In another first of its kind, Rockjumper offers a tour like no other – an opportunity to see a representative of every family to be found in Australasia! Over the course of nearly three weeks, we will visit New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand on our quest to find a representative of each family to be found over this diverse region.
We begin our tour with a pre-tour extension to New Caledonia, a rather large and ancient chip off the once enormous Gondwanaland block. Host to the highly sought after, and only surviving member of its family – the Kagu. In addition to Kagu, we will also seek out specialities such as Goliath Imperial Pigeon (the world’s largest arboreal pigeon), the lovely Cloven-feathered Dove, the rare Horned Parakeet and New Caledonian Cuckooshrike amongst many others.
We next head to the vast continent of Australia, which harbours 6 endemic families, as well as numerous endemic and bizarre wildlife found nowhere else on our planet. Traversing the eastern part of the country, we will cover an incredible variety of habitats ranging from lush expanses of dense tropical rainforest to the dry endless stretches of the desolate outback. Major targets we hope to find include Plains-wanderer, Southern Cassowary, Albert’s Lyrebird, Regent Bowerbird, Striated Pardalote, Australian Logrunner, Varied Sitella, Chowchilla, Atherton Scrubwren, Apostlebird, Spotted Quail-thrush and Rufous Bristlebird but the extended list of mouth-watering endemics is truly phenomenal!
We finish the main tour in New Zealand, which despite its small size is host to an incredible 6 endemic families! Beginning in Auckland, we search for North Island Brown Kiwi before spending a day on Tiritiri Matangi Island to find the prehistoric South Island Takahe, North Island Saddleback, the strange North Island Kokako and unique Stitchbird. Our final destination of the tour will be Stewart Island, home to Southern Brown Kiwi, Yellowhead, New Zealand Kaka and Rifleman.
*2024 Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Client TestimonialsTour price (Per person): AUD15,495 * USD10,363 * GBP8,395 * EUR9,536
Single Supplement: AUD2,200 * USD1,471 * GBP1,192 * EUR1,354
Flight costs: AUD2,500 * USD1,672 * GBP1,354 * EUR1,539
Tour price (Per person): AUD17,600 * USD11,771 * GBP9,535 * EUR10,831
Steve Davidson is a superb guide. He has a vast knowledge of Australian birds, other wildlife, and plants. He has a keen ear and I appreciated that he described what he was hearing. We had challenges in terms of Covid and flooding, and he very responsibly addressed both issues. I truly don't know how he had the stamina to guide, drive the extra miles on detours, and organize the needed diversions from the itinerary.
We traveled through strangely beautiful and interesting areas and were able to get great birds – almost all the endemics of the area. Angus was good at finding the birds which often involved traveling to very remote and isolated places for 1 or 2 species. I love Australian birds – beautiful, unique, often loud and delightful. The Lake Argyle cruise was fabulous and the Yellow River cruise was a great break from riding in the van and seeing water birds from a distance.
Glen was excellent at finding the birds and keeping track of who had not yet seen specific birds. By the end of the tour there were very few birds not seen by all in the group.
Erik Forsyth did a great job, and both his remarkable knowledge and his unflagging good humor were indispensable; I look forward to traveling with him again in the future.
It was a fantastic trip. Very satisfying and Angus did a great job : he really showed us the birds and took great care that we had everything we wanted and were able to enjoy our tour.