Australia

Lord Howe Island, Blue Mountains and Tasmania

Woodhens - Photo: Ian Hutton For many people Lord Howe Island is an iconic destination, widely regarded as the most beautiful island in the Pacific and yet readily accessible from Sydney. It is one of just four island groups to be inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list for the global significance of its natural beauty and heritage and boasts a wide diversity of habitats and species, many of them endemic. But it is perhaps for its breeding species that the island is best known and we will visit at the best time of year to enjoy the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of petrels, shearwaters, tropicbirds, terns, noddys and boobies as they busily go about the task of raising and feeding their young.

The Lord Howe experience is one never to be forgotten and one for which many people return again and again. But Australia is a big island itself and has much to offer the traveller. Our journey will begin in the Royal National Park of New South Wales and the Blue Mountains where we'll get an initial look at some of the spectacular birds which will delight us during our stay in Australia. A wide variety of habitats in a relatively small area will provide the perfect introduction.

Tasmanian devil - Photo: Trowunna Reinbacher Our last destination will be the wonderful island of Tasmania, but en route we'll stop off in Sydney for a night to enjoy the delights of the famous harbour and a concert at the Opera House.

Tasmania, separated from the mainland of Australia since the last Ice Age, has developed a unique character and bio-diversity. Its scenery is dramatic and spectacular, ranging from rugged mountain ranges to wild forest to coastal coves and beaches and its wildlife is varied and sometimes bizarre. We'll visit such birding paradises as Bruny Island and Cradle Mountain and, as well as the vast variety of birds, we'll be hoping to see (if we're lucky) that extraordinary creature, the Tasmanian Devil as well as kangaroos, combas and wallabies.

All in all this carefully prepared holiday offers an insight into a wide variety of habitats and, of course, if you want to stay on and explore more of what this great continent has to offer we can arrange your flights accordingly.