Australia s top 10 must-see destinations have been revealed by travel experts - including an untamed Aboriginal landscape so sacred, you need a permit to enter.
To celebrate 30 years on air, Channel Nine s Getaway has named the country s most popular holiday spots, from the red desert of the Northern Territory to the slate grey mountains of Tasmania.
They include iconic attractions such as Uluru, Sydney Harbour and the pristine white beaches of the Whitsundays in Queensland.
Unexpected entrants include remote areas like Mitchell Plateau, WA, and Arnhem Land, Aboriginal Australia s untouched final frontier , as well as places with unique ecosystems such as Lord Howe Island and the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland.
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Australian travellers yearning for adventure after almost one year of international border closures can visit an extraordinary cloud forest hovering over a tiny island, without leaving New South Wales.
The rare phenomenon on Lord Howe Island, a stunning volcanic isle which lies roughly 600km east of the NSW coast, is created by a balanced ecosystem that causes clouds to float directly over mountaintops, shrouding peaks in cotton-like wisps.
The cloud caps, which hang between the 875-metre summit of Mount Gower and lower Mount Lidgbird during summer months, form when air travelling across the ocean collects invisible water vapour, which collides with the mountains it rises before cooling and condensing into clouds.
Australia hasn t felt so isolated from the rest of the world since the jet airliner was invented 70 years ago. But at least we have one thing in our favour: we re right next door to paradise. And while Australia has been congratulating itself for its management of COVID-19, rightly so to a large degree, island nations in the South Pacific have even better pandemic records.
Some neighbouring nations, such as the Cook Islands and Niue, have recorded zero COVID-19 cases while like Samoa, Vanuatu and the Solomons have recorded barely a handful, all in quarantine. Aside from this collective success, they all share in common an enormous dependence on tourism from big brothers Australia and New Zealand.
7 Incredible Hikes in Australia AFAR 2/3/2021
Courtesy of Great Walks of Australia
The Great Ocean Walk is a pedestrian complement to Australia s Great Ocean Road drive.Some places just beg to be explored on foot. You may not think this is true for a country as vast as Australia but a walking holiday transforms slow travel into an express pass to understanding the Land Down Under. Its landscapes, indigenous history, and wildlife are best experienced up close. As you trek below towering karri trees, past 30,000-year-old Aboriginal rock art, and to the crescendo of the Indian Ocean, you’ll gain a perspective even some locals go their whole lives without. Here are seven epic hikes to conquer from Great Walks of Australia, a collection of the country’s premium guided hikes which are especially great if you loathe the thought of logistics and lugging a heavy backpack.