2022 Tours

Lord Howe Island and the Snowy Mountains

12 day tour | Feb 18 – March 1, 2022

With Australians restricted to travel within their own country and now the arrival of the Trans-Tasman bubble Lord Howe Island is already almost totally booked up for the next year. I expressed interest very early so have been very fortunate to have been able to reschedule my tour to February 2022. With limited flights to and from this island and limited accommodation there, my tour offers a rare chance to get to Lord Howe for the foreseeable future!

We’re going to have five nights on this island, all of which is a Unesco-listed site with a visitor cap of 400 people. Lord Howe has been described by Sir David Attenborough as “so extraordinary, it’s almost unbelievable”.

The island’s combination of spectacular volcanic geography, rare endemic species, the world’s most southernmost coral reef, a huge lagoon and an amazing mix of marine life sustained by a mix of warm tropical and cool temperature ocean currents, is unique.. It has more species diversity than the Galapagos and is truly an island ark with unique flora and fauna. Feral cats, goats, pigs and even rats were completely eradicated by 2019 and even introduced weeds have nearly been wiped out.

To add to the highlights of this tour and to make the journey across the Tasman extra worthwhile, the last five days of our tour are going to be a complete contrast as we head back to the Australian mainland up into Snowy Mountains, and ending our tour in the nation’s capital Canberra, which often gets missed off New Zealanders’ Aussie itineraries!

Tasmania – The Grand Circuit

15 day tour | Mar 13 – Mar 27

We will be making a circuit of the island of Tasmania, taking in a long list of its beautiful scenic routes and locations and its historic highlights …this really is the very best of Tasmania. We’ll have time in Hobart (timed to coincide with the famous Salamanca markets), will cruise Peppermint Bay, taste gourmet food on a wilderness cruise to Bruny Island and board the West Coast Wilderness Railway.

There’s an overnight stay in the famous Cradle Mountain Lodge and a cruise through the Gordon River Wilderness Area and we will see Tasmanian devils and echidna in a special sanctuary, taste local wines, encounter local artists and craftspeople, enjoy lunch on a Wineglass Bay cruise, visit historic farm estates and, of course, explore the notorious Port Arthur convict settlement. There are plenty more highlights too – they are all outlined in the full itinerary, so do contact me or Moray at morayj@hot.co.nz so you can read more!

The Top End (Northern Territory)

11 day tour | July 25 – Aug 5

If there’s somewhere well worth seeing in the Top End I reckon it’s on my itinerary! My tour begins in Darwin, including visits to the aviation heritage centre (I can’t wait to see my first B52 bomber close up),World War II sites, the Flying Doctor service, the Cyclone Tracey Museum and even a sunset dinner cruise – one of five cruises on this tour. That’s quite a list before we even head out of Darwin to encounter the famous jumping crocodiles on the Adelaide river, learn about local culture on the Gulyyambi Cultural Cruise, see rock art, visit the Katherine thermal hot springs, the Lichfield National Park with its beautiful waterfalls and, of course, the spectacular Kakadu National Park where we will tour Arnhem Land on a cultural and heritage 4WD tour. There’s even a stockman’s camp oven tucker night.

I’ve put a real emphasis on not just the incredible scenery in this region but on being able to meaningfully learn about local Aboriginal history and culture (including some spectacular art work) using Aboriginal guides to tell the story of their own peoples.

This tour has been timed to fit in with anyone who wishes to take the famous Ghan train to Adelaide via Alice Springs.

The Great South-West Edge (WA)

14 day tour | Oct 2- Oct 15

This tour takes us to the far western edge of the Australian continent where we will be setting off on an adventure south of Perth, along its spectacular wildlife-rich coastline then looping back to Perth through the Australian outback. It’s also been timed to coincide with excellent times to go whale watching and see some of Western Australia’s spectacular array of wildflowers.

WA is Australia’s largest state, covering a third of the country’s landmass. It’s huge so I’m just concentrating on the region south of Perth- the Great South-Western Edge.

We’ll be visiting Perth and Fremantle, of course, but then heading south to the famous Busselton Jetty and underwater viewing gallery, taste some of the produce in the Margaret River wine region, taking a whale-watching cruise, go underground into the amazing Ngilgi Caves and visit the Cape Leeuwin heritage precinct.

We will also be riding the rails on the Pemberton historic tram, making a treetop walk through the rare and special Karri trees and visit the award-winning National ANZAC centre.

The Porongurup and Stirling Ranges national parks are on our itinerary as is the Unesco World Heritage Fitzgerald River National Park.

It’s also possible to combine this tour with a journey back to Sydney aboard the famous Indian Pacific railway, one of the world’s great train adventures.