 pm
Sept 21 Qantas 2710 Devonport/Melbourne 6:30 am - 7:45 am
Sept 21 Melbourne/LAX or Sydney/SFO depending on airline

Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris
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