Araucaria_Ecotours

We specialize in small-group tours with high-quality guiding in natural areas.

Companies that take large groups can spread the travel cost over more passengers and so charge less, but with small groups and a genuine interest in sharing our passion for wildlife, we can walk more quietly in the forest, listen to your questions and cater to your special interests and needs.

It costs us just as much in time and fuel to run a one-person tour as an 8-person tour (although obviously less for meals, accommodation etc.). We never cancel a tour if you do turn out to be the only one on a tour, but we do then need to charge an additional $50.00/day (even then we don't really cover costs, but appreciate it of you can tell others of your experience afterwards).

We also charge an additional $50 per group for an airport pickup or a Gold Coast pickup.

Dates of travel

We do not run tours in the Christmas - New Year period (23 Dec to 2 Jan) or the Easter break, when venues tend to be either closed or very crowded, and traffic is heavy (sometimes crazy!), meaning too much time in the vehicle and not enough at our destinations.

The 3-day wildlife overview tour runs Wednesdays to Fridays throughout the year. except for the Christmas - New Year period (when we are closed from 23 December through to 2nd January) and the week before Easter, (when we run this tour from Tuesday to Thursday instead). We can sometimes also slip in an extra Sunday to Tuesday tour if you give us ample notice.
With ample notice we can also add an extra day to the 3-day wildlife tour to include a day of whale-watching (May to October) or snorkeling/diving.
Our prices are based on a cabin without ensuite on the 2nd night. Let us know if you'd like to upgrade fir a slight extra charge.

The outback tour runs a maximum of four times a year - up to twice in autumn and twice in spring (summer is very hot, and reptiles are not active in winter). Dates vary from year to year based on demand and availability. Let us know well in advance if you'd like to join us (you may even be able to name your dates if far enough in advance). It takes us a full day to reach the start of what we consider the true outback, so to make the travel time worthwhile our tours are usually 6 and sometimes 8 days.

Day-tours run throughout the year, mostly on weekends, Mondays or Tuesdays, but are possible on other days. We recommend weekdays, as weekends often see heavy traffic and crowding if some venues.

Custom tours can be run at almost any time with sufficient notice preferably at least three months).

Booking a tour

A deposit of 10% of the tour price or $50.00 Australian per person (whichever is highest) is required at time of booking, and can be paid by credit card (MasterCard or Visa) or electronic transfer.

Cancellation: the deposit is refundable if cancelled more than 14 days prior to the departure date of the tour.
To book please email us or see our 'contact' page

Children

Children of all ages are very welcome on most of our tours. We generally don't take the very young on birding tours that include other birding guests, as some find it very difficult to be quiet enough. However, we are very happy to take families on birding tours if the children are interested and able to talk quietly, and our other guests for the day are okay with this.

Some children are very fit and love walking, but some are not accustomed to much exercise and tire very quickly - please let us know before the tour the relative fitness of your children so we can plan accordingly.

Rates for Araucaria Ecotours

Day tours (all include lunch and refreshments)

Longer tours

A note on prices

Dates of travel

Booking a tour