In with the new
It’s time to take a fresh look at Australia’s tourism offerings.
Great southern shutdown land Australia is open in some places and closed in others. When we are free to roam our lucky country, there’s a fresh selection of tours, venues, exhibitions and experiences debuting this year.
NSW
Dine like a lord
If you only have time for lunch, make it a long one in paradise. Adventure By Air, a new company by Crooked Compass, is chartering a Cessna from Sydney to Lord Howe Island for day trips. Fly over Balls Pyramid, the world’s tallest sea stack, before landing for a guided island tour and a two-course meal at Anchorage Restaurant. Executive chef David Chlumsky brings experience from Quay, Otto and Longrain. Spend the afternoon snorkelling or hand-feeding fish at Neds Beach. From $2999 a person, first departure is April 28; crookedcompassbyair.com.
Trail mix
West of the Great Dividing Range, Murrumbidgee Trails is ready to ramble. This joint project between four councils has produced a collective guidebook (in print and online) on the region’s impressive variety of attractions, festivals and markets. Follow in the footsteps of Ned Kelly on a self-guided walk in Jerilderie. Connect with Indigenous history on a Wiradjuri awareness tour. Pick produce at orchards or sip spirits at Whitton Malt House. Admire the murals on water towers and sculptures crafted from farm-scavenged scraps. Canoe along Lake Talbot and, finally, see the Murrumbidgee River; murrumbidgeetrails.com.au.
Top drops
Shaw Wines has introduced a day trip from Sydney by private plane, connecting with a helicopter in Canberra for a scenic flight to Shaw Wines in Murrumbateman. Indulge in a wine tasting followed by three-course lunch in the cellar. This getaway is geared for groups of six; $2750 a person; shawwines.com.au.
Northern Territory
More park
Litchfield National Park, a favourite escape for Darwin locals, will have five more waterfalls and swimming spots opening to the public this year. The park’s Central Valley area has been upgraded to provide additional 4WD tracks, mountain bike and hiking trails, campgrounds and picnic areas. Works are expected to be completed by the dry season; nt.gov.au.
Ultimate encore
After skipping 2020, Opera Gala at Uluru is set to return with four events in September. A welcome dinner at Sails in the Desert sees an intimate Mozart performance hosted by Opera Australia’s artistic director, Lyndon Terracini, followed by arias from The Marriage of Figaro by two of the company’s finest soloists. The gala evening of greatest hits resonating across the Field of Light is bound to mesmerise. On two mornings, sunrise concerts will be staged atop sand dunes, both limited to 100 guests; opera.org.au.
ACT
In the frame
Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London will be the first major international exhibition in Australia since COVID-19 closed our borders. The postponed showing of 60 works, from March 5 until June 14 at the National Gallery of Australia, includes Van Gogh’s Sunflowers as well as paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Renoir, Cezanne, Titian, Turner and Gauguin. Tickets are on sale; nga.gov.au.
Outside edge
Several outdoor events are on in the capital in March, including Lights! Canberra! Action! (March 5), a screening of short films in the Senate Gardens and part of the Enlighten Festival. Symphony in the Park (March 7) sees the Canberra Symphony Orchestra performing in Commonwealth Park and, for nine days, hot-air balloons will fill the skyline for the Canberra Balloon Spectacular (March 6-14). After dark, Enlighten Illuminations (February 26-March 8) casts huge projections on the National Portrait Gallery, National Library and Parliament House, accompanied by live music, art installations and local food; enlightencanberra.com.au.
Victoria
Local heroes
Heavily impacted by last summer’s bushfires, East Gippsland hopes to lure back visitors with a new outdoor dining and arts space. The Slipway, along Lakes Entrance Esplanade, provides a shopfront to the region’s producers, with various pop-up outlets in converted shipping containers. Australians can discover taiyaki ice cream, a popular Japanese dessert, made by Gippsland Jersey. Beer lovers can sample the likes of smoked oyster stout at Sailor’s Grave Brewing, and wild-caught seafood will be served fresh by restaurateur Sam Mahlook. Opened on December 26, the site’s long-abandoned Slipway Sheds will be filled with local art and artists-in-residence running workshops through summer; visitgippsland.com.au.
Peak performance
The final stage of the multi-day Grampian Peaks Trail is on track to be ready by autumn, following this summer’s opening of four day-walk sections. Stretching 160km, the full trail allows hikers to experience Grampians National Park through overnight sections or as one 13-day journey. For those who would rather not carry their gear, support services range from basic catering at campsites to private boutique accommodation; grampianspeakstrail.com.au.
Creature features
Also opening in autumn, Wildlife Wonders is a protected habitat along the Great Ocean Road, near Apollo Bay, where the forest meets the sea. Guides will lead visitors around the Otways bushland to spot potoroos, kangaroos, koalas and bandicoots, while showing the region’s conservation projects in action. The 1.4km path is achievable for all ages and abilities; wildlifewonders.org.au.
South Australia
Eyre and graces
With the Great Australian Bight to the south and Nullarbor Plains to the west, Eyre Peninsula is the ultimate frontier for isolated adventure. Luxury operator The Tailor’s travel designer grew up in the area and has created a hosted holiday aimed at multi-generational families. A highlight of the three-day itinerary is its exclusive access to Fowlers Bay, in the far northwest, where whales come to breed between May and October. From your private boat, a hydrophone is submerged to listen to their beautiful sounds. This customisable trip also includes 4WD touring through the Gawler Ranges, Coffin Bay and Port Lincoln. Prices based on a family of seven, from $6550 a person; thetailor.com.au.
