VICTORIA
Otways – 3 days
The vegetation of the Otway Ranges is best known for the western limit of cool temperate rainforest, dominated by myrtle beech ( Nothofagus) and of wet sclerophyll eucalypt forest dominated by mountain ash ( Eucalyptus regnans).

Grampians – 4 days
The Grampians represent an isolated series of mountain ranges surrounded by plains, resulting in a diverse flora of about 1000 species including many endemics and highly disjunct taxa. Vegetation ranges from wet forests and heathlands in the valleys to low woodlands and shrublands on the higher peaks.

Mildura – 5 days
Mildura, on the River Murray, is in the semi-arid zone of Australia. The area is a mosaic of landforms and ecosystems, some of which are rare and threatened. River red gums fringe the river, surrounded by saltbush plains, mallee woodlands and Murray Pine woodlands on sand ridges and dunes.

Wilsons Promontory – 4 days
Wilsons Promontory National Park consists of a large peninsula connected to the rest of Victoria by a narrow, low sandy isthmus. The vegetation is diverse with floristic and biogeographic links to Tasmania and includes heathlands, banksia woodland, eucalypt woodlands and forests as well as cool temperate rainforest of myrtle beech and warm temperate rainforest dominated by lilly pilly.

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne &
Cranbourne – Day trip
The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne is a treasured icon of Melbourne life.
The Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne is the site of a significant research program on the impact of urbanisation on the natural environment.

Dandenongs – Day trip
The Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne contain a range of forest types. They are the home of spectacular tall mountain ash forests, cool temperate rainforest gullies of sassafras and significant species such as the slender tree fern ( Cyathea cunninghamii).

TASMANIA
4 days
Participants will experience the unique environments of Tasmania that have lead to one-third of the island being declared as World Heritage Area. The trip will cover a range of Gondwanan cool temperate forests, sedgelands and lakes to alpine shrubberies with unique cushion plant communities.

Dandenongs – Day trip
The Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne contain a range of forest types. They are the home of spectacular tall mountain ash forests, cool temperate rainforest gullies of sassafras and significant species such as the slender tree fern ( Cyathea cunninghamii).

NEW SOUTH WALES
Sydney Basin – 2 days
The Sydney Basin supports a magnificent range of plants, vegetation types and geology (sandstone, shale and basalt) within 150 km of Sydney.

Sydney to Brisbane – 4 days
From warm temperate Sydney 1,000 km north to subtropical Brisbane, through the McPherson – Macleay centre of biodiversity and endemism, the route will be mainly along the coast where many of the typically Australian genera will be in flower in late winter – early spring, in a wide range of habitats.

QUEENSLAND
Reef, Rainforest and Beyond: Tropical Far North Queensland beginning and ending in Cairns - 10 days
It will explore plant communities and landscapes under rainfall regimes which range from less than 800 mm to well in excess of 3,500 mm per annum. The excursion will provide participants with an appreciation of the diverse flora of this region and the ecological processes which have shaped it.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The Flinders Ranges – 5 days
The Flinders Ranges are an ancient mountain range rich in geological, cultural and natural heritage. Vegetation communities range from chenopod shrublands, cypress pine ( Callitris glaucophylla) woodlands and magnificent river red gums. Ediacra fossils have given the Flinders a significant position in geological history.

NORTHERN TERRITORY
Kakadu – 3 days
Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage site in northern Australia, is a core area of plant biodiversity and the location of the oldest archaeological sites in Australia. Kakadu provides a unique experience of Australian monsoon forests.

Central Australian MacDonnell Ranges
– 4 days
These central Australian ancient sandstone ranges contain some magnificent outback landscapes, ancient riverbeds and deep gorges. Although arid, the ranges support a wide diversity of plants including majestic ghost gums, Cabbage Palms ( Livistona mariae) and cycads ( Macrozamia macdonnelli) of famous Palm Valley and Kings Canyon, thought to be relicts of the region’s tropical past.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Southwest Australian Global Biodiversity Hotspot – 5 days
One of the oldest and botanically most interesting landscapes on Earth. With 8000 species, half of these endemic, and 2500 of conservation concern, the trip will highlight plant richness and the formidable conservation challenges facing the flora.

Monsoonal tropics from Kununurra to Broome – 5 days
Experience Australia’s remote Kimberley region in a journey through the monsoonal savannah and desert edge, covering rugged red earth and spinifex hummock grasslands, monsoonal vine thickets, tropical wetlands, and sandstone plateau country.