Join our extraordinary conservation-focused nature tour on the Far South Coast of NSW. Specifically developed for those seeking to deepen their connection with nature, this immersive experience will have you actively engaged in conservation and citizen science, also learning about innovative land regeneration.
Guests will have the opportunity to walk with marine and terrestrial ecologists, first nations people and learn about collaborative approaches to ‘caring for country’. Stay in eco-conscious accommodation at secluded and tranquil Tanja Lagoon Camp, and be one of the first explorers to stay at Yambulla, an off-grid, sustainable lodge deep in the valleys of South East NSW.
Enjoy wholesome, locally sourced meals, warm evening campfire stories, and leave the tour knowing you have made a positive impact on the places you have visited.
All the while you will be making new friends with like minded travellers.
Activity level: Easy to Moderate – General fitness for canoeing and walking would be preferable. However, all activities can be adapted to meet the needs of the group.
Accessibility: Both Tanja Lagoon Camp and Yambulla have accessible rooms. We welcome the chance to discuss your individual situation and are happy to answer any questions you may have.
Starting: Pick-ups from Eden, Merimbula and Tathra or meet at Tanja Lagoon Camp from 14:00
Finish: Drop offs from Midday in Eden, Merimbula & Tathra
5 nights / 6 days
Medium (Grade 4)
Visit our activity rating page for more info
$3,995 per person, based on two adults twin or double sharing,
Minimum of 4 guests and maximum of 8 guests, additional charge for less than 4 guests
Essential Information
If you cancel some of all portions of your booking the cancellation terms set out below will apply. A cancellation will only be effective when we receive written confirmation that you have sent to your relevant sales representative of the cancellation. If you cancel a trip:
(a) 56 days or more prior to departure, we will hold your deposit amount as a credit
(b) between 56 days and 28 days, we charge a cancellation fee of 20% of the total booking cost
(c) between 28 and 14 days prior to departure, we charge a cancellation fee of 60% of the total booking cost
(d) 14 days of fewer prior to departure, we charge a cancellation fee of 100% of the booking cost.
If you are cancelling due to COVID, please see our special COVID T&Cs below terms and conditions
If we cancel your tour, you have the choice of a 100% credit or refund of all monies paid to us. Except when your tour is cancelled due to a Force Majeure Event (defined in our terms and conditions)
Check-in to Tanja Lagoon Camp (2pm), located on the edge of a wild coastal lagoon, surrounded by the spectacular spotted gum forests of the Mimosa Rocks National Park.
This will be our luxurious home for two nights, each spacious and self-contained safari tent or eco-cabin comes complete with a private deck, insect netting, heating, ensuite bathroom and fully equipped kitchen.
For your first afternoon you’ll participate in a heart-felt Welcome to Country on behalf of the Yuin Nation, followed by a bush tucker walk, where we will search for and learn about traditional bush foods and medicine plants.
In the evening we’ll enjoy dinner at the Meeting Place, prepared for us by prestigious local restaurant Pividori’s.
After dinner we will gather around the campfire for a hot drink and story-telling under a star-filled sky. We may be lucky enough to hear the powerful owl, yellow bellied glider (both threatened species) and the chorus of frogs in the nearby habitat dam. Either way, you will sit back, relax and enjoy the company of your travelling companions and guides.
Accommodation: Tanja Lagoon Camp
Included activities: Welcome to country & bush tucker walk
Meals: Afternoon tea and dinner
Drinks: A selection of non-alcoholic drinks and a responsible amount of beer & wine (1 to 2 glasses per/person) are included; if you would like more please BYO.
Wake to the sound of bird song, cory in your lagoon-side camp. Listen out for the chuckles of the iconic kookaburra and chimes of the bell birds. Scan the skies for white-bellied sea eagles. Join our aquatic ecologist for a canoe in Middle Lagoon as you watch the sunrise over the ocean landscape. Photograph the prolific display of bird life and learn about the ecology and importance of this habitat in combating climate change.
Breakfast will be served in the property’s Meeting Place after your canoe tour.
