Click here to watch Short Tonia's Update Video
G'day everyone. We have stayed very busy over the last 3 months since our last newsletter despite being unable to travel while Australian border restrictions remain in place. The Tasmanian Premier's announcement that he would keep Tasmanian borders closed until 1 December and the similar decisions by other state leaders within Australia pretty much spelled the end of our peak spring tour season, but we totally understand the need to keep our guests and our staff safe. Hopefully restrictions will ease enough soon to allow us all to plan our travels with a bit more certainty, but in the meantime we are always here to chat about what you would like to do without any commitment on your part, as we recognise it is hard to make firm plans in such uncertain times. There is a rumour that Tasmanian and some other borders (including a trans-Tasman between New Zealand and Australia) may open before the end of the year, so we live in hope that we are able to share the end of the year and beyond with you. For those of you that already have arrangements in place with us, we will continue to liaise personally with you to ensure you have the best information available and to work directly with you on any difficulties and concerns. We are very appreciative of your willingness to work with us on suitable alternatives to your travel programs with us over this period. We are also offering a discount with flexible terms and conditions on our scheduled Australian group tours for those of you who wish to make a more definite commitment. Please see our tour section below for further information.
It is strange not being able to share the Inala property and all its creatures with you as our migrant species arrive and birds start their breeding. There seems to be Forty-spotted Pardalotes everywhere at the moment carting nesting material both into their purpose-built boxes and natural tree hollows; the Swift Parrots are also back and noisily checking out potential good breeding spots. It is so great to see nature carrying on blissfully ignorant of Covid woes and I must say I feel I have won the lottery being able to share this property with them, especially at this time.
Work on our new reception area and nature gift shop has been very exciting, and the items lovingly produced by talented local artists can now be displayed to their best advantage. This has now created more space in the museum which I am proceeding to fill with more treasures that have previously been stored away off-display in drawers and cupboards. You will also notice some nice new specimen labels on the gemstones and shells on your next visit, as I am transferring the information from an ancient card index system to an online data base (remembering that I started collecting these things when I was 10 years old which was a very long time ago now!). The garden is looking gorgeous thanks to our awesome new garden volunteer group that are helping with its care and maintenance- welcome to the Inala family, team.
We have also been working on a bunch of 2022 scheduled group Inala tours in addition to our 2021 offerings, so there is now a huge selection available to several exciting new destinations, some of which we have only previously offered as private tours before. Of course if you prefer private tours, they are always also available!
We continue to send our thoughts and best wishes to those who have been affected this year and we miss seeing you personally either here at Inala, on our tours, or at venues like the British Birdfair. But we are finding other ways to keep in contact with many of you, and your friendship and continued support of Inala means the world to us. I am very positive about the future and quite sure we will work a way around this. We are poised and ready to help with your next adventure once the situation eases- and won't everything seem so much more special after being cooped up for such a long time! Nature is always worth the wait and it is great knowing that this at least has been relatively unaffected or has indeed benefited from the enforced break. That's a great silver lining. So onward and upward and we will look forward to catching up again as soon as the brakes are lifted and we can get out there safely again.
Tonia and the Inala team
Dr. Tonia Cochran.
Owner and Managing Director of Inala Nature Tours and Inala Country Accommodation
Click here for the rest of the Inala October newsletter
