17 ways to stay cool in Australia this summer
We have scoured the country for the best waterfalls, swimming holes, caves, forests and even sinkholes for your summer holidays.
With 87 per cent of Australians living within 50km of the coast, summer thoughts invariably turn to beaches. But sand and surf aren’t the only ways to keep your cool as temperatures rise. Head to inland waterways, caves, sinkholes and shaded forest floors – or even into their canopies – and there are myriad ways to enjoy relief as you travel in Australia.
Here are some of the coolest activities and adventures on offer.
Mount Kosciuszko, NSW
There’s a credo in the mountains that temperature drops by about 1C for every 100m you ascend, which makes Australia’s highest peak the coolest climb in the country. Best of all, most of the climbing work on Mount Kosciuszko is done sitting down, with the Kosciuszko Express chairlift whisking walkers from Thredbo to within 300 vertical metres of the summit. The 13km return walk is largely on an elevated boardwalk, with patches of snow often lingering beside the trail early in summer. The view from the summit is vast – out over receding blue lines of mountains and valleys – and the breezes can be their own reward. Thredbo runs guided summit walks on Saturdays through summer (plus Thursdays in January).
Waterfall Way, NSW
Drive the Waterfall Way, a cooling 185km drive from the coast at Coffs Harbour to the heights of Armidale. Winding up through Dorrigo, the route strings together a beautiful selection of falls as it weaves between segments of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area. Set out on shaded walking trails to step in behind the falls at Crystal Shower Falls in Dorrigo National Park, and watch Guy Fawkes River plunge 100m at the two-step Ebor Falls. Round things out in even higher style by taking in the view of rugged Wollomombi Falls – at 220m, the highest in NSW.
South Glory Cave, NSW
Opal miners have known it for generations; the most comfortable place to be in the heat is underground. Punched into the slopes of the Snowy Mountains near Tumut are the six show caves of Yarrangobilly. You can wander self-guided through South Glory Cave, or take a wheelchair-accessible tour through formation-rich Jillabenan Cave with its corals, straws and shawls. You might even want to bring a jacket, with temperatures inside the caves hovering around a constant 10C. Emerge back above ground and there’s a chance for a swim, with a spring-fed thermal pool at the caves naturally warmed to 27C.
SUP in capital style, ACT
At almost 600m above sea level, Canberra offers the potential of summer respite at the best of times, but never more so than when you’re balanced atop its centrepiece Lake Burley Griffin on a stand-up paddleboard. SUPCBR offers a range of ways to view the capital’s lakeside array of national monuments. Hire a board for up to three hours, or join the two-hour “icons” tour that takes a water view of the likes of the National Library, High Court and Parliament House. Special-departure summer paddles this season include an evening on the water during Canberra’s Australia Day drone show, and sunrise SUP trips during the Balloon Spectacular in March.
Catch a manmade wave in Melbourne, Victoria
Forget the hot drive to Bells Beach or Phillip Island because the waves are always rolling at URBNSURF, Australia’s first surf park, near Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. Without the fickleness of nature, the waves are consistent and sessions cover all abilities, from metre-high point break-style waves for gentle rides, through to the green room of 2m barrels for advanced surfers. Each one-hour session typically delivers about 12 waves. Lessons are available, there are boogie-boarding sessions for the kids, and the pools are open to 10pm through summer, bringing days to a chilled end. In May this year, Sydney also joined the line-up, with its own URBNSURF opening in Olympic Park.
High Country, Victoria
More than 70 per cent of Australia’s hops is grown around Victoria’s High Country, where travel and outdoor adventures can be thirsty work. The High Country Brewery Trail is a collaboration between nine local craft brewers. The big-hitters – riverside Bright Brewery and Beechworth’s Bridge Road Brewers – correspond to the crowd-drawing towns, but this is a trail that entices you to explore, flowing down the King Valley to farm-based King River Brewing, ascending to brews created using snowmelt at Dinner Plain’s Blizzard Brewing Company, or crossing the ranges for beers made from homegrown hops at Mitta Mitta Brewing Company.
Kayaking with dolphins in Port River, South Australia
In Port Adelaide, dolphins have a found a home among the suburbs. About 30 of the bottlenose variety are resident in the Port River, with up to 400 transient dolphins also making regular visits. The best way to see them is by kayak, paddling a protected stretch of river between Garden Island and Torrens Island. Adventure Kayaking SA hires out kayaks and leads 90-minute guided paddles through Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary and into estuaries that run deep into a 10,000-year-old mangrove forest. Three-hour tours extend out to Australia’s largest ship graveyard, where more than 25 have been scuttled along the shores of Garden Island. Dolphins aren’t guaranteed, but on a good day they’re excellent river company.
Kilsby Sinkhole, South Australia
People travel the world to snorkel in cenotes on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, but Australians need only head to Mount Gambier, a city surrounded by dozens of water-filled sinkholes. Filtered through the porous limestone, the water in these collapsed caves has remarkable clarity; swim atop the pool in Kilsby Sinkhole and its floor seems almost in touching distance, even though it’s 27m deep. Hour-long snorkelling tours at Kilsby, which is on a private farm southwest of Mount Gambier, are the most accessible way to explore the landmarks, with visitors donning wetsuits (the water temperature is a brisk 15C) and freely exploring the watery wonders within. Independent snorkelling (and diving) options include Piccaninnie Ponds and Ewens Ponds. In the latter, snorkellers drift through almost 200m of shallow channels connecting three crystal-clear depressions of water. Time-specific permits, available through the National Parks and Wildlife Service website, are essential.
