Limosa - Birdwatching and Wildlife Hoildays Worldwide

Celebrating twenty five years of Limosa tours, join us for a truly unique and extra special birding trip to Australia, and enjoy one of the great railway journeys of the world: The Ghan. Travelling from one side of the vast Australian landmass to the other, it’s an epic transcontinental adventure that will carry us 2,979 km (1,900 miles), across the arid Red Centre of Australia, from tropical Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the temperate south. Aboard The Ghan we shall make the journey in leisurely, air-conditioned comfort, and experience tropical rainforests, arid deserts and temperate woodlands as we go! It’s all a far cry from the original Afghan camel trains that first pioneered the trade routes between southern Australia and the Top End in the 1800s, and after which this amazing railway is named.

The modern day Ghan takes three days and two nights to complete the crossing. But we shall be breaking our journey into two legs, travelling first from Darwin to Alice Springs, and then Alice Springs on to Adelaide.

We begin our tour in Darwin, Australia’s Gateway to Asia, where the coastal mangroves and rainforests teem with exotic birdlife such as Rainbow Pitta, Green-backed Gerygone and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. We’ll visit World Heritage Kakadu, with its ancient rock art and dazzling escarpments home to a trio of localized endemics: Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon, White-throated Grasswren and White-lined Honeyeater. An early morning cruise on the Yellow Water Billabong will be another highlight as we coast silently amongst immaculate Pied Herons, Green Pygmy Geese, whistling-ducks and the lily-trotting Comb-crested Jacanas, all the while keeping a wary eye on those Saltwater Crocodiles as they laze on the banks!

Leaving the lush tropics behind, The Ghan then carries us south to Alice Springs. Here we disembark and break with a detour to the giant red monolith of Uluru, and the true Red Centre of Australia. Desert sunsets with Crimson Chats, Painted Finches and Chiming Wedgebills compete with Red Kangaroos and Frill-necked Lizards for our attention. Fairywrens, grasswrens and emuwrens abound in the spinifex grasses and acacia shrubs while overhead Wedge-tailed Eagles, Spotted Harriers and Black-breasted Buzzards soar effortlessly. While a visit to the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens in Alice Springs is a must for a chance to see Western Bowerbirds and Grey-crowned Babblers.

Overnight on The Ghan again, and we arrive at our southern destination of Adelaide, City of Churches. The cool of the temperate spring is refreshing and the birdlife so different, yet still a wonder – from the blue and orange Adelaide Rosella to the rowdy White-winged Choughs and shy Diamond Firetails. The man-made wetlands of Greenfields yield a myriad waterbirds, with strange looking ducks like Musk and Blue-billed, and of course the famous Black Swan, as well as migratory waders, over-wintering here in unfamiliar plumage.

We stay in the renowned Barossa Valley, seeking Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Musk Lorikeets and Red-rumped Parrots. Across the mighty Murray River, we enter the Mallee zone and take a day to explore Gluepot Reserve, a refuge for the endangered Black-eared Miner and Red-lored Whistler, and home to the remarkable mound-building Malleefowl.

As a finale to this wonderful tour, we complete our sojourn on the shores of Lake Alexandrina, where the Murray meets the Southern Ocean and the birdlife of the Fleurieu Peninsula entices us. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Little Penguins and Australian Spotted Crakes await. But one final treasure is still to come, even as we make our way back for the flight home – a creek-line of Koala filled gum trees on the outskirts of the leafy suburbs of Adelaide, begging for just one last photo! How could you resist?

STOP PRESS! ONLY 2 PLACES LEFT. Please note: early booking is urged for this tour to be certain of your places aboard The Ghan, and for the return flights Alice Springs-Ayers Rock.