Adland Tours Team
2024 sees Adland Tours celebrate 25 years running tours.
Since 2000, Directors of Adland, Rod McMillan and Michèle Adler have led eco-cultural tours to exotic and exciting places in the world – sometimes wild, like The Galápagos Islands, Patagonia and Madagascar; sometimes cultural, like Mauritius and France. As well as tour leaders, Michèle and Rod have a wealth of experience as horticultural publishers, authors, journalists, film-makers, radio & TV presenters, landscape designers and (now former) Lecturers in Horticulture at The University of Melbourne – Burnley College.
In 2019, James Adler (Michèle ‘s son) joined the Adland Tours Team bringing with him a diverse set of skills including vast experience as the Artistic Director of the successful and independent Eagle’s Nest Theatre, Melbourne (est. 2006) running theatre-in-education programmes. James has studied in a number of foreign countries (speaks German plus some Russian and Spanish) and has worked in Europe as a ski instructor. He is a poet and a painter. James has had the benefit of being mentored by Rod and Michèle and now brings his own love of adventure to the fore. James will lead the 2024 Adland tours.
For the Galápagos tour, James will be accompanied by our Australian Guide, Jess Hackett. Jess has run tours in Central Australia, Victoria and Tasmania for several years. With a background in theatre and teaching, Jess is a natural storyteller and loves to share stories of culture, history and science. Her favourite thing about travelling is the people and the lasting connections that are made amongst a group of travellers. She says “It’s truly gratifying to see people outside their comfort zones and discovering more about themselves and the world around them”.
Michèle Adler & Rod McMillan (Directors) and
James Adler (Tour Leader and Event Manager).
Jess Hackett (Guide for Galápagos)
Awards
Michèle and Rod have won a number of Awards (both individually and collectively) for their creative work. In 2002 at the Australian Horticultural Media Association (HMA) Awards, they won the Educational Laurel for their Studies in Horticulture series of Learning Guides. They also won the Gold Laurel for the ‘Best in all Media Classes’.
In 2004, Michèle won the inaugural HMA Science Laurel for her work on documenting and describing cultivars (which led her to take a sabbatical at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens in Wisley, Surrey, UK). In 2014, she won the HMA Image Laurel for ‘Best Published Image’.
In both 2008 & 2009, Rod was awarded the ‘Best film’ in ‘Your Place: Our Place’, at the Wellington Shire Short Film Festival. See Short Films.
Michèle’s award-winning photograph The Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar published in Spinette, 2014.
Gold Laurel – Adland, 2002
Peach Flat Wetlands
Michèle and Rod live on a picturesque property, ‘Peach Flat’, north of Briagolong (250 km east of Melbourne) which has featured in Australia’s Open Garden Scheme. In 2004, they developed a large wetland as a central feature of the extensive park-like landscape, which integrates seamlessly with the surrounding natural sclerophyll bush (see video below). Gary Joyner is the Head Gardener.
Aerial tour of the Peach Flat wetlands in 2020 (2.33 mins).
