 We recently toured the Northern Territory with Luke Paterson (NT Bird Specialists). The marketing promised a finch frenzy - but Luke delivered plenty more! This was a great value experience. Read on to find out more. The "Finch Frenzy" tour is a serious investment, but having heard good things, we boarded our flights to Darwin, donned our sunnies, and prepared for adventure. We gave ourselves two nights in Darwin before the tour - we don't go there often, so we thought we might as well see what it was like these days. It was August and Darwin was lovely - warm but mild with balmy evenings. We ventured down to the old wharf area for dinner and wow that is a lovely part of town, We'd probably stay down there next time. We also hired a car for the day and ventured to Lee Point and Holmes Jungle Conservation Park - well worth it. But back to the tour, we were collected from our hotel promptly in the early morning of day 1... Luke and his assistant John arrived in the seventeen seater four wheel drive air-conditioned tour vehicle. There were six guests - including us - so there was plenty of room to spread ourselves out, and luggage was consigned to the trailer. We were all set for a week of adventure - around Darwin, out to Kakadu, and down through Katherine and out to Timber Creek. Surely some lifers awaited us (oh yeah!). Our review is just going to cover the highlights, roughly in order...otherwise it could become a very long blog post.   FOGG DAMWe have never seen so many waterbirds in one place! Recent rains meant everything was thriving - including the crocs we couldn't see. A walk into the mangrove area was a different experience - barking owls and a Pacific baza were our favourites. Take your insect repellent!  HEADING EASTfirst Our accommodation for the evening was the Bark Hut Inn - very comfortable cabins, and an excellent meal in the bistro. Highly recommended. But we were promptly back on the trail the next day. En route, birds!  A bee-eater gets its lunch  A red-collared lorikeet in action  A red-headed honeyeater - one of our target species - was seen on day 1.  The magnificent Brahmin kite. A BIGGIE - KAKADUWhere to start? Ubirr, where we explored the rock art and sought out two birds who were not keen to appear - but they did! The sandstone shrikethrush and the chestnut-quilled rock pigeon eventually played nice after much persistence from Luke. Red-backed fairy wrens were also playing along the main path. And further along the track towards our accommodation - a rainbow pitta! Off to bed rather early that night - we were tired after a full day of birding and travel, and a very early morning awaited us. We were off to the Yellow Waters dawn cruise. YELLOW WATERS CRUISE We run out of superlatives when we start chatting about this one. We'll just have to settle for "spectacular", but that doesn't really cut it. The big hits just kept coming. Every creature looked great - but not every one looked friendly. The Yellow Waters cruise really was a signature experience for us. Luke provided continuous bird spotting and identification, ensuring we didn't miss a thing. THE FRENZY PART - FINCHES!Finches appeared and reappeared throughout the tour, and we were so pleased to see so many varieties, including, of course, the Big "G" (Gouldians), and more than once. It was heartening to see so many juveniles among them. But while the Gouldians are mesmerising (and we certainly hope to see them again elsewhere), it's important not to forget the beauty of the other finches.  Star finches  Crimson finch  Double-barred finch  Pictorella mannikin  Chestnut-breasted mannikins  Yellow-rumped mannikin  Masked finches on the wing TIMBER CREEK - COCKATIELS AND BUDGIESWe can't resist these guys and an early morning excursion meant we saw gazillions. But we were just as blown away by the landscape on that leg of the journey - breathtaking! OTHER RANDOM BITS OF MAGICWe were thrilled to see the purple-crowned fairy wren. Hooded parrots, finches and rainbow bee-eaters in the evening light at Pine Creek are pretty hard to beat. However, varied lorikeets near Adelaide River come pretty close. AND THE SECRET INGREDIENTOkay, it's no secret...Luke Paterson has earned his reputation as an outstanding bird and wildlife guide. So, not only is he an expert birder and photographer, Luke's running commentary covers indigenous history and culture, the Territory's history since European exploration, and many other topics as raised by guests. Also, this guy works tirelessly to make sure guests get every possible bird on the list. Of course, you never do get them all - the birds make that decision, but so often Luke just keeps going out and trying again to get that fabulous bird. On our last day, when we were nearly spent, we made one last tour of the Botanical Gardens to get the rufous owl. We were nearly comatose at this stage, but yup, after several tries in the nooks and crannies, Luke got that bird for us. To top it all off, he's a hellavu nice guy and great company. This all adds up to an experience of great value for us, and one we'll never forget. Thanks Luke. Add to that the choices he has made with regard to meals and accommodation throughout the tour. No matter how remote, we felt well-fed and watered and comfortably accommodated throughout the tour. A signature high value event for us - and to top that all off, we met fabulous fellow travellers along the way. 
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