From here we’ll take a 7min drive to Bithry Inlet in the Mimosa Rocks National park for a guided walk and make an active contribution to Citizen Science as we document the biodiversity we encounter along the walk.
This activity is facilitated by local group Atlas of Life, which maps the biodiversity of the coastal wilderness, and your observations will be documented in the iNaturalist app.
The walk starts at the beach and follows the coast as it traverses cliff tops, headlands and timbered woodlands. This trail is abundant with animal and birdlife, and you may spot eastern grey kangaroos, swans and in the right season, whales.
There will be plenty of rest stops to enjoy nature along the way and a wholesome morning tea.
We’ll return to Tanja Lagoon Camp for a picnic lunch that you can enjoy in the forest, by the lagoon or in the comfort of your own cabin.
We’ll be taking it easy this afternoon allowing you time to upload your ecology sightings into the iNaturalist app with help from our guides. Or, you can use this time to explore the property, visiting the natural habitat dams and nearby Gillards or Middle Beach. There is plenty to see and do and our guides are happy to help facilitate activities for you.
Tonight will be another hearty chef-prepared meal featuring locally grown, harvested and produced ingredients. Once the darkness sets in, our terrestrial ecologists will take you on a nocturnal walk where we spot and listen out for the yellow-bellied gliders, owls, frogs and other nocturnal wildlife. The forest will come alive all around you, before you settle in your comfortable bed.
Accommodation: Tanja Lagoon Camp
Included activities: Middle Lagoon canoe tour, coastal walk Mimosa Rocks NP & Citizen Science with Atlas of Life, nocturnal walk with terrestrial ecologists
Meals: Breakfast, morning tea, lunch & chef’s gourmet dinner
Drinks: A selection of non-alcoholic drinks and a responsible amount of beer & wine (1 to 2 glasses per/person) are included; if you would like more please BYO.
After a late night it’s time for a relaxing morning. Early risers are welcome to take a self-guided canoe trip on the still waters of Middle Lagoon. For everyone else, we’ll see you at breakfast.
After breakfast, we will depart camp at 9am for our journey south to Yambulla, with a few fascinating stops along the way.
We’ll visit the Tathra Headland and historic Tathra Wharf for a spectacular all-abilities walk with sweeping ocean vistas, spotting dolphins, sea birds and possibly whales before continuing on to Broadwater Oyster farm in Pambula Lake.
Once we arrive at Broadwater Oysters, we’ll be taken on a farm tour where the oyster growers themselves will share the magic of oyster farming. We’ll learn about the award winning farming practices and sustainable aquaculture of the region. At the end of the tour we’ll have a hand at shucking our own oysters.
We can’t leave this spectacular location without a seafood and cheese platter to be enjoyed in the natural-bush gardens overlooking Pambula Lake.
The drive from Eden to Yambulla is only 1.5 hours, but it feels like we are journeying a world away. As we travel deep into the South East Forest it’s not unlikely that we’ll be pausing to spot wedge tailed eagles above, or the abundant wildlife that lives deep in the forest.
The road is a well maintained dirt track through forest and half the adventure is this drive to the next stage of your journey.
Once you arrive at Yambulla, we know you won’t want to leave.
You’ll instantly feel at home in this secluded, beautifully designed off-grid lodge.
Yambulla lodge comprises four rooms with large ensuites. Each room looks towards Mt Yambulla, over old grazing lands, lands now occupied by eastern grey kangaroos, wallabies, black cockatoos and burgeoning forest.
Enjoy the large communal space, relax and further unwind with a good book or cup of tea. If compelled, you could take a dip in the natural infinity swimming pool.
Tonight you’ll be hosted by Jim Osborne, custodian of this large piece of land. While he prepares our evening feast Jim will share the Yambulla story. The story is of an ever-evolving exploration into how to repair, regenerate and sustainably manage former grazing land like this in Australia.
Accommodation: Yambulla Sustainable Lodge
Included activities: Breakfast at Tanja Lagoon Camp, travel to Pambula Lake, Broadwater oyster tour and shucking activities, travel to Twofold Bay, ocean tour on board Cat Balou, citizen science activities, travel to Yambulla.
