2-hour Cairns Botanic Gardens: Morning Photography Wildlife Walk

I attended Bridgette’s macro photography course after the Native Bee Conference and absolutely loved it! Bridgette is knowledgeable, approachable and generous with her expertise. Her enthusiasm for photography and the natural world is infectious, making learning relaxed and enjoyable. I’d highly recommend Aussie Macro Photos to anyone interested in macro photography or discovering the smaller things we often overlook. Thank you, Bridgette, for such an enjoyable and inspiring experience!

Small group of 3 for morning tour. Bridgette was very inviting and full of knowledge. We saw a wonderful variety of bugs and plants. Photographic and camera advice with our son was very helpful and appreciated. Would recommend this tour and to complete it off having morning tea at the garden's cafe.

Rachel our guide was very information and friendly. The group was small so we all got to see the creatures and interact with the rest of the group. I just took along my Om system TG-7 camera and they helped me set it up for the night. The images from the cameras you can hire for the night were amazing. They were so detailed. For a person who isn’t that keen about bugs, it was good fun and I’ve now got a better appreciation of these tiny creatures. Thanks for a fun night in the botanical gardens!!

Great experience and helpful guide. Took some great photos in macro. Excellent guide.

This was in the top two best experience’s I had on my visit to Cairns and great fun (and I did lots of activities whilst visiting). I can't see anyone being disappointed by spending a couple of hours gathering a new skill whilst encountering a world of nature, we would usually pass by without noticing and leaving with a plethora of photographic memories to take away. I had no previous macro photography experience, so it was worth my hiring a good camera with macro lens directly from them. I hired their mid-range camera/lens/flash combination which was superb. I was given the camera's SD card at the end of the session and spent a good few hours selecting lots of very high quality macro photos. The resulting quality of which, I am sure, had more to do with the equipment and the education on the day, than my beginners luck. Bridgette provided professional knowledge both relating and combining photography and entomology. Locating and naming specific species other facts. But the aspect that blew me away was after the event. Bridgette forwarded me an email called the 'field report', where I was given a full list of every creature we found, listing them under their species. Plus, a number of other pieces of information, including the exact camera and lens setup I had been using, should I wish to look into buying similar myself and links to useful websites etc. This experience has kickstarted an old hobby-interest in photography (although I had not engaged in macro before) and I have since joined a professional site where numerous pictures taken on that day have been given kudos by professional peers.

We had a fantastic time on our daytime private tour through the Cairns Botanic Gardens! For my 17 year old son, who loves macro photography, it was awesome. There were endless opportunities to photograph jumping spiders, stunning butterflies, caterpillars and so many other unique insects. Every few steps there was something new to discover. Bridgette was excellent - incredibly knowledgeable and so skilled at spotting things we would have walked straight past. She made the whole experience engaging and relaxed. Such a great way to explore the very interesting and stunning gardens, especially if you’re into nature or photography. We’d definitely recommend it.

Bridgette is an expert at finding a great variety of bugs and very knowledgeable about them. She is also very helpful in assisting and teaching macro photography. I did the day course and the night walk; both were excellent.

I absolutely loved the whole buggin experience! It was such a refreshing way to slow down and truly appreciate all the small wonders of nature. Bridgette was awesome —without her keen eye, I would have missed so many fascinating little creatures. The detailed field report she shared afterward was a fantastic bonus, compiling an impressive list of species we encountered. The tour was incredibly educational—who would have thought there were so many species of bugs in one small corner of Sydney? I’m now hooked and can’t wait to join the Singapore/Sumatra trip. And thanks to Bridgette’s tips, I know exactly when and where to look for peacock spiders so have a new challenge to add to my list of things to conquer!! . Highly recommend this experience to anyone curious about the hidden world of bugs. It’s eye-opening, fun, and unforgettable.

Such a great 2 hours wandering through tropical forests and finding incredible bugs, spiders, ants, bees, caterpillars, butterflies and so much more. Thanks Bridgette for showing us the ins and outs of high-quality macro photography. Love it 🪲🐞🕷️🦟🐛🕸️

I had so much fun on this tour! The guide pointed out so many bugs, mushrooms and animals that I never would have seen on my own! I was able to get some photos with my non-macro camera but she also gave us tips for taking photos with our phone that made them turn out great! Definitely a highlight of our trip to Cairns so far!

What an amazing tour! As a nature lover I had many insects that I wanted to find, see and photograph. Brigette was so knowledgeable in not only finding at least 10 of my wish list subjects but also many others which were a complete surprise. I came away with some amazing photographs, met some interesting people and got to be immersed in nature. I definitely recommend this tour for fellow naturalists and nature lovers.

This was a fascinating and unique way to enjoy the Cairns Botanical Gardens. We spent more time looking under leaves than at the plants, but it was worth it! Bridgette is an incredible resource of local bug lore and found many critters for us to take photos of. I hired a camera set-up from Bridgette and for a first-timer, I have some amazing macro shots to remind me of a lovely morning spent in nature. Highly recommend Bridgette and her tours. They are great value...from the local knowledge, seamless communication & meet-up, patience with all the questions (even from non-tour members!) and a post-trip field report customized for our tour. Outstanding from start to finish!

