In a land of beauty, congenial hospitality and comfortable travel, colorful and exotic birdlife awaits us. If you have not birded Australia before, almost every bird is new to you. If you already have visited, a lot is left to see, given its 332 endemic species, 820+ total species and vast distances across the continent.

Queensland, the sunshine state and the premier state to bird in Australia, offers the best in birdlife and is readily amenable to traveling by RV. We will be able to drive and camp right where the birding action is best, in hotspots like Cairns and Brisbane and in national parks such as The Crater, Mount Spec, Eungelia and Lamington.

The rainforests of Queensland yield a disproportionately high number of endemic birds, many localized to the areas we will travel, such as the attractive Green Catbird, Regent Bowerbird and Paradise Riflebird we can find at Mount Glorious or the Mangrove Honeyeater in Brisbane. While in that area we can see Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Red-browed Pardalote and Spotted Quail-Thrush.

Here’s a taste of what else is on our itinerary and a few of the Australian endemics found in each site: Mount Coot-tha for Southern Boobook and Tawny Frogmouth; Lamington National Park for Glossy Black-Cockatoo, Albert’s Lyrebird, Rufous Scrub-bird and Olive Whistler; Mount Spec for Lesser Sooty-Owl, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater and Bower’s Shrike-Thrush.

Queensland is noted for its white-sand beaches and, of course, the Great Barrier Reef which stretches 1240 miles from Bundaberg northward.

We will visit the magnificent reef, the longest in the world, by boat from Cairns for snorkeling and seabirds such as Black Noddy, Great and Lesser Frigatebirds, Pacific Reef-Egret, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Black-naped Tern, and several thousand Sooty Terns.

Southwest of Cairns, we will travel through the Atherton Tablelands, a World Heritage Site known as the Wet Tropics. Atop a high volcanic plateau rising to over 3200 feet, we will bird in the dark, cool rainforests searching for Tooth-billed Catbird, Golden Bowerbird, Fernwren, Mountain Thornbill and Chowchilla. Gray-headed Robins and Bridled Honeyeaters are common. At Hasties Swamp we can watch for Plumed Whistling-Ducks and see Sarus Cranes flying to roost at dusk. We will camp in the rainforests at the northern end of the Atherton Tablelands near Mount Lewis where Victoria’s Riflebird , Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher and Yellow-breasted Boatbill are found. At the campground, Red-necked Crakes are seen near dusk at the pool and Noisy Pittas are quite tame. At the creek behind the park, platypuses paddle. Southern Cassowaries are near our campground at Mission Beach and at various stops along our trip we will search for owls at night, including Rufous Owl, Barking Owl, Masked-Owl and Eastern Grass Owl. Known for its parrots, we should find Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Australian King-Parrot, Crimson Rosella and many more. The incredibly colorful Rainbow Lorikeets can come within fingertips reach.

We will be renting RV’s for travel, sleeping and many meals. Typically, these are Class B turbo diesel vehicles accommodating two adults and including double bed, gas stove, refrigerator, microwave, shower, toilet, air-conditioning/heating, pressurized hot & cold water and radio/CD player. Also included are linen, bedding and kitchen equipment.

Details on pricing and schedule are pending.

In addition to our RV travels, we plan on offering pre-tour and post-tour optional trips. Possibilities include Tasmania, Darwin, New Zealand and others, details pending.

If Australia is in your future plans and you would like to be the first to know the details for our caravan, send an e-mail to Bert Frenz at bert2@bafrenz.com. Also check his website for details as they develop, at www.bafrenz.com.

This tour is certainly destined to be a memorable adventure.