INALA is a family owned and operated company that specializes in designing and organising personalised birding and wildlife tours for individuals or groups. Emphasis is placed on providing an ecologically-friendly and educational experience of a high standard, using specialist guides with a high level of knowledge, who have the ability to present the information in an interesting manner. Priority is placed on maximizing the clients' tour experience.
We design and organize specialist nature-based Australia-wide tours, and have developed a wide network of reliable operators of an excellent standard throughout Australia.
The headquarters of the company is based at "INALA", a Land for Wildlife property on Bruny Island, south of Hobart in Tasmania. The business has been operating since 1994.
There are three main facets to the business:
- A licensed travel agency which specializes in designing and organising personalised tours. Requirements for travel bookings vary from arranging accommodation-only stays and perhaps a hire car for those clients wishing to do their own exploring, to arranging and booking an all-inclusive tour that is personally designed for each client. The tours are designed by Tonia Cochran, the owner of the business, who is a qualified biologist with many years of field experience as a guide and tour leader throughout Australia. Tonia draws on this experience to provide recommendations and suggestions to maximise the success of your visit. INALA also organises Australian tours for a number of international travel companies, including Island Holidays and The Travelling Naturalist in the UK, Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris, Elderhostel and Naturalist Journeys in the USA, and Shinwa Tourist in Japan.
- Guided personalised nature tours. Tours operate on demand for group sizes ranging from private tours for single individuals to groups of 20 or more people. A selection of tours ranging from half to three days duration (including night excursions) are offered on Bruny Island; personalised tours around Tasmania and other parts of Australia are designed according to each group's requirements and interests. INALA employs experienced local guides from a number of locations around Australia, some of whom only guide INALA tours. These guides are chosen for their depth of knowledge of natural history (particularly birds, wildlife and flora) and their capacity to make their tours interesting and enjoyable for their guests. Set group tours are sometimes also available - please enquire for further details.
- Cottage accommodation on the 500 acre property at "INALA", near the South Bruny National Park on Bruny Island. Clients have a choice of a three bedroom cottage or a one bedroom spa unit. The cottages combine modern conveniences such as TV, VCR/DVD, microwave oven, washing machine, clothes dryer and electric blankets with old-world charm such as slow combustion wood-heaters and timber paneling and are nestled in tall eucalypt forest at the foot of the South Bruny Ranges. The one bedroom cottage features Tasmanian timbers and high quality furnishings. Both cottages contain fully equipped kitchens for self- catering, although meals can also be arranged on request.
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INALA - the Property
"INALA", an aboriginal word meaning "a peaceful place", is a 205 hectare (500 acre property) located north of Cloudy Lagoon near the South Bruny National Park on south Bruny Island in Tasmania. It is home to 94 bird species (including all of the Tasmanian endemic species), almost 40 species of native terrestrial orchids, an amazing diversity of plant species and several species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
Six endangered bird species (Forty-spotted pardalote, Tasmanian subspecies of Wedge-tailed eagle, White-bellied Sea eagle, white morph of the Grey goshawk, Swift parrot and Masked owl), four rare orchids and several other rare and threatened plants have been recorded at "INALA". Approximately 80% of the property is native vegetation, which ranges from tall wet eucalypt forest with some rainforest species, to wetlands and heathlands. The balance is pasture, which provides habitat for additional native species such as the Tasmanian Native Hen, Swamp Harrier, and Red-necked (Bennett’s) Wallaby. A number of conservation projects such as tree planting, fencing sensitive remnant vegetation and waterholes also provide important wildlife habitat. Of primary importance is preserving and creating habitat for the Forty-spotted pardalote and Swift parrot. INALA is home to one of the largest known colonies of Forty-spotted pardalote, and an important breeding area for the Swift Parrot (13 nest sites have been recorded on the property).
The property is also used as a research base for a number of University projects, an educational venue for schools and environmental groups and the base for the ecotourism enterprise.
Two accommodation options are available at INALA- a three bedroom farm cottage (INALA Cottage) which was last renovated in 2005, and a one bedroom spa unit (NAIRANA Cottage) which was purpose-built as guest accommodation in 2004. "Nairana" is a Tasmanian aboriginal name which means Wedge-tailed eagle, an apt name with regular visitations by its namesake.
The cleared area of the property also operates as a working farm, with the main primary production ventures being Poll Hereford beef cattle and a native Australian crop called Brown Boronia, which is grown as an essential oil crop. Priority is given to protecting wildlife habitat and sustainable agriculture.
Your main contact at INALA...
Tonia Cochran is the owner/managing director of the business. She is also the main specialist guide/tour leader and designs the personalised birding and wildlife itineraries for the INALA clientele. Tonia moved to "INALA" from Melbourne, Victoria in 1988 and still resides there (when not leading tours elsewhere).
Tonia is a qualified Biologist with a broad knowledge of Australian marine and terrestrial fauna and flora and almost 15 years of experience in designing and leading birding and wildlife tours throughout Australia. Tonia’s academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Science degree (with a double major in Zoology and Botany), a BSc (Honors) degree and a PhD in Zoology from the University of Melbourne. During her residence in Melbourne, she gained extensive teaching experience, including a lecturing position in one of the top Universities in Victoria, and worked in close association with the Invertebrate Zoology Department at the Museum of Victoria. She also worked as a scientific illustrator at the University of Melbourne and was involved in sub-Antarctic and Antarctic research from 1985 to 1996, which included participation in several Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) Marine Science voyages to several sub-Antarctic and Antarctic localities and consulting and contract work for the Australian Antarctic Division in Tasmania between 1990 to 1996.
Tonia is heavily involved with the conservation of threatened species, a member of the National Recovery team for three endangered birds (Forty-spotted pardalote, Tasmanian races of the Wedge-tailed Eagle and White-bellied Sea Eagle), and a contributor to the Swift parrot Recovery program in Tasmania. She also works as an environmental consultant on a number of projects, ranging from advice on University postgraduate projects to conservation management plans and is involved with various environmentally focused school projects. She is also cares for orphaned and injured wildlife, which are released either on the property or in the area where they were found.
Tonia also regularly acts as guest speaker at a number of venues around Australia and overseas, and topics range in subject from Antarctica to ecotourism and guiding, threatened species conservation and ornithology. She has been guest speaker at various Wildlife Tourism workshops and conferences in Tasmania, and overseas Travel Conferences. She has also participated in documentaries for the Discovery Channel, the BBC and several international film companies, and has appeared in National television series such as "Getaway" and "Totally Wild". She is also a regular contributor of articles to various magazines and the subject of numerous newspaper articles.
In her "spare time", Tonia is also a primary producer as a breeder of Poll Hereford beef cattle and grower of Brown Boronia, a native Australian essential oil crop. She has worked diligently to combine nature conservation practices with sustainable agriculture on "INALA", where priority is given to protecting wildlife habitat.
Tonia draws on her wide-ranging academic and teaching background, her knowledge of Australian fauna and flora and field experience as a guide and tour leader to design tours to maximise visitors’ birding and wildlife experiences in Australia. She is committed to promoting a tourism industry that is ecologically sustainable and educational, which underpins the programs offered at INALA.