Rich pickings across the ditch
A lot has changed since we were last free to cross the Tasman in search of adventure. Lorna Thornber looks at the new thrills the Aussies have been cooking up for us.
Like us, the Aussies have been busy sprucing up their backyard while borders have been closed, cobbling together all kinds of attractions to entice people to get out and explore it. Though ‘‘cobbling together’’ probably isn’t a fair term as some of these attractions have been years in the making or planning, and are truly world-class. Covid-19 just hasn’t allowed the world to get wind of them yet.
Even if you’ve crossed the ditch more times than you care to remember, there’s bound to be something to tempt you to make the trip again after the trans-Tasman bubble inflates on April 19.
A ‘‘revolutionary’’ Broadway musical, daredevil bridge climbing adventures, a new Melbourne shopping and dining precinct, and a museum dedicated to telling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tales are just the start. And I have the perfect excuse for a wine tour through the so-called Wine State (if you need an excuse).
Sydney Ultimate Bridge Climb
If you think you’ve been there and done that, or have been over ‘‘the Coathanger’’ in a car or on a train so don’t need to bother, think again.
People have been climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge for years but, until last September, they could only get halfway across.
Now, climbers are able to traverse the full length of the heritage-listed icon which, at 500 metres, is one of the longest steel arch bridges in the world.
Starting on the southern side, you’ll head to the summit, 134 metres above sea level, before making your way to the northern side, taking in new views of Luna Park with its creepy giant clown face and retro amusement park rides, the buff bodies doing laps in the North Sydney Olympic Pool, boats bobbing in Lavender Bay, and Kirribilli (home to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s posh pad).
If you’re after a new perspective on Sydney’s most famous landmarks, and some enviable selfies, this is your best bet. bridgeclimb.com
Hamilton – the musical
Broadway is not expected to reopen properly until at least September. And, while the trans-Tasman bubble’s a start, we’re unlikely to be heading to New York anytime soon.
Fortunately for those itching to cross the ditch, Broadway has come to Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in the form of its biggest musical in the past two decades.
Telling the tale of the titular immigrant from the West Indies who went on to become one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Hamilton is inspiring stuff, touching on themes of race and inclusiveness that could hardly be more timely.
With a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, RnB and classic Broadway-style anthems, this revisionist take on the birth of a nation is anything but a boring history lesson.
Like its main character, Hamilton has been hailed as revolutionary, breaking box office records and picking up Tony, Grammy, Olivier and Pulitzer Prize awards.
It has ‘‘transformed theatre and the way we think about history’’, the New York Times gushed. Why wouldn’t you want to get your hands on the best tickets you can afford? hamiltonmusical.com.au
Melbourne Wild Adventures Melbourne
Walk on water beside the multi-coloured bathing boxes of the Mornington Peninsula, hike to a hidden beach, tuck into a picnic lunch at an organic winery, and visit Victoria’s first geothermal mineral springs, on a day trip with the new kid on Melbourne’s ecotourism block.
Carbon-neutral and aiming for sub-zero waste, Wild Adventures Melbourne walks the talk on environmental and social sustainability, also donating to conservation-focused charities and notfor-profit organisations.
In addition to the Mornington Peninsula day trip, the team offers a sunrise wildlife adventure on which you need to keep your eyes peeled for kangaroos, wombats, wallabies, echidnas, and platypuses as you standup paddleboard and mountain-bike through the ‘‘urban wilderness’’, and a sunset standup paddleboard adventure.
Look forward to breakfast at a Melbourne cafe on the former, and dinner from Australia’s first zerocarbon street food kitchen on the latter. wildadventuresmelbourne.com
80 Collins
The new 80 Collins Street development in the city centre will have you covered on both fronts, offering high-end shops and a wide range of food options, from imaginative healthy fast food (there is such a thing in this town), to fancy restaurants. While an ongoing project, it’s already established itself as a dining mecca.
Farmer’s Daughters by celebrated chef Alejandro Saravia has been generating a particularly loud buzz. The Peruvian-born, Melbourne-based chef fell in love with the gastronomically blessed Gippsland region on a produce tour, and this three-level deli, restaurant and rooftop bar is a paean to it.
