The Honeyeaters' Tree

A quest for this quintessentially antipodean family of birds uncovers the tree of life and the landscapes of Australia and New Zealand. From the Uk and a Singapore stopover, the traveller journeys to a week around Perth. Then two months in a campervan from Adelaide to Cairns, Queensland. He learns how the tree of life connects the whole globe. The route also skirts floods and cyclones. A fortnight in Tasmania and Victoria, with its fatal fires, concludes this far from straightforward quest for the 73 honeyeaters. Finally, New Zealand offers a coda with its own branch of the family. It's not just about birds: it's a last chance to witness other survivors from the Triassic as they struggle against the latest mass extinction. Railways, cities and culture shock also play cameo roles.