Travel

In the tapestry of Australian myths and legends, the Victorian high country looms large, with tales of courageous mountain horsemen and defiant bushrangers woven throughout our history. The Man from...

When you first see Uluru, the legendary red rock at the centre of Australia, it comes as a bit of a shock. Is it really that big? Is it all one rock? Driving in from Ayers Rock airport, it’s...

The dense forest of drooping she-oak of the Lathami Conservation Park might not be the first choice of location to visit on South Australia’s bountiful Kangaroo Island if it weren’t for...

 As founder of Victoria’s Typo Station, a life-skills program for at-risk young men, Matt Pfahlert spent a lot of time in the bush. It was here that he came to appreciate the craftsmanship...

  Kakadu National Park is breathtaking at any time of year. Its 20,000 square kilometres encompass a diversity of habitats, experiences and cultural connections for the Aboriginal people of...

As the Ghan rolls through Australia’s red centre celebrating its 80th anniversary, it provides a striking contrast to the first Ghan service in 1929, which comprised a single-steam locomotive...

The ‘desert island’ has often been portrayed in literature and film, depicting people who are marooned on a tropical hideaway. As a result of the experience, they either discover a utopia or fall...

As soon as the boat drops anchor, a substantial portion of the inhabitants of tiny Jones Island come to greet it. Visitors donned in wetsuit, mask and snorkel enter the shallow waters off the island...

As you leave the Barrier Highway and Darling River at Wilcannia in western New South Wales, there’s a sudden change in the surrounding country. The flat clay floodplain becomes colourful,...

The sign at the town entrance tells it all: “Welcome to Cunnamulla, settled in the Dreamtime.” Australian towns don’t get much older than that and nor do they get much more...

Calgary’s vibrance and beauty is breathtaking. It is a cosmopolitan city of nearly one million, with outstanding outdoor adventure and pristine wilderness only an hour away in the spectacular...

Rail travel has its own magic, and when the train travels through some of the most beautiful and evocative country in outback Queensland, that sense of taking part in something special is only...

Tom McIlwain and John Montefiore are a picture of serenity as they skim along the glassy waters of Cooper Creek Billabong. And who can blame them; all around is the majesty of the magnificent Mount...

“Welcome to the last paradise,” Lord Howe Islanders say in total seriousness, and indeed it’s hard to argue with them. Flying to this World Heritage-listed island, an...

With daytime temperatures regularly reaching the high 30s, Raft Point on the remote Kimberley Coast of Western Australia is not the sort of place to be particularly active, let alone undertaking a...

The mighty Murrumbidgee River starts in the Snowy Mountains and flows through the Riverina district providing life-giving water, in what some claim to be the most productive agricultural land in...

IN FEBRUARY 2005 three campers arrived on the edge of a tropical wetland 10 kilometres west of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. The trio had come to this 80-hectare block set on the...

“They weren’t too impressed when the first thing we did to a brand new Landrover was get the angle grinder to it and cut it in half,” says Brian Hall, as he explains some of the...

The Kimberley has a justifiable reputation as one of the most spectacular parts of Australia. Rugged beauty, awesome scenery and enough space and freedom to do what you want are all part of its...

Seen from the summit of Walkers Hill, Flinders Island is like a three-dimensional map dominated by high granite hills that rise steeply from the emerald waters of Bass Strait. Southwards, the knobbly...

The ground slowly drops away in the pre-dawn haze and the paddock below is furiously lit by a blaze of burning gas as Andrew Davis gives the hot air balloon another blast. Drifting slowly upwards...

There are not many sheep and cattle studs that can boast guest quarters quite like those found on Burrawang West Station. Laying some 70 kilometres west of Parkes in the Central West of New South...

Ranger-in-charge of the Great Otway National Park Will Cox leans against the safety rails of the viewing platform in Victoria’s newest national park. Behind him, the waters of Young’s...

it speaks volumes about the life of Kakadu elder Bill Neidjie that his family chose to reject Aboriginal tradition and allow the publication of his name after his death. Proud of his many...

Apart from the highway named in his honour, there is little acknowledgement for William Landsborough, the man who first opened up much of central Queensland. Even the Landsborough Highway, which...

Night is falling over Binna Burra Mountain Lodge and the surrounding rainforest. With daylight slowly fading, the colours of the landscape are beginning to darken, ending with a lingering glow...

“Bellissimo” is how eight year-old Italian tourist Mirko Montanari describes his experience of a six-hour tour around Tasmania’s Bruny Island on the powerboat Wild Thing. Back on...

John Giulieri stands outside the darkened Belfry Cavern, where he works. Located 23 kilometres from Rockhampton, directly underneath the Tropic of Capricorn, the cavern is one of Queensland’s...

From a long way off, Mount Augustus appears as a large looming presence with a long two-humped outline. The Aboriginal myth of Burringurrah becomes clear, the dead boy laid out with his head to the...

In the West MacDonnell Ranges it is not the rivers that meander, it is the Larapinta Trail. Here, the waterways run through the mountains – not between them – creating the gorges that so...