Day 1: Cairns
We start the tour at 2pm, and we will spend the rest of the day birding the mangrove boardwalk, Centennial Park and the Esplanade. Here we will get a pleasant introduction to the tropical birds of Australia. Night in Cairns.

Day 2: The Great Barrier Reef
Today we take a luxury boat ride to the outer Great Barrier Reef, where we have the chance to snorkel along the edge of one of the most important seabird breeding areas of the reef, Michealmas Cay. Expect to see lots of birds on this trip including Sooty Tern, Black-naped Tern, Black Noddy, Lesser Frigatebird, Brown Booby, and plenty of others. After returning to the mainland, we will drive to Kuranda. Night Cassowary House.

Day 3: Cassowary House
This area boasts some superb birding in lowland tropical rainforest. We will spend the morning searching for the elusive Southern Cassowary, as well as other target species such as Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Superb Fruit-Dove, Black Butcherbird, and Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-Shrike. In the afternoon we drive to the Daintree. Night Red Mill House.

Day 4: Daintree river cruise
This morning we take a dingy into some small mangrove fringed creeks that you cannot easily access from land. We'll try to get fantastic looks at the common species such as the Shining Flycatcher, Varied Triller, Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, and Wompoo Pigeon. One of the target birds of the morning will be the Great-billed Heron. After the boat trip we head SW from the Daintree to Julatten.

Day 5: Atherton Tablelands
Birding in the small reserve of Kingfisher Park is easy because of the numerous forest openings, and we can expect to see many birds here including Noisy Pitta, Red-necked Crake, Spectacled Monarch, Victoria’s Riflebird, and Yellow-breasted Boatbill.

Day 6: Mount Carbine
Today we will visit the edge of the "outback", where we will bird in the grassland savanna that extends across the top of Australia. Only a few miles from the lush rainforests, we will be surrounded by grassland species such as Great Bowerbird, Yellow Honeyeater, White-throated Gerygone, Bar-shouldered Dove, Torresian Crow, Black-faced Wood-Swallow, and Brown-backed Honeyeaters.

Day 7: Lake Eacham
We visit the Atherton rainforests near Lake Eacham, where we can look for species that we may have missed earlier at Cassowary House such as White-throated Treecreeper, Tooth-billed Catbird, Satin and Golden Bowerbirds, and Southern Cassowary. In the afternoon we drive back to Cairns, stopping at Hastie's Swamp for Magpie Goose and Black-necked Stork. Night Cairns.

Day 8: Fly to Brisbane, Lamington NP
After an early flight to Brisbane, We will visit some mangroves near Brisbane for Mangrove Honeyeater, Mangrove Warbler and the Collared Kingfisher. Then we can make a short vsit to a bushland reserve where Koala is possible. We saw one in the car park on the 2006 tour. We make our way to the subtropical rainforest and wet Eucalypt forests of Lamington National Park. arriving in the late afternoon. We will spend the late afternoon with King Parrots, Crimson Rosellas, and Regent Bowerbirds feeding very close to us, if not on us. Night at O´Reilly´s which defies most superlatives.

Day 9: Lamington National Park
We have a full day to explore the park and surroundings. The trails hold a lot more than you suspect with the large crowds at the entrance. As short walk from the lodges we will search for other rarities such as Albert’s Lyrebird, and Marbled Frogmouth. The Border trail offers othergreat birds like Scaly Thrush, Green Catbird, and Logrunner. In the afternoon we leave the rainforest and hit the woodland for Bell Minor, Red-browed Treecreeper and Fuscous Honeyeater. Night O´Reilly´s.

Day 10: Onward to Sydney
We will have one more morning birding in Lamington before returning to Brisbane. A short flight takes us to Sydney, the capital of New South Wales and the most beautiful city in the world. Depending on arrival time we may head to Centenial Park for some common birds before dark. We spend the night in Sydney.

Day 11: Royal National Park
Today we visit the remarkable Royal National Park, an area of unspoiled wilderness on the very edge of Sydney. In this large park there is a wide variety of habitats ranging from subtropical rainforest and dry Eucalypt forest to low coastal heaths. We will start the day birding the heathlands of Curra Moors where we expect to see Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, New Holland Honeyeater, Beautiful Firetail, and possibly Southern Emu-Wren. Later on, we bird the area around Audley and Lady Carrington Drive where we should see common water birds as well as some of the most spectacular birds of the region: Superb Lyrebird, Wonga Pigeon, and Satin Bowerbird. We continue south to Wollongong for the night.

