RATES: please
click here for prices
of our tours (in Australian dollars)
Tours
depart
from:
Brisbane
Transit
Centre
(Roma
Street), or
your city or
south-side
accommodation
(other
by
arrangement)
Suitable for all ages and fitness levels
See and learn about Australian
animals and their ecology and behaviour on this
zoologist-designed tour from Brisbane with
Araucaria Ecotours.
Seek wild kangaroos,
wallabies, koalas, fruitbats, birds and
butterflies, and in warm months reptiles (mostly
lizards, sometimes snakes or turtles). .
Leave Brisbane at
9.00am and head south to the mountains of the
Scenic Rim.
At Tamborine Skywalk,
we relax with a cup of tea or coffee or a cold
drink with a biscuit on the verandah looking into
the forest, before walking (safely!) into the
rainforest canopy as well as through eucalypt
woodland, looking for birds an other wildlife and
discussing the various plants we see along the way
and their importance to various animal species. In
the warm months on sunny days we may see
Australia's second-largest butterfly - the
Richmond Birdwing.
If time permits we
will also visit a waterfall in a steep valley
harbouring eucalyptus forest. All walking is
gentle: no steep slopes unless you opt (and time
permits) to walk down to the base of the waterfall
and up again instead of just viewing from above.
We often see goannas (lace monitors) and
kookaburras during our walk to the viewing
platform.
We then visit a
purpose-built cave (to take the pressure of wild
colonies) at Cedar Creek Estate occupied by
thousands of glow worms (these are not the larvae
of fireflies, but of fungus gnats, and the light
is not to attract a mate but to deceive and trap
their prey: they are found only in Australia and
New Zealand), and Frog Hollow, with several
species of local frog.
After enjoying a
delicious lunch looking towards a lake with ducks
and other waterbirds (for a small extra fee you
can also sample some local wines if time permits -
the fee is deducted from the cost of any bottle
you decide to purchase) we head to Coombabah, in
the northern end of the Gold Coast (but a little
inland from the coast itself). Here we see many
kangaroos coming out of the forest after the
mid-day siesta to graze on the grasses, and walk
through tea-tree wetlands to eucalypt forest where
we look for wild koalas. There are no
guarantees for the koalas but so far we've never
failed to find at least one.
Your tour includes:
Fully-guided tour
(mini-bus and gentle walks) with expert
zoologist/naturalist guides
Travel (with expert
commentary en
route) to view kangaroos, koalas and
other wildlife and forests
Entry to SkyWalk
(walk through the canopy of a rainforest)
Entry to Glow Worms
cave (a very well-made cave with with thousands
of very real glow worms, and lights turning
night into day so you can seen them glowing in
the daytime)
Morning tea and
lunch (gluten-free, vegan etc. can be catered
for)
Entry to national
parks
Information sheet
on Australian wildlife
Child seat
available for infant if needed
On this tour you will be traveling through Greater
Brisbane, the Scenic Rim and the northernmost part
of the Gold Coast (but not to the beach)
No
guarantee of any wildlife species on any
particular day in the wild (but we almost always
see wild kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, fruitbats
and a variety of birds). Reptiles are not active
in the colder months. Route may be changed
slightly in times of inclement weather or road
closures.