Save on your next holiday: rail travel, Tasmania, Flinders Ranges, Palm Cove
Take a rail journey into regional NSW or explore the world of colonial painter John Glover in Tasmania.
The train event
Country NSW
Scott McGregor of Railway Adventures is running a return train tour from Sydney to Mudgee aboard the Capertee Valley Explorer (East Coast Heritage Rail), made up of 1930s carriages. Passengers disembark at the village of Rylstone for a weekend of indulgence, including a soiree at McGregor’s rail-themed Ruwenzori Retreat.
Fine print From $2295 a person twin-share; add $295 for sole occupancy in Mudgee; October 16-18.
Creative trail
Tasmania
The Australian’s art critic, Christopher Allen, will take guests into the world of colonial painter John Glover on a Tasmania tour. Launceston’s Queen Victoria Art Gallery and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart are on the agenda, along with Patterdale, the estate where Glover lived. Accommodation is at Peppers Silo Hotel and Movenpick Hotel Hobart, or similar.
Fine print September 27-October 3; $5250 a person, twin-share; book by July 29.
Outback and ocean
South Australia
A visit to Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges and a wilderness cruise on Pondalowie Bay, Yorke Peninsula, are among the highlights of a five-day tour from Luxury Escapes. A maximum of 12 people travel from Adelaide to Wallaroo for two nights, followed by two nights at Rawnsley Park Station. There are wine tastings, guided bushwalks and a tour of historic Moonta Mines.
Fine print From $2999 a person, twin-share; multiple departures from October to May next year.
Suite life
Queensland
Four nights in a studio suite at The Reef Retreat Palm Cove, north of Cairns, comes with a host of enticements, including a full-day cruise for two to the outer reef and a breakfast hamper on arrival. Parking, early check-in and late check-out, beach towel hire and a bottle of wine are also included in the deal, with savings of up to 46 per cent.
Fine print From $429 a person, twin-share, for travel from October 1 to June 30 next year; book by June 22 this year.
In the news
Coral Expeditions has announced a fully domestic sailing schedule for next year, including extra dates for its popular Kimberley cruises. The company made the move because of ongoing uncertainty about international borders. New dates for Ashmore Reef and Rowley Shoals expeditions have been released, along with a 14-night voyage from Melbourne to Fremantle. The 2023 Kimberley season from April to September is also on sale.
Taronga Zoo Sydney will have a new rescue and rehabilitation centre for the platypus, following a $600,000 donation by RSPCA NSW. The purpose-built facility, to be completed next year, will house nine to 12 of the monotremes, which are threatened by drought, bushfire and climate change.
Western Australia is expecting a bumper wildflower season this spring thanks to consistent rainfall in March, April and May. The WA Visitor Centre will launch its wildflower tracking app early next month and flower shows will take place at Ravensthorpe, Esperance and Wongan Hills in September and October.
MSC Cruises is launching a luxury brand, Explora Journeys, with the first of four new ships expected to set sail in 2023.