Day 12: Barren Grounds To Leeton
The heathland and subtropical forest around Barren Grounds Nature Reserve is a prime site for many special birds, and we shall spend a full morning birding here. Some of our targets will be Ground Parrot, Pilotbird, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Eastern Spinebill, and White-eared Honeyeater. In the afternoon we will drive to Leeton in the western plains of New South Wales for a two-night stay.

Day 13: Binya State Forest and Leeton Swamp
Binya State Forest is an under-birded area with exceptional potential. Dominated by native pines, the forest here is very easy to bird and allows close views of some target species. Here we will delight ourselves with such species as Masked and White-browed Woodswallow and Painted, Singing, White-plumed, and Striped Honeyeaters. There is a very good chance of Splendid Fairywren and Red-capped Robin (not at all related to Eurasian Robins). In the afternoon we will visit the famous Five Bough Swamp where we can see species such as the Plumed Whistling-Duck, Freckled Duck, and Red-kneed Dotterel.

Day 14: Charcoal Tank and Back Yamma State Forest
We start the day birding in the Australian Mallee. This habitat is unlike anything else, with the area dominated by a few Eucalypt species where each low tree has multiple trunks. A habitat that many people at first find unnerving because of its uniformity, it is one of the favorite habitats of your guides; walking trails here is like being in a maze. We will look for species such as Australian Ringneck, Mulga Parrot, Yellow-plumed and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Shy Hylacola, Crested Bellbird, Gilbert's Whistler, and Chestnut Quail-Thrush. In the afternoon we will visit Back Yamma State Forest, where we will target species such as Turquoise Parrot, Painted Buttonquail, Common Bronzewing, White-browed Babbler, Speckled Warbler, Western Gerygone, Southern Whiteface, and Black-chinned Honeyeater. We will leave in the afternoon for the drive to Dubbo, where we will spend the night.

Day 15: Gunno State Forest and Mudgee
We start the day in the Cypress Pines and Eucalypts of Goonoo State Forest near Dubbo. Our targets here include the enigmatic Malleefowl and the rare Glossy-black Cockatoo, as well as a range of other more northern western-slope species. After the morning here we will bird in the open areas between Dubbo and Mudgee, and then south to Kandos where we will spend the night.

Day 16: Capertee Valley, Blue Mountains, and the Windsor area
We spend dawn in the Capertee Valley in the open Eucalypt forests around Glen Davis. The target for the day is the increasingly endangered Regent Honeyeater, which has this area as one of its last strongholds. After a few hours we climb to the top of the Blue Mountains, which, while not very high, are spectacular in their ruggedness. The main target bird of the area is the odd Origma (sometimes considered to be in a family of its own), but we will also be looking for other species such as Crimson Rosella, Australian King-Parrot, Red-browed Treecreeper, and Yellow-faced Honeyeater. In the afternoon we will bird around western Sydney, where the numerous wetlands hold species we may have missed earlier in the trip. We will also search for bush birds such as Spotted Pardalote, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Crested Shrike-Tit, and Red-rumped Parrot. Overnight in Sydney.

Days 17-18: Tasmania
Having arrived late the night before, there is little rest for the keen, and we begin the day near Hobart at Mt. Wellington. We start with the temperate rainforest of Ferntree, where we may see Pink Robin, Scrubtit, Brown Scrubwern, Black Currawong, and maybe a Bassian Ground-Thrush skulking in the undergrowth. We shall spend the afternoon birding the slightly drier area on Brunie Island, but on the way we shall stop for a few more endemics, including Tasmanian Native-Hen and Forty-spotted Pardalote. The next day will be spent on Bruny Island where we shall look for the remaining endemics, including Yellow Wattlebird, Black-headed and Yellow-throated Honeyeaters, and Tasmainian Thornbill.

Day 19: Departure
The tour ends this morning as we catch our international flights back home.

Tour info:

CLIMATE: Warm to a bit cold. Expect some rain in Tassie.

DIFFICULTY: Easy. No long walks, but early starts are required.