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December marked the month when I headed back to Australia, specifically to Victoria and Tasmania in search of some of the most sought-after mammals and birds. In fact, we were treated to an incredible couple of week, capturing some stunning images. Having lived in Australia and really kicked off my career with my imagery from that time, it is always a delight to share my passion with others and show them the magical wildlife of the Antipodes. So, as per usual, I'll stop waffling and get on to the imagery.   As you can see, our first couple of days in Victoria were really rewarding and we had some great views of a koala and a family of tawny frogmouths. There was plenty more on offer here, though, with a plethora of other birds such as emu and also purple swamphen.  After a great few days on the mainland, it was time to head south to the stunning wilderness island of Tasmania.   One of the absolute highlights of this trip, is the opportunity to see and photograph the monotremes of Australia. For those of you that aren't sure what a monotreme is, it is an egg-laying mammal. There are only three surviving members of this bizarre, ancient lineage of mammal and Tasmania is home to two of them. The short-beaked echidna (often known as the spiny-anteater) is a an oddity, but the aquatic platypus takes it up another level. We were rewarded with several views of both species, and, as you can see, the photographic rewards were fantastic.     Cradle mountain is always one of the most rewarding locations for photography, with wallabies, wombats, echidnas and the characterful currawongs always providing plenty of opportunity. We also visit the Tasmanian devil breeding centre so the group can see these increasingly rare predators.  We had an absolutely incredible couple of weeks in Australia and with another trip scheduled for February, it was great to be back down under. If you'd like to join me in 2027 or 2028, be sure to book your place with Wildlife Worldwide.
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I was really lucky to be heading off once again to Australia back in February, with a highlight being the trip to the states of Victoria and Tasmania with Wildlife Worldwide. It's always fantastic exploring these magnificent parts of this vast country, searching out some of the most iconic wildlife Australia has on offer. Flying into Melbourne, we had a couple of days around Geelong, where we were able to focus our efforts on a number of different mammals and birds. My group had a great time photographing the emus of Serendip Sanctuary, while we were lucky with a number of other local residents.    After a fabulous few days exploring some of the wonderful places around Geelong, we headed back to Melbourne for our flight across the Bass Strait to Launceston in Tasmania. We had 10-days to explore the magnificent wildlife and landscapes of this incredible island. Lost in time, Tasmania still supports a number of species that are now hard to find on the mainland, while there's also a few endemic birds to enjoy. I hope you enjoy the selection of imagery, it really is a wonderful place and I urge you to discover it for yourself.    As you can see, we struck gold with the two monotreme (egg-laying mammal) species found in Tasmania - the platypus and the short-beaked echidna. Meanwhile, the birdlife was pretty exceptional too.     Australia is rightly famed for its diverse array of marsupials. It is safe to say we were not disappointed with the sightings or photographic opportunities of these iconic mammals.       It's also worth mentioning that the landscapes of Tasmania are pretty exceptional and we were blessed with some amazing weather - particularly up at Cradle Mountain ...  If you'd like to find out more, or join me on one of these photographic tours, please do get in touch. Alternatively, please visit the Wildlife Worldwide website to find out more.
I absolutely love being in the Antipodes as the wildlife here is not only unique, but it is utterly captivating, and so it was a delight to head back and spend another couple of weeks searching for and photographing some icons. Just as we did in the previous trip, we started on the mainland of Australia, photographing wildlife in the state of Victoria, before flying across the Bass Strait to Tasmania. Around the city of Geelong, we enjoyed photographing a wealth of wildlife including corellas, emu, eastern grey kangaroo, grey-headed flying fox and koala too.     After a fantastic few days photographing the wild delights of the mainland, including some Australian oddities, we hopped on a plane from Melbourne down to the city of Launceston in Tasmania. From here we headed to the Tasmania arboretum for some great platypus sightings and photography.  We then headed up into the hills and spent the next five days just immersing ourselves in the wild world of Tasmania's rugged mountains. Here photographic highlights included tiger snake, wombat, wallabies and several endemic birds.    We headed back down from Tasmania's Highlands back down towards the coast and stopped once again at the Tasmanian Arboretum. We thought our previous visit was remarkable for the platypus encounters we enjoyed, but this time it was exceptional. The absolute highlight was a pair of platypus fighting after an attempt at mating.    Over the next few days we continued by exploring the north-east of Tasmania, enjoying more wonderful photography opportunities including Forrester's kangaroos.    After a great period photographing in the northern reaches of Tasmania, it was time to head south towards Hobart. We spent an evening in Hobart, primarily as a rest stop, before heading over to Bruny Island the following day. Here, we would be staying close to the Inala property and our hope was to photograph some of the region's iconic birdlife including the forty-spotted pardalote.    As you can see, we had a magical couple of weeks photographing some of Australia's most sought-after species. It was great to be back in the bush and seeing some of my favourite Aussie wildlife.
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