Today is set aside as an arrival day with own arrangements for hotel transfers. The tour begins in the late afternoon where we will all convene in the foyer of the hotel, then move on to the restaurant for a welcome dinner where we’ll all acquaint ourselves and chat about the upcoming tour.

Accommodation: Adelaide (en suite rooms). Meals included: D.

After an early breakfast we’ll pack our things, leave the hotel, and start to head north, stopping en route at various local wetlands, saltmarsh and coastal mudflats along the edge of the Gulf of St Vincent. If the tide is in our favour we may be lucky enough to see a range of shorebirds, and we’ll be scouring the mangroves and adjacent shrublands for a few harder to find bush birds. Birds we’ll be on the prowl for include the handsome Banded Stilt, Sooty Oystercatcher, Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Elegant Parrot, Spotted Scrubwren, which is at its eastern limit of its range here, and the elusive Slender-billed (Samphire) Thornbill (subsp. rosinae), plus other waterbirds and shorebirds. If we time it right we can stop in at Dublin for one of their famous garfish rolls.

Accommodation: Port Augusta (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

Following breakfast, we’ll head into the amazing Arid Lands Botanic Garden to look at the plethora of desert vegetation types growing there. The collection of arid country plants here is impressive to say the least, and the landscaping and layout have been carefully thought out and beautifully executed. This botanic garden lies in 250 ha (617 acres) of Western Myall (Acacia papyrocarpa) woodland and chenopod plains on dunes of red sand. Walking tracks take us through mixed plantings that replicate the regional ecosystems of arid South Australia from the ranges to the desert, and around the natural vegetation to viewing points over gulf and garden. Birding here is excellent and we will be on the lookout for Elegant and Mulga Parrot, Rufous Fieldwren, and Southern Whiteface. There is always something in flower, attracting species such as Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Singing Honeyeater, and other nectar- and insect-eating species. We might also be lucky enough to spot Shinglebacks trundling across our path.

We’ll then make our way west to Kimba, home of the Big Galah and some great silo art. On the way to Kimba, we’ll stop in at the extensive mallee of Lake Gillies Conservation Park for a quick check. Birds to search for will be specials like Copperback Quail-thrush, Rufous Treecreeper, Western Yellow Robin, Blue-breasted Fairywren, Southern Scrub-robin, Crested Bellbird, Gilbert’s Whistler, Red-capped Robin and the chance of Malleefowl. If we feel up to it after dinner we may take a drive back into Lake Gillies CP for some spotlighting, with a chance of Spotted Nightjar, Australian Owlet-nightjar or perhaps nocturnal reptiles.

Accommodation: Kimba (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

Today we’ll head out to the Gawler Ranges, a wild and rugged landscape with spinifex dotting the slopes, and bluebush and mallee on the flats. Birds we’ll look for today include Chirruping Wedgebill, Redthroat, Black-eared Cuckoo, White-browed Babbler, Purple-backed Fairywren, Pied Honeyeater, Western Grasswren (subsp myall), Short-tailed Grasswren (subsp pedleri), Pink Cockatoo (subsp mollis) and Red-backed Kingfisher. We will also visit the strange Pildappa Rock, a granite outcrop resembling a petrified wave, or nearby Tcharkuldu Rock. Our base for tonight and tomorrow is a small town in wheat country close to the Gawler Ranges.

Accommodation: Wudinna/Minnipa (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

We have a full day in the Gawler Ranges to try our hand again at finding grasswrens, as well as a few other species typical of the arid zone. Birds of the area include Western & Short-tailed Grasswrens, Ground Cuckoo-shrike, the well-named Splendid Fairywren (subsp callainus/musgravi), ‘Turquoise Fairywren’), Orange & Crimson Chats, Australian Ringneck (Port Lincoln Parrot, subsp zonarius), Mulga Parrot, White-backed Swallow, Black-faced Woodswallow, Southern Whiteface, Crested Bellbird and the possibility of the dapper little Painted Finch. Mammals here include Common Wallaroo (Euro), Western Grey Kangaroo and the rare Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby. If we are in luck, the rare Crimson Mallee (Eucalyptus lansdowneana) might be in flower.