Meals: Breakfast, lakeside platter, picnic lunch & special host-prepared meal
Drinks: A selection of non-alcoholic drinks and a responsible amount of beer & wine (1 to 2 glasses per/person) are included; if you would like more please BYO.
Wake up rested to the sight of Mt Yambulla as the morning sun slowly filters down the mountain and over the lodge. We’ll indulge in a hearty home cooked breakfast before setting off into the day’s activities.
This morning we’ll be taken on an orientation tour of the property by Jim, who will share how he came to reject European farming methods and to view the land in a different way to most. We’ll walk the woodland grainfields where indigenous land managers from Black Duck Foods are nurturing and harvesting native grain, now being used in making sourdough by local bakers Wild Rye, and in beer making.
We’ll discover the land’s unique waterways and learn about interventions Jim and the riparian team at Yambulla are initiating in order to increase wildlife habitat and soil hydration.
We’ll learn about the collaboration strategy for a fully-sustainable, long-term timber plantation. How impressive organisation Wood4Good are creating a native food forest out of a bushfire affected plantation at Yambulla. A resilient ecosystem is being created, focused on biodiversity, native foods and sustainable timber.
During our tour with Jim we’ll be servicing the many camera traps which are set up around the property in order to record and capture the inhabitants of this wild forest.
After a hearty lunch at the lodge, the more active and adventurous in the group might like to go for a bush walk on the property.
This evening we’ll sit down by one of the billabongs on the Yambulla Creek looking for the resident shy platypus, and listening to and recording frogs for a survey.
On our way home to the lodge we’ll keep our eyes and ears peeled for the elusive Australian nocturnal creatures. Once back at the lodge we’ll enjoy a decadent final meal of the day.
Accommodation: Yambulla Sustainable Lodge
Included activities: Property tour, grainfield and land management talk and tour, camera trap clearing, hike Mt Yambulla, Citizen Science, evening platypus sighting and frog survey, nocturnal walk.
Meals: Cooked breakfast, hearty lunch & host’s gourmet dinner
Drinks: A selection of non-alcoholic drinks and a responsible amount of beer & wine (1 to 2 glasses per/person) are included; if you would like more please BYO.
Now you know the property, you might rise early and take a walk through the forest. You won’t be disappointed as the golden sun wakes up all the forest’s inhabitants.
Return to the lodge for a hearty breakfast before we again spend time exploring, being immersed in the conservation and rehabilitation projects of Yambulla.
In the evening, we’ll again head to the billabongs of Yambulla Creek to try our luck at spotting the elusive platypus, and recording our frog sightings. Then once again we’ll be treated to a stunning home cooked meal at the lodge, celebrating the final night of our conservation connection retreat.
We intend that by this time you will have a greater understanding of and appreciation of how Yambulla is navigating three of the most important issues of our time:
Accommodation: Yambulla Sustainable Lodge
Included activities: Property tours and talks, immersion in sustainable land practices and relationships with First Nations people, evening platypus sighting and frog survey, nocturnal walk.
Meals: Cooked breakfast, hearty lunch & host’s gourmet dinner
Drinks: A selection of non-alcoholic drinks and a responsible amount of beer & wine (1 to 2 glasses per/person) are included; if you would like more please BYO.
Enjoy soaking up your surroundings, as we know you won’t want to leave Yambulla.
Embark on one last early morning walk, and enjoy a final cup of tea on the deck or perhaps one last dip in the natural pool.
Take a moment to breathe in this incredible location, for after breakfast we’ll depart this slice of paradise.
As we travel back up the coast, we can offer to drop guests in Eden, Merimbula or Tathra.
We hope this immersive experience has enriched you, rewarded your curiosity, even changed you in subtle or not so subtle ways. It is our sincere hope that you might continue your learning, adopt this new knowledge into your life, and that you may share the experience with friends and family.
What an incredible week it will be, thank you for joining us.