A houseboat on the Murray, South Australia
A houseboat trip on the Murray is an aquatic version of a scenic road trip along Australia’s longest river, and houseboat hires are plentiful through the Riverland towns of Renmark, Berri, Loxton and Waikerie. Options range from boats for two to double-storey vessels with 12 berths. There are more than 350km of navigable river in the region, with itineraries aplenty. Pull ashore for a hike in Murray River National Park, stop at Banrock Station winery to walk through its restored wetlands, and tie up beneath the ochre walls of Heading Cliffs to climb to one of the river’s most famous views.
Noosa Everglades, Queensland
Sure, Noosa has a great beach, excellent dining and ripping surf, but its finest feature might well be the Noosa Everglades. This mirror-still stretch of the Noosa River is one of only two everglades ecosystems on the planet (hello Florida), and it’s a canoeing delight. There’s a sense of disappearing from the world as you paddle across Lake Cootharaba and into the narrow neck of the river, where Great Sandy National Park and the trees of the everglades close tightly over the river. Darkened by tannins, the river is typically a place of perfect reflections – the purest I’ve ever paddled on in Australia. Kanu Kapers leads guided day paddles into the everglades or, if you want to absorb them over time, three-day self-guided hires are available. The river is lined with 10 campsites along a 21km stretch, creating ample possibilities for short days of reflection.
The Daintree, Queensland
There’s a remarkable freshness to the Daintree, the world’s oldest rainforest and home to nearly 1000 species of trees and 40 per cent of Australia’s bird species. Keeping cool is never a problem in the gorgeous green waters of Mossman Gorge, where you can also join Kuku Yalanji guides on cultural walks through the forest. Ascend into the canopy by climbing a 23m-high tower at the Daintree Discovery Centre in Cow Bay, and take to the Daintree River in the cool calm of dawn or dusk. Crocodiles are the star attraction on these hour-long river cruises, run by a handful of operators, but you might also see tree snakes and equally colourful tropical birdlife.
destinationdaintree.com
Explore limstione caves, Western Australia
Chardonnay isn’t the only thing that chills well in Margaret River. Dotted around the town are more than 100 limestone caves, four of which are open to visitors. Step inside any of them and the temperature dips into the welcome teens. Fossil-dotted Mammoth Cave and Ngilgi Cave are accessed independently (Mammoth is accessible to wheelchairs), with the latter reached along the Ancient Lands Experience boardwalk, detailing Aboriginal connections to the area. Jewel Cave’s three enormous chambers are like a subterranean palace with one of the longest straw stalactites in Australia, while Lake Cave – home to the only permanent lake in the cave system – is a reflective marvel.
margaretriver.com
Valley of the Giants Tree Tops Walk, Western Australia
The forests around Denmark, Walpole and Pemberton are filled with endemic karris and marris, tingles and jarrahs. Ascend into the canopy on the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, a metal walkway suspended 40m above the ground. At ground level, the Valley of the Giants’ Ancient Empire trail weaves among 400-year-old red tingles, a species that can grow wide enough to accommodate a car. Find karris, one of the world’s tallest hardwood trees, in Walpole-Nornalup, Warren and Gloucester national parks. Take a deep breath and you can even scale (in part) the 75m-high Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree, where a lookout platform was recently installed 20m up the trunk.
Berry picking in Tasmania
If Tasmania has a taste of summer, it’s berries. The island state is dotted with berry farms that brighten the season with pick-your-own foraging. In the south, fill tubs with a variety of berries at Westerway Raspberry Farm at Mount Field National Park’s edge, or pick strawberries and try house-made strawberry ice cream and sorbet at Littlewood Farm in the Coal Valley. Northern options are plentiful, be it Hillwood Berries among the vineyards of the Tamar Valley, the beachside Berry Patch, or a pick with punch as you taste the literal fruits of the nano-distillery – blueberry, silvanberry and gooseberry liqueurs (among others) – at new arrival Plump Berries in Barrington.
Floating wood-fired saunas, Tasmania
If the thought of a summer sauna has you sweating, consider doing it in true Scandinavian style – hot sauna, cold plunge – at Australia’s only floating wood-fired sauna. Set amid the region’s mountain bike trails, Floating Sauna Lake Derby cranks temperatures up as high as 90C. When the need for relief hits, typically about every 10 minutes, step out the door, up to the edge of the sauna’s pontoon and dive into the deep, chilly waters of the lake. Rinse and repeat.
Fire and Ice walk, Tasmania
On the slopes of Hobart’s kunanyi/Mount Wellington, the water that pours down the North West Bay River is often snowmelt, and it certainly feels cold. This icy flow is the scene for Walk on kunanyi’s guided Fire and Ice Walk, which leads participants on a 2km hike along the riverbank before stopping beside a deep and cold pool. After breathwork with a Wim Hof-trained instructor, strip down to your swimmers and immerse yourself in the pool for two minutes, which can feel like two ice ages. Trips run by private booking.
Waterholes, Northern Territory
There’s one incontestable detail about the gorges and waterholes that line the mountains of Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park outside Alice Springs. Whatever the air temperature, the water is bracingly, and often unexpectedly, cold. Make the 135km drive from Alice out to Ormiston Gorge and waterhole-hop your way back. Beach-lined Ormiston Gorge is the prized pool, and across the road is Glen Helen Gorge. The 2km walk into Redbank Gorge (4WD access only) will have you craving a dip, while the water at Ellery Creek Big Hole is nature’s version of an ice bath.
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