Nature Tours Tasmania: Get Close to Wildlife

Nature Tours Tasmania; Keeping the Campfires Burning to Welcome Back Travellers…..

Here we are, five months into a global pandemic. Like many businesses around the world, due to the health implications, travel restrictions and border closures, Pepper Bush had its customer supply severed on the 21st March 2020. Many international clients are now unable to travel and have cancelled holiday plans which has left us with a long list of cancellations. We have been working with our supplying travel agents to reschedule as many nature, wildlife, food & wine tours as possible to 2021 and 2022. In reality we don’t really know if it will be safe to travel next year or the next, but we will continue to be hopeful and reschedule the tours as they become closer.

Operations Update – As the COVID-19 virus rampages around the world, many businesses have already been forced to close and may never recover and more businesses will close in the future. Although Pepper Bush is currently a company without customers, we are fortunate to have had some funds in reserve to kick on for a bit longer. All insurances, licences and permits have been renewed for 2020-2021. Tour vehicles continue to have their scheduled services and inspections and all transport accreditation obligations are being met. It is almost like an unfortunate case of ‘we are open but you can’t come in’.

Maintenance – Since the Tasmanian and Australian two month lockdown of April and May, Bushie, Ben and Janine have been keeping busy. The Quoll Patrol venue verandah has been replaced. Weekly clean-up and maintenance is ongoing and lots of other smaller jobs continue to be completed with much more to do. If we are able to continue our wildlife tours into the future, we are confident that the work we are doing on the venue and with the wildlife will create an improved experience.

YouTube – Janine is putting together a catalogue of video content for Pepper Bush’s two YouTube Channels. The YouTube channels have been added to our website main menu and will continue to be updated. We hope that the videos will help potential clients decide to tour with us once the virus has a solution and borders are reopened. We offer a diverse range of nature tours around Tasmania. See our YouTube Pepper Bush Product Channel and the Pepper Bush Team Vlog Channel.

Wildlife & Nature Tours Tasmania – The stars of the Pepper Bush operations have to be our wonderful furry and feathered friends. With no customers, Bushie, Ben and Janine continue to visit the wildlife so that they remain interactive at our venues. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it…hahaha. We are very much enjoying having the time to do what many of our clients have enjoyed doing for the past 20+ years.

The kangaroos continue to multiply with over ten joeys in pouches at present. Honk and Harry, our Cape Barren geese, have a nest full of eggs so we are hopeful of chicks in a few weeks. The pademelons, brush-tail possums and eastern quolls are there after sunset and the wombats and Bennett’s wallabies continue to graze close by.

Product Review – We have reviewed our product catalogue and realise that there may be need for changes. The vineyards have not reopened in the same format as they operated pre-covid. If this remains, we will have need to omit some of our vineyard tours from our tour catalogue. Janine has conferenced with Bushie and Ben about the realisation that there is currently no birding or birdwatching tours departing northern Tasmania. Ben is a keen birder and as both Ben and Bushie have incorporated birdwatching into our wildlife tours so we are excited about offering one, two and three day specialist birding experiences.

Coming Soon – Janine will be working on updating the website featuring our new birding tours which will very nicely compliment our wildlife tours. Vineyard tours will remain in the background with a caution note, and will not be a focus. Video and photographic sessions with Bushie and Ben will be on-going to gather a catalogue of content for Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to help relaunch Pepper Bush Adventures once it is safe for international travel to resume and for the borders to be opened.

Round-up – Pepper Bush Adventures is currently a company without customers. We are fortunate to have had some funds in reserve to be able to meet all operational financial obligations for the coming twelve months. Operations and product review and refinement is ongoing and we are enthusiastic about what we will be offering post COVID-19. Bushie, Ben & Janine remain committed to introduce travellers to their pocket of north east Tasmania in Bushie’s Backyard. We will endeavour in keeping the campfires burning, until the world once again opens up.

Pepper Bush Adventures will be operating under a COVID Plan and our private touring policy will remain in place. Customer and employee safety will be paramount. We will be doing our best to be ready for the time when “we are open and you can come in”. Team Pepper Bush hopes to see you soon.

Pepper Bush Hashtags #pepperbushtas #tasmanianwildlifetours #bushiesbackyard #quollpatroltas #gobirdingwithben

Great personalised tour of Ben Lomond I did a personal tour of Ben Lomond National Park in early November 2022. I enjoyed my experience thoroughly. You need a certain type of vehicle to get into Ben Lomond National Park and I found it fascinating. My guide made plenty of stops along the way, I had lots of photo opportunities and the scenery is just stunning. I highly recommend. It's a great spot off the beaten track that a lot of tourists dont' think to go to. The wildlife is lovely as well as the lookouts and scenery. Very peaceful place. Even received some delicious fresh sandwiches from the award winning scottsdale bakery. Yum :) Thanks for a great half day trip.

Michelle P

25/02/2023

Tassie wildlife We did a 3 night / 2 day tour enjoying both Mt William & Ben Lomond NP our guide was informative and the meals supplied were more than sufficient The best part was watching the playful baby quolls enjoying their evening seach for food, so small, playful and moved so fast