Accommodation: Wudinna/Minnipa (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

We’ll spend a few more hours in the ranges again this morning, before heading to the coast at Ceduna. We’ll look again for Copperback Quail-thrush, Malleefowl, Western (Golden) Whistler, Southern Scrub-robin, Shy Heathwren, Rock & Elegant Parrots, Black Falcon, Grey Currawong (subsp. intermedia) and Inland Thornbill. Ceduna is the last town before the Nullarbor (travelling west) and is approximately halfway between Sydney and Perth.

Accommodation: Ceduna (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

Heading back inland, we make our way toward Yalata, traveling through miles of mallee woodlands and then out on to the wide, open expanse of the Nullarbor Plain and the spectacular Great Australian Bight. The Nullarbor Plain is almost treeless (‘null arbor’) and overlies an enormous expanse of limestone. It extends for more than 1,000 km from Ceduna in South Australia to around Balladonia in Western Australia.

Birds to see en route include Yellow-plumed Honeyeater, Hooded Robin, Australian Ringneck, Striated Pardalote, Spotted Scrubwren, Jacky Winter, Spotted Harrier, Mulga Parrot, Osprey, Sanderling and Hooded Plover. Along the way, if road conditions are suitable, it may be possible to head into Yumbarra Conservation Reserve, an area of sand dunes and water-filled rock holes, to look for Sandhill Grasswren, which is a newly elevated species arising from the break-up of the Pilbara/Rufous complex. There is also the possibility of the rare and nomadic Scarlet-chested Parrot in this area.

Accommodation: Nullarbor (ensuite units). Meals included: B, L, D.

Today we’ll explore the visually stunning Nullarbor Plain and the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight. The Bight was formed when Australia and Antarctica peeled apart during the breakup of Gondwana about 50 million years ago. The limestone of the Nullarbor Plain was laid down on the bed of a warm, shallow sea and uplifted to form a huge expanse of flat land edged by precipitous cliffs. Rain that falls here drains through an extensive cave system. There is life here on the surface and below it. We will go out to Koonalda Homestead, once an important stop on the old Eyre Highway, where we have a good chance of Naretha Blue Bonnet and Nullarbor Quail-thrush. Other birds to look for here are Slender-billed Thornbill (subsp. iredalei), Rufous Fieldwren, Blue-breasted Fairywren, White-winged Fairywren, Orange Chat and the possibility of Inland Dotterel. We might also see Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat at night.

Accommodation: Nullarbor (ensuite units). Meals included: B, L, D.

After breakfast we’ll try again for any birds we may still be missing before making our way east to Streaky Bay on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. Although today is mostly a travel day, we will be birding en route. Birds to look out for include Pacific Gull (subp georgii), Black-faced Cormorant, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Sooty & Pied Oystercatchers, shorebirds and waterbirds.

Accommodation: Streaky Bay (en suite cabins). Meals included: B, L, D.

There will be a bit more driving today as we head south-east through the beautiful Eyre Peninsula, visiting places like picturesque Sceale Bay and Point Labatt for the colony of Australian Sea Lions. We’ll be on the lookout for birds like Western (White-bellied) Whipbird (isolated Eyre Peninsula subsp leucogaster), Rock Parrot, Australian Ringneck, Southern Emu-Wren (isolated Eyre Pen. subsp parimeda), Superb Fairywren (subsp leggei), Cape Barren Goose, Emu, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Purple-gaped Honeyeater, Southern Scrub-Robin, Inland Thornbill, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Diamond Firetail, Dusky Woodswallow, and Brush Bronzewing . We will arrive at Coffin Bay in the afternoon (the slightly sinister name commemorates British Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin).

Accommodation: Coffin Bay (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

The convoluted coastline at the tip of the Eyre Peninsula is a combination of ocean beaches and protected bays that provide habitat for a range of shorebirds. The complex sandy heathland, mallee and sheoak woodland are also home to more elusive species, so we will spend the morning around Coffin Bay NP or Lincoln NP searching the area for Western (White-bellied) Whipbird and Rock Parrot. In the afternoon, we will head north to Whyalla on Spencer Gulf.

Accommodation: Whyalla (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

If we still need Western Grasswren, we will have a quick look around Whyalla this morning before making our way back to Adelaide, where the tour ends.

Accommodation: Adelaide (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

After breakfast, depart Adelaide.

Accommodation: None. Meals included: B.