Australian Natural Adventuresnature travel, wildlife tours, adventure travel and general travel to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
THE NATURAL HISTORY & WILDLIFE OF AUSTRALIA
continues
Day 14 - Thursday, January 19: Croajingalong Day 15 - Friday, January 20: East Gippsland A short boat trip will get us across the inlet and
into the Howe Wilderness where we will walk a
Day 17 - Sunday, January 22: Melbourne /
Brisbane Ranges / Melbourne
B: Breakfast: L: Lunch; D: Dinner; M: Meal; * in-flight meal
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le
up the this beautiful waterway at your own speed with the chance of
seeing all sorts of birdlife. Before we start on this flatwater adventure
you are provided with full safety instructions on handling canoes
followed by a short trial paddle to test your skills before we head
up the river. We’ll return to our starting point for lunch then
head back to Mallacoota Inlet. The Inlet was formed after the last
ice age when a coastal river system was drowned by the sea. The lake
system is comprised of a larger bottom 
lake
near the sea connected to a smaller inland lake by a narrow inundated
river valley. Many smaller arms of water branch of these main lakes.
A large semi submerged sand bank called the Goodwin Sands, sits in
the middle of the lower lake and is home to thousands of birds both
migratory and local. The Sands are famous throughout Australia for
their birdlife. The shoreline of the lake system and the outlet to
the sea are home to a myriad of bird species. This afternoon is dedicated
to exploring the inlet. 
To
begin we’ll take a walk through a eucalyptus forest (with a
chance to see Koalas) to a remote landing where we will board the
MV Loch Ard, a beautiful timber cruising launch, to search the coves
and sand flats for sea eagles and other raptors, swans, migrant waders
and shorebirds, egrets, herons, spoonbills, cormorants, terns, dotterals,
plovers, ibis and ducks not to mention the land birds that we will
also see. Our captain will pull up close to the Goodwin Sands . When
we tire of the water the boat will drop us at remote jetties to walk
along the shoreline before picking us up again for further adventures
up some of the secret wilderness arms of the lake system. We may even
see Australian Fur seals that are a common visitor to the bottom lake.
The Loch Ard will drop us back at the Lodge for dinner. 
long
a great curving beach towards Cape Howe at the corner of Australia.
Offshore we will see Tullaberga Island where the sailing ship Monumental
City went down in 1853 with terrible loss of life. Nearby is Gabo
Island with its lighthouse that now pr
otects
shipping from crashing into the coast in this lonely location. A vast
sand dune system rises on our left as we walk eastward. Forays into
the dune system may reveal ancient Aboriginal campsites. The profile
of the Howe Range dominates the eastern skyline looking like the snout
of a huge crocodile dropping into the ocean. Depending on our walking
speed we should be able to make Lake Barracoota, a pristine dune locked
lake that was once part of Mallacoota Inlet. Our return journey will
take us across Howe Flat below Lake Barracoota. This is a low coastal
heathland which is home to the extremely rare Ground Parrot. Careful
observers may see this very shy bird. The end of the walk takes us
back to the shore of Mallacoota Inlet where we are ferried back to
the lodge for dinner. Tonight there is the option to take a short
night walk spotlighting for flying foxes, gliding possums and other
nocturnal wildlife.
Day
16 – Saturday, January 21: East Gippsland / Melbourne
t
of the plain. There is a distinctly "Australian" feel about
the region. The last volcanic activity occurred only 4000 years ago;
volcanism is very rare in Australia and this is the most recent. We
travel across these plains to visit Serendip Sanctuary, an open range
reservation for rare and endangered indigenous wildlife. Run by the
National Parks Serv
ice,
Serendip plays a pivotal role in the conservation of some of Australia's
rarest birds. Some birds encountered are our rarest including the
Bustard, Brolga and Cape Barren Goose. A highlight of Serendip is
large free-range mobs of our tallest kangaroo, the Eastern Grey, and
family groups of the world's second largest bird, the Emu. We also
see three of our delightful smaller hopping marsupials: the Swamp
wallaby, Red-necked wallaby and the tiny Pademelon. After lunch we
travel a short distance to the Brisbane Ranges National Park, where
at our special Koala site we become involved in a Koala Research Project,
searching out and documenting the activities of these delightful marsupials.
We then return to Melbourne. (B,L),
Overnight Ramada Melbourne