MAW

09/12/2022

Lifelong memories My wife and I had booked the Canopy Capers’ excursion with ‘Pepperbush Adventures’ as part of our road trip in Tasmania. Ben came promptly at 5 pm and we were taken to a nearby irrigation pond to look for platypuses. Whilst there were a few glimpses it was very difficult to see as it was quite windy so the water was quite rippled. We left there and drove to an area of private land where there was a small cabin overlooking a lake. There were some kookaburras, and we saw some pademelons and some possums. Ben prepared a meal for us to eat - there was an appetiser tray of smoked wallaby and smoked chicken, salmon, grapes and strawberries. After that he cooked steaks on the barbecue which we had a with some beans, new potatoes and salad. We finished off with some cheesecake and fruit. There was wine and soft drinks to accompany our meal - pre-arranged with the company. We stayed until it got dark. Although the animal sightings were rather scant, this was offset by the passionate and educational input from Ben. He is the consummate host / guide and we greatly enjoyed learning so much about the flora and fauna of the area. The next day we enjoyed a full day out with Ben on another excursion - aptly named ‘The Quoll Patrol’. Ben arrived just before 11 am as arranged. We had another look for platypuses but again the sightings were fleeting even though it was much less windy. We then had a long drive into Ben Lomond National Park in the extreme north-east of Tasmania. We had periodic stops, whenever there was a wildlife sighting or a point of interest. We had a stop at a lookout where we had lunch - rolls and sandwiches bought from the cottage bakery back in Scottsdale. We drove further up to reach Ben Lomond village - it was only 5 degrees there. We stopped to look at the interesting geological formations - 300 metre tall dolorite columns with huge areas of rocky boulders beneath. Ben dropped us at the village - we did a short trail for about 20 minutes where we met up with him again waiting for us in the car. We drove back down from the National Park and again made a number of stops, smelling and tasting some of the roadside plants. We reached our final destination, a cabin surrounded by pasture. Ben set the fire and we were able to view and feed the kangaroos which lived there - it was an unofficial nature reserve of about 100 acres. The original kangaroos had come from Bonorong and now numbered about 40. It was a very engaging experience watching the kangaroos as we had our first course - a range of appetisers similar to the previous day. Ben then prepared wallaby meatballs with onions and courgettes. We thought this was the main course but later we were given some salmon and salad - my wife couldn’t eat any more as she was full already. The dessert course was chocolate fudge cake served with raspberries and blackberries. During the evening we sat beside the fire, watching the Eastern Quolls appearing, followed by the pademelons and finally the possums. As it got dark there was a long drive back to Scottsdale. We were exhausted at the end of the day but felt utterly thrilled by the experiences we had. As a guide Ben is truly fantastic. His personable nature, coupled with his commitment to the natural world, will remain in our memories. We thoroughly enjoyed his company - such a kind and generous spirited man. PS. We went to the irrigation pond on our last day as we were leaving Scottsdale and guess what - we saw two platypuses at the surface of the water. We managed to bag some quality photos - result! Thanks again, Ben. You’re a top guy. Good luck with your new hobby of crafting in metalwork.

Owen Thesaints

07/12/2022

A fantastic wildlife experience The 2 days we spent with Craig was the highlight for us of a month travelling around Tasmania and a fantastic opportunity to see wildlife, especially the nocturnal creatures you don't usually get to meet. Craig has a wealth of knowledge and experience of living in the bush, so we learned alot about the flora and fauna of the north-east part of Tasmania and saw platypus on several occasions, along with wallabies, echidnas , kangaroos and, padmelons during the day. The Canopy Capers and Quoll Patrol experiences are both amazing. After a great meal in the open air, we watched as the wildlife drew near at dusk - possums, quolls, wombats. It's an incredible, magical experience, I can't recommend enough.

Island Sue

10/04/2020

A great wildlife experience A great day with Bushy seeing visiting Ben Lomond, learning so much about the flora and fauna of Tasmania, topped off by a delicious bush meal, sharing the site with possums, quolls, wombats and more

D H

31/03/2020

A Wonderful Backwoods Experience With Bushy The Ben Lomand and Quoll Patrol adventure was fantastic. We drove up Jacob's ladder at Ben Lomand and Bushy took us into the forest for exploring. Dinner at the cabin and the night adventure with the Kangaroos, Wallabies, Paddymellons and Quolls was a highlight. You can't believe the wildlife here.

Laura R

24/03/2020

Marvellous Some good walks and opportunity for wildlife viewing. The evening barbecue with kangaroos, wallabies and quolls was magical. A very good insight into local life - the farming and cheese making. Fabulous scenery all around.

Sally G

11/03/2020

Amazing We had a 1 day tour with Craig and it was truly amazing. Started with a sighting of a platypus and then an echidna. A great scenic drive up Ben Lomond via Jacob's ladder and then sightings of some iconic wildlife including wombats, quolls, tawny frogmouths and wallaby's and kangaroos. The bush supper with quality wines was a great success. We loved the whole experience.

LondonWelshboyo

07/02/2020

Outstanding bush experience, some of the best wildlife viewing in Tasmania We thought we had already had some amazing wildlife experiences in Tasmania, but Ben's Quoll Patrol with us was truly over the top. Lots of wildlife, including a number of elusive quolls. You have to see it all to believe it! Kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, bushy-tailed opossums, eastern quolls, short-snouted echidna, come to mind. Meeting his mob of kangaroos is an experience not to be missed. And on top of it all, Ben cooked us an excellent meal out there in the bush. All in all, a very memorable experience.

LafayetteJohn

Outstanding experience in the Tasmanian bush We spent 9 hours with Craig who took us to the Ben Lomond National Park and its surroundings, watching for a wide variety of Tasmanian wildlife. This ended with an excellent and copious dinner he cooked around a fire in the open surrounded by Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Pademelon, Possums....and even sighting a platypus and a quoll. We are amazed by the extent of Craig's knowledge of the bush, its flora and fauna and his ability to communicate his passion for them to us. He enabled us to experience at first hand many examples of the plants and animals unique to Tasmania. An amazing and unforgettable experience.

Peter B

26/01/2020

Product and Operations

Keeping the Campfires Burning

Nature Tours Tasmania; Keeping the Campfires Burning to Welcome Back Travellers…..

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