Stock up on Gippsland wines and gourmet goodies such as cheese and olives in the deli, or rest on one of the seats around the open kitchen to refuel on the likes of cured alpine trout with ‘‘mountain pepper cream’’ and salted cucumber, pork and leek pie, and honey custard with cider caramel.
You will need to opt for a multi-course degustation menu if you head upstairs to the restaurant with its ‘‘campfire kitchen’’. Menus change with the seasons, but current courses include crudo with herb oil and verbena powder, organic lamb with sprouting broccoli, and toasted marshmallow with summer berries and chocolate.
Designed to emulate a greenhouse, the rooftop bar is a mountain pepper tree-sprinkled oasis amid the central city skyscrapers.
Expect locally sourced craft beer, wines and spirits, and cocktails made with seasonal and native ingredients – some from the onsite vertical garden. The ‘‘beekeeper’s sour’’ with Melbourne whisky and Gippsland honey sounds pretty perfect for the cooler months, as does the smoky old-fashioned, and berryand spice-infused punch.
If shopping and eating are high priorities on your trip, you might like to check into the precinct’s boutique Next Hotel.
80collins.com.au
Brisbane Walk the Plank
If climbing Brisbane’s heritage-listed Story Bridge doesn’t sound like enough of a rush for you, try walking a plank at the top.
The first ‘‘attraction’’ of its kind in the world (those with vertigo might use another word to describe it), the ‘‘walk the plank’’ add-on to the regular bridge climb will see you step out on to a skinny platform 80 metres above the Brisbane River.
The bird’s-eye views across the city to distant mountain ranges are nothing short of spectacular if a thudding heart and shaking legs don’t prevent you from properly appreciating them. Your harness will keep you perfectly safe. What better way really to prove you live life on the edge? Or the ledge?
The cantilever lean out, another daredevil new add-on to the bridge climb, will see you lean out across the bridge from a ledge at the top, leaving nothing between you and the traffic 50 metres below but air.
Adelaide The Year of SA Wine
No wine lover needs much of an excuse to take a wine tour on holiday, but the Aussies have given us a good one anyway – 2021 is the Year of South Australian Wine.
Australia’s ‘‘wine state’’ is naturally home to some of its most acclaimed wine regions, such as Barossa, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Coonawarra and Adelaide Hills – but it’s still reeling from the double whammy of the bush fires and the pandemic.
Spearheaded by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions and the South Australia Tourism Commission, the year-long campaign will see the state’s 18 wine regions host cellar door shows, wine-making classes, music and food festivals, and wine-themed events.
If you’re staying in Adelaide, one of the nine Great Wine Capitals of the world, it’s less than an hour’s drive to the wineries, wildlife encounters and cute German-style villages of Adelaide Hills, while the birthplace of South Australian wine, McLaren Vale, is a 40-minute drive away.
Producing heavy-hitting shiraz and cabernet, Barossa Valley should be on the bucket lists of everyone partial to a good glass of red, while Clare Valley is renowned for superlative whites such as riesling.
Coonawarra is also well worth a visit if you like your reds. It’s known as Australia’s other red centre for good reason. southaustralia.com
Perth Boola Bardip
With an Aboriginal name that translates as ‘‘many stories’’, this new museum in central Perth shines a light on aspects of Western Australian history and culture that remained obscured for far too long.
Developed in consultation with dozens of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island language groups, the museum has incorporated their perspectives in every gallery.
The ground floor display, Ngalang Koort Boodja Wirn, meaning ‘‘our heart, country, spirit’’ in the local Noongar language, focuses on traditional and contemporary culture in the state, brought to life with art, fashion, film, audio, textiles, and sports memorabilia.
Meanwhile, the new Origins gallery showcases Aboriginal and Western interpretations of the creation of the universe and the night sky, beginning with a multimedia piece narrated by Nyoongar elder Noel Nannup.
In addition to eight permanent galleries, the fivelevel museum, which is free to enter, features a special exhibition gallery.
The opening exhibition, Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, was initiated by Aboriginal elders who wanted to preserve traditional ways of passing on knowledge by sharing a creation story which, combining comedy, tragedy, love and loss, is truly worthy of the word epic.
A highlight is the six-metre wide ‘‘travelling dome’’ immersing visitors in images of remote rock art. museum.wa.gov.au/boolabardip