Unique Experiences In Our Backyard
Top travel destinations and activities close to home.
Lord Howe Island Wellness Week at Pinetrees Lodge
WHERE 600km off the coast of Port Macquarie in NSW.
WHY A class with yoga instructor to the stars Charlotte Dodson on the deck of the boatshed overlooking the lagoon at Lord Howe Island is the perfect way to begin each day of this holiday. As well as the twice-daily yoga sessions, we spend our days riding bikes around the UNESCO World Heritage-listed island, snorkelling the world’s southernmost coral reef, doing cooking classes at the stylishly refurbished family-run Pinetrees Lodge, kayaking and hiking. The pinnacle is a challenging 14km full-day trek up the 875m-high Mount Gower with naturalist Dean Hiscox.
WHEN Three six-night retreats a year, with the next scheduled for Sept and Oct 2018. From $2760.
The Ghan Expedition
WHERE Darwin to Adelaide.
WHY A uniquely Australian adventure to experience once in your lifetime. Four days and three nights traversing nearly 3000km of our remote inland. Top-notch meals and wines, simply wonderful staff, and plenty of off-train excursions at Katherine Gorge, Alice Springs and Coober Pedy.
WHEN Apr to Oct 2018. From $2699. greatsouthernrail.com.au Helen Young, H&G gardening editor
A scenic helicopter flight from Ayers Rock Airport
WHERE Uluru-Kata Tjuta, NT.
WHY The scale of the Australian Outback is humbling, but hover over the mighty mass of Uluru and the perspective is so different. No longer a dwarfed ant looking up, I feel like a dragonfly buzzing high. The rock is not a flat, uni-faceted thing but a blocky mass of striations and honeycombs, of plucky bursts of greenery clinging in grooves. It’s so furrowed that some of its indentations form clearly defined shapes, such as a brain, and the tracery of animal tracks. Look down and see songlines and the honoured Tjukurpa stories of country, ancestry and law.
WHEN Multiple flights daily by Professional Helicopter Services, based at Ayers Rock Airport. From $150. phs.com.au Susan Kurosawa, travel editor
Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival
WHERE At a campground just outside the small town of Laura, 200km north-west of Cairns in Queensland.
WHY Performers young and old from 20 communities across the Cape York region come together for three days to tell their stories through dance and music. Dressed in traditional costume, they move across the dusty festival grounds to the sound of clapsticks tapping and the drone of the didgeridoo. We sit on blankets among people from the local area and around the world and watch transfixed. It’s a wonderful, joyful celebration and fantastic to see Indigenous culture being preserved and passed on to the next generation.
WHEN The next festival takes place in
June 2019. cultureconnect.com.au AS
MONA
WHERE Berriedale, north of Hobart.
WHY The Tasmanian capital has a unique mix of end-of-the-earth rustic charm, eccentric sophistication, great restaurants and bars, and excellent accommodation. But the sole reason some people visit Hobart is MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) on the River Derwent. Catch the museum’s bus or take a special ferry from Hobart (20 minutes). See the newest and the most ancient art side by side, sometimes in eerily lit cave-like rooms: an Egyptian Ptolemaic falcon, sarcophagi, bark cloths, Neolithic spearheads, works by Francisco Goya, Sidney Nolan, Brett Whiteley, Anselm Kiefer, Fiona Hall, Thomas Hirschhorn, Julius Popp,
Gilbert & George… An extraordinary collection, perpetually changing.
WHEN Year round. Adults from $25, concessions $25. Free for Tasmanians. Ferry or bus $22. mona.net.au Judith Elen, travel writer >
Cruising the Kimberley Coast
WHERE Broome, WA, to Darwin, NT.
WHY The dramatic contrasts of this ancient place come into sharp focus when approached from the sea: towering redrust cliffs, lucid green waters, rockpools, cascades, unique wild life. Hot and humid on land, a home-base on the water is cool, comfortable and supplies everything you need. Cruises range from luxurious (with companies such as Silversea, Ponant and True North) to workmanlike, with bunk cabins and a spirit of adventure.
WHEN The wet season (Nov-Apr) and dry season (May-Oct) both have their charms, but wildlife is more abundant in the wet. JE
Swim with humpback whales
WHERE Mooloolaba, Queensland.
WHY There’s not much that compares to an eye-to-eye encounter with massive mammals in the wild. Nothing quite prepares you for that first glimpse of a whale underwater. There’s an initial and immediate urge to take flight – quite natural given that humpbacks can grow up to 16m in length and weigh 36,000kg. But once the “oh-my-god-it’s-three-times-biggerthan-the-boat” feeling has passed, the adrenalin kicks in. Floating alongside, you’ll hear their soft song, a muted but lyrical wail, and feel the pull of the ocean they create as they flipper through the water.
WHEN On the Sunshine Coast, the migratory season is from June to Oct. Natasha Dragun, travel writer
Phillip Island Penguin Parade
WHERE A 90-minute drive south of Melbourne in Victoria.
WHY At sunset, visitors from around the globe gather on boardwalks at Summerland Beach to see hundreds of little penguins with big personalities return to their burrows after a day’s fishing, the chicks fighting each other and chasing their parents for food. The island is home to more than 30,000 of the world’s smallest penguin species.
WHEN Daily. Adults $26. penguins.org.au. AS
Kangaroo Island touring
WHERE A 45-minute ferry ride from Cape Jervis, 110km south of Adelaide, SA.
WHY A visit to KI is like an Australian version of an African wildlife safari. You can see dozens of sea lions lazing on the beach at Seal Bay, including some very cute pups, walk within metres of kangaroos dozing under gum trees, spot koalas and their cuddly joeys snoozing in tree branches and stop to let echidnas and goannas cross the road in front of you. The island is also home to the Remarkable Rocks, a collection of giant 500-million-year-old granite boulders.
WHEN Year-round. Various companies operate wildlife and wilderness tours. tourkangarooisland.com.au AS #