This was published 4 years ago
Thirty years of 52 Weekends Away: the way our short escapes have changed
By Tim Elliott
Thirty years ago Good Weekend decided that if there was one thing better than a good weekend, it was a good weekend … away. In an ambitious attempt to help the overworked and the under-holidayed plan the perfect weekend escape, the magazine sent a team of reporters out into the wilderness, armed, as editor Shelley Gare wrote at the time, “with maps, compasses and enough loose change to call [me] if they got lost".
What they uncovered was a veritable banquet of hotels, guesthouses, homestays and the odd houseboat, stretching from the NSW North Coast to Phillip Island in the south. There was camping by the coast at Meroo Head, near Ulladulla, camel riding at Port Macquarie, and croquet in the Dandenongs. The magazine then invited readers to take their pick, to “put on some comfy shoes and step out of the everyday".
Some of the '52 Weekends Away' covers from throughout the 30 years of publication.Credit:
The 52 Weekends Away issue has since become a Good Weekend staple. Published every year in early summer, it’s helped us reimagine the potential of those precious 48 hours, by offering destinations guaranteed to save your sanity and maybe even your marriage. Readers often keep the issue, and refer to it throughout the year.
People have been nipping off for the weekend since God invented the Sabbath. But the concept of the weekend away - the idea of what was possible - has changed considerably. In the 1970s and 1980s, it might have meant a short car trip, with bench seats, wind-up windows and AM radio, followed by a night or two in a tent or a roadside Holiday Inn. As living standards grew, however, flying became an option.
It’s helped us reimagine the potential of those precious 48 hours, by offering destinations guaranteed to save your sanity and maybe even your marriage.
For Sydneysiders, there was the Gold Coast (Dreamworld, the casino), or Melbourne (trams, actual coffee). For Melburnians, there was Sydney (the Harbour Bridge, the Manly ferry), or even Noosa (sun, expensive gelato, designer eyewear). 52 Weekends Away used to focus solely on Victoria and NSW, but three years ago we went national, covering places far and wide, from Tasmania’s Pumphouse Point to Yallingup in Western Australia.
Featured on this year's list, Byng Street Boutique Hotel in Orange is one of the many regional accomodation options luring lovers of heritage architecture.
Weekends away are as popular as ever. By 2018, Australians were spending about $45 billion on domestic tourism, with a good part of this spent on short stays. These days, people take off for Saturday and Sunday (and, increasingly, Monday), for just about any reason at all; to do an ayahuasca ceremony in Byron Bay; to eat Croatian smallgoods in Daylesford; to hear Margaret Atwood talk at the Adelaide Writers' Week.
A big growth area has been architecture tourism: fans of art deco can take dedicated tours of Melbourne (or, for the more determined, Innisfail in Far North Queensland). Regional towns such as Orange in central NSW are luring lovers of heritage architecture (see: Byng Street Boutique Hotel). And in Cabarita on the NSW north coast, Halcyon House offers guests a pitch-perfect remake of the '70s motor inn, while Ovolo Nishi in Canberra offers designer digs with Danish-industrial overtones.
But why travel at all? Luxury inner city hotels have popularised the one-night “staycation”, for locals who need a brief change of scene. And, thanks to COVID-19, interstate travel restrictions and an aversion among some to flying, we’re seeing the rebirth of the classic road trip. In June, Tourism Australia put together a list of recommended weekend road trips, a field guide to some local and regional gems, including the Southern Highlands, two hours from Sydney, and the Greater Litchfield Loop, near Darwin.
Despite COVID, this year’s 52 Weekends Away is similarly wide ranging. Some of the destinations require heading interstate, but we figure that the travel restrictions will end, sooner or later, and when they do, a little inspiration will be more important than ever.
To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.