Cellars market
Fine wine brand St Hugo has a new experience in the Barossa Valley for wine lovers. Hosted by chief winemaker Peter Munro and cellaring concierge Tim Redman, aspiring collectors undertake a tasting of rare, aged wines to determine their preferences and receive a personalised cellaring plan, with the concierge available on-call to offer ongoing advice. Alternatively, wines can be cellared at the winery, with quarterly reports provided; $3000 a person or couple; sthugo.com.
Bigger, better
Learning experiences are also coming to McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide, where Oliver’s Taranga Vineyard is expanding its heritage-listed property into a wine education hub. Opening in June, the five spaces include a new cellar door and will allow increased capacity at its prestigious Porchetta Parties. These Italian-style feasts, complete with pig on a spit, are an epicurean essential; oliverstaranga.com.
Water views
Heavy rainfall through central Queensland is predicted to flow through the Diamantina and Georgina river systems this year, filling Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. Captain’s Choice has prepared day trips to witness the South Australian lake in full flood from the comfort of a private plane, followed by a barbecue over the border at the Birdsville Hotel. Priced from $2490 a person, departures are offered in April from Brisbane and in May from Sydney and Melbourne; captainschoice.com.au.
Queensland
Monster tracks
Thirteen life-size dinosaurs have arrived in the outback near Winton as part of an upcoming exhibition about a newly discovered sauropod track in the area. Currently being relocated from a creek bed to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, the trackway contains the best-preserved sauropod prints in the country. The digitally sculpted bronze models are 17m long and 4m high, based on the bones of Diamantinasaurus that were also discovered nearby. March of the Titanosaurs has a tentative launch date of May 10; australianageofdinosaurs.com.
Master class
Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art will be the exclusive Australian venue for European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The blockbuster exhibition, from June 12 to October 17, is drawn from one of the world’s finest collections of European paintings, most of which rarely leave The Met. Spanning 500 years, from the 1420s to 1919, the 65 pieces include crowd favourites by Monet, Goya, Villers and many more; qagoma.qld.gov.au.
Reef retreat
Lady Musgrave HQ is a three-level, 30-guest pontoon under construction off the coast from Bundaberg. Aside from diving and snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef, people will be able to spend the night in underwater accommodation. The sleeping configuration is bunks in a shared room but that allows 360-degree viewing of the marine life from your pillow, with UV lighting illuminating the reef at night. Or you can snooze under the stars in a “luxury swag” on the top deck. It is also open for day trips; ladymusgraveexperience.com.au.
Western Australia
State stories
WA Museum Boola Bardip recently opened in the Perth Cultural Centre to share the stories of communities across the state, particularly through the voices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Until April 26, the special exhibition is Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, where visitors are immersed in rock art images and animated artworks under a high-resolution 6m-wide dome; museum.wa.gov.au.
Hit the roof
The Art Gallery of WA’s rooftop will become a display space in early 2021, creatively complementing its view of Perth’s skyline. As the largest rooftop venue in the city, up to 500 people will be able to enjoy an open-air sculpture walk and an internal gallery for exhibitions and events; artgallery.wa.gov.au.
Chartered territory
Abercrombie & Kent’s nine-day WA, SA and King Island private air safari crosses the country from Perth to Melbourne in a chartered Cessna Citation X, zipping between Margaret River and the Pink Lake of Esperance before landing in Port Lincoln for a seafood masterclass and dinner in chef Kris Bunders’s home. Next stop is the Flinders Ranges to explore Wilpena Pound and Rawnsley Park Station. Moving on to the Murray River, unwind aboard a houseboat for two nights before the flight to King Island for a gastronomic tour and golf at Cape Wickham. From $24,000 a person, based on eight guests travelling together; abercrombiekent.com.au.
Tasmania
Walk this way
Tasmanian Walking Company has designed a diverse range of special-interest walks, runs and retreats through 2021. Themes include drawing, painting, seed collecting, yoga, mindfulness, and a sailing and walking combination with personal development workshops by author Steve Biddulph; taswalkingco.com.au.
Fly high
A statewide shortage of rental cars has elevated the value of heli-tours on the island. The Top Shelf Tasmanian Whisky Gin & Wine itinerary visits McHenry Distillery on the Tasman Peninsula or Shene Estate north of Hobart for tastings, followed by lunch at Frogmore Creek Cellar Door and Restaurant in the Coal River Valley wine region. Priced at $999 a person, the four-hour experience includes one hour of flying time, covering ground that would take five hours’ driving. A new five-passenger helicopter is also available for transfers to remote hotels; tasmanianairtours.com.au.
Fresh looks
MONA reopened on Boxing Day, unveiling significant changes to its art collection, plus a playground, live music program and new food venues such as a pizza and cocktail lounge. The Hobart institution is open Fridays to Mondays; pre-bookings are essential; mona.net.au.
Mirror images
DarkLab, a subsidiary of MONA, is developing a major permanent artwork in the Huon Valley. Transformer, created by artist Doug Aitken, is a pavilion with a kaleidoscopic interior that reflects the sky and landscape. Opening in December, the $5m sculpture is set to become a spectacular starting point for visitors to discover the natural beauty of the region in every season; project-x.net.au.