My friend and I did the morning Let's Go Buggin walk with Bridgette, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Bridgette is very knowledgable, and fantastic at finding a great range of bugs and other creatures, and passing on her knowledge about them. I learned a lot, and came away with some great sightings and photos, including some wish list species for me. A great option for anyone interested in invertebrates/wildlife in general, and for photographers of any level. I would thoroughly recommend.

Was a bit woolly-headed for some reason on this morning, and didn't always have my camera or flash correctly set up. But Bridgette from Let's Go Buggin certainly spotted the bugs and provided the photo opps.

The tour was excellent, I seen and learnt so much about the many different and diverse insects in the Cairns area. Our tour guide Bridgette was so helpful and knowledgeable and very friendly. As I am only an amateur photographer, Bridgette came to my aid and gave me some valuable tips and help on how to use my camera I managed to get some wonderful photos of the many insects we encountered along the pathways of the spectacular botanic gardens. I am going home to keep practicing with my newfound knowledge of my camera so that I can return and do the night time tour. I am 75 years of age and would recommend this tour to people of all ages, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I learnt so much about our insects.

Saturday morning of last weekend (September 14th), a friend & I headed to the Cairns Botanic Gardens to meet up with Brigette Gower and the rest of the Let's Go Buggin' group booked for that morning! During the next two hours, we came across many bugs, crickets, beetles, katydids, flies, praying-mantis, ants, spiders, moths and butterflies. My favourite spottings were definitely the Northern Jewelled Spider (Gasteracantha Fornicata) and the Two-Spined aka Cat-Eared Spider (Poecilopachys Australasia) ..... and the photos that Brigette took on her Olympus OM SYSTEM OM-1 Camera Body with its M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 lens Godox Flash and A.K. Diffuser were just amazing! Being able to view the facial features of these two Spiders that were literally sitting right in front of us, was like opening the pages of a National Geographic Magazine. Such an amazing and very enjoyable experience. The only disappointing factor was that I'd decided to hire an OM SYSTEM TG-7 for the tour however, the few minutes tuition was not suffice for such a novice as myself. I had NEVER used a Macro camera before and found the Zoom control very tough on the finger to the point that it was quite painful as the button did seem to stick all the time. My friend who owns her own Macro and was using it on the walk offered some great advice on zooming in on the various creature. I'd expected the camera to zoom like any basic camera, however, the Macro has it's own steady way of focusing in for you on the designated subject and lots of patience and perserverance was required as the camera worked to capture THE perfect photo for its operator. However, the walk was 50% over by the time I actually got to put that information to good use and unfortunately I ended up with only a few good images of my wonderful Buggin' Experence.

Exceeded my expectations, had a wonderful time. Bridgette was very knowledgeable and helpful. Has got me excited to continue Macro photography.

We spent a great couple of hours in the Cairns Botanical Gardens with Bridget of Let’s go Buggin, looking and photographing spiders and other insects, Bridget knew all the best spots and was really helpful with camera settings for macro photography, we did the daytime tour but you can do a night tour and see all the nocturnal creatures! Throughly recommend these tours!

It's always great to do a tour with a guide who is both knowledgeable and very enthusiastic and that certainly describes Bridgette and her passion for all those often overlooked Aussie creatures, the "Bugs". Two encounters stood out for me, seeing the Disrupted Beautiful-Masked Bee, which truly lives up to its name when you observe it close up. The second was seeing a web with both the resident large female spider and the so much smaller male making his move very carefully. Although I have seen this on various nature programmes nothing beats experiencing something first hand! A great way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning

If you love Nature be sure to go on a Let’s Go Buggin tour. It’s a wonderful experience! We saw so many amazing insects and the information on each species was fascinating.

A whole world of amazing and weird wildlife all in the beautiful botanic gardens. There is so much to see when you look a little closer. I can highly recommend Let's Go Buggin for anyone wanting to see how incredible and diverse life is, even in the city.

Such a great tour to do and to experience. Our guide Bridgette was fantastic, she was patient, kind and really took the time to help us explore and discover so many hidden gems in the Cairns Botanic Gardens ( pardon the pun). Her wealth of knowledge was incredible and we got to see so many bugs, insects, spiders and plant life. Bridgette knew where to look and what to look for and really made sure we had a magic experience, she tailored the tour to fit our interests. We hired a camera from her which only added to the experience and she was so great at showing us how to use it and get the best shots. We are grateful for her gentle approach to this tour and her inclusivity of us and our abilities. We could not recommend this tour and her company highly enough. This is an absolute gem and we are so happy we found out about it.

My tour with Bridgette was so lovely! I booked the morning walk on a weekday and I was the only one. Having the one on one was amazing, I learned so much about the bugs and macro photography. I rented one of the cameras on the website and it makes beautiful photos! If you like bugs or photography (or both!) I would definitely recommend doing this tour. If I would have had more time in Cairns I would have done the evening walk as well. I got so many great reactions from family and friends on the photos I took, it’s a great feeling haha.

What an amazing experience! Very different to any other tourist experience I’ve done. Bridgette really knows her bugs! And she seemed to know where to find them. We found plenty to see and photograph and she helped me get the best out my iPhone camera for some great shots. My friends were really impressed with my photos! Also it’s great to have something to do early in the morning or early evening! Highly recommend!