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Educational Tours Australia

Educational Tours Australia (ETA) runs nature-based and other educational tours and programmes for schools, universities, colleges, and various special interest groups.

students at a waterhole

Tours and programmes include our 3, 7 & 10 day biology & ecosystems study programme , and our more holiday based activity & sightseeing tour . There are also some "Trip reports" of our previous tours and programmes.

We are a small company with biology and ecotourism qualified staff . When you make enquiries, you will be dealing with the guides directly. Apart from our set itineraries, given enough lead time we can also develop an itinerary for your group that focuses on many different special interest subjects, including ecotourism, birdwatching and geological study. We also hire out Damon Ramsey and Jane Moores to tour companies and organizations as Biology and Ecotourism guides & lecturers.

ETA is based in Cairns (North Queensland) and specializes in what we think is the best part of Australia. However, our itineraries have also included other parts of the country.

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Study Tours

  • Tour FAQs

    Included here are our most frequently asked questions. They are being updated and added to all the time; if you cannot see your particular question here, please feel free to email us .

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Plants

Ferns
Ferns are an ancient group of plants that need a very moist environment in which to reproduce. They disperse by tiny dust-like spore that are released from sporophylls, small structures that are usually found on the underside of the frond (leaf). As would be expected from the wettest part of Australia, the highest diversity of ferns on the continent is in the north-eastern Queensland 'wet tropics'. Thus, ferns are a very obvious and dominant part of the tropical rainforest.
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Birds

Frigate Birds

Frigatebird
Frigatebird
Frigatebird are usually seen soaring high above the ocean or remote islands in a very distinctive silhouette, with their huge outstretched, angular wings and a forked double tail; the whole look is vaguely prehistoric. Adults of the two species that can be seen off Australia are basically black, with males having red gular patches and females usually slightly larger and with more white on the underparts. Frigatebirds apparently feed mainly on flying fish, however, they are better known for their ‘kleptoparasitic’ behavior, where they steal food from other birds. They may harass birds such as boobies, terns and gulls until they drop their catch; the frigatebird then swoops for the regurgitated mess before it hits the ocean. Frigatebirds are magnificent gliders. Their wingspan may be up to 2.3 meters, and a Frigatebird of this size may weigh less than a kilogram.
 

Mammals

Platypus

platypus
Platypus
The Platypus is probably most famous for the fact that it was initially thought to be a hoax. It was thought to be a fake because it combined the fur of a mammal, but the bill and webbed feet of a duck. The size of the animal varies, but is always a lot smaller than people first think.

 

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