World-class luxury, a plane trip away

Sunny, peaceful and teeming with culture, Tropical North Queensland is waiting to be rediscovered.

Overlooking the landscape from the spa on the escarpment is a highlight of the Jarramali Rock Art Tours.

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Make sustainable travel choices without compromising on your comfort in Cairns & Great Barrier Reef.

The way Australians holiday has changed dramatically in the last few years. Even before Covid hit, we were beginning to approach travel with a greater sense of responsibility. Things like eco-tourism, cultural experiences that illuminate Australia’s rich Indigenous history and ‘voluntourism’–a form of tourism in which travellers participate in voluntary work, often for a charity–were playing into where we chose to travel and why.

In a post-Covid world, we can add domestic travel to that list–it’s no secret the pandemic has hit Australia’s diverse network of tourism operators hard. Fortunately, the destinations on our own doorstep are world-class, a fact this period of stillness has prompted us to rediscover. But when it comes to exploring–and here at Travel & Luxury, we get asked this a lot–knowing where to explore first is the hard part.

Lately, though, the team’s answer to the ‘where’ question has become unanimous: Tropical North Queensland is the place we’re all hanging out to revisit.

An outer reef tour with Sailaway.

If you’ve not been to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef for years, you’ll notice right away just how much the region’s tourism offerings have changed. Today, it’s home to some of the country’s most luxurious eco resorts, which are designed to really immerse you in the barefoot luxury that lies just outside.

But the tours and experiences are the real keys to unlocking the magic of the region. And while, yes, snorkelling is one of them, there are a whole range of activities on offer that are designed to deepen your connection with this stunning slice of the world.

If you’re passionate about marine conservation, Port Douglas’ Sailaway experience should be at the top of your list. The luxury sailing company operates tours of the reef and nearby islands, which are guided by a team of experienced marine biologists who are passionate about passing on their knowledge of this incredibly fragile environment. A trip with Sailaway is also 100 percent carbon offset–the company invests in nearby sustainable reforestation project Eco Shambala.

If you’ve caught the voluntourism bug and you’d like to get more hands-on with your Tropical North Queensland experience, we recommend joining Passions of Paradise’s research team. A member of the Coral Nurturing Program, it conducts stewardship initiatives at a number of reef sites in the area, which guests have the opportunity to participate in.

Cooking in the rainforest in Tropical North Queensland.

But it’s not all underwater. For the land mammals, we recommend checking out Skyrail, the rainforest cableway that skims the treetops of the Barron Gorge National Park. Don’t forget your camera, because it’s money shot after money shot up there.

Further inland, the Indigenous-owned Jarramali Rock Art Tours is a cultural adventure not to be missed. Led by a member of the Kuku Yalanji people, the Traditional Owners of the land, the 4WD tours visit many significant cultural destinations, chief among them the Quinkan Rock Art Galleries, one of the top 10 rock art sites in the world according to UNESCO, which features ancient Indigenous paintings that are up to 20,000 years old.

A dusk campfire with with Jarramali Rock Art Tours.

The most transformative thing about an eco holiday in Tropical North Queensland, though, is returning home feeling positively changed. Rather than boarding the plane home feeling like a slightly more rested (and sunburned) version of yourself, the power of the experiences on offer mean you really do leave the region feeling like a custodian of it. Naturally, custodianship comes with a caveat: you’ll want to return.

But that’s the beauty of this process of rediscovering our own, constantly evolving backyard: There’s always something new to be found.

As a region enclosed by vast wildernesses and natural World Heritage wonders, protecting the environment and unique wildlife is an unquestionable way of life in Tropical North Queensland. Just visiting, gives you an appreciation for the natural assets and a passion for wanting to protect it.