Start your Aussie adventure in unforgettable fashion in Darwin and begin your travels with steamy bowls of noodles served at night markets and feeding baby crocodiles at Crocosaurus Cove. It’s a short hop from here to Kakadu national park, where a 4WD tour takes in plunging waterfalls, dramatic escarpments and ancient rock art. You may even see some 20,000-year-old paintings. Make time for Litchfield national park too and discover the park many Darwinites pick as their favourite, for its laidback bushwalks and idyllic swimming holes.
Darwin is the ideal gateway to Australia and, thanks to Malaysia Airlines’ direct flight into the Northern Territory (NT) capital from Kuala Lumpur, it’s an accessible one too. They also fly to and from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, so you have the ultimate freedom to explore.
I recommend you head east though, from Darwin to the Adelaide River and a croc jumping cruise, to fill those memory banks with pictures of reptilian giants leaping from the water. That’s one you won’t forget in a hurry. Stop next at Katherine, for a boat trip through formidable gorge and a soak in the hot springs, before heading on to the Red Centre and one of the country’s (if not the world’s) most memorable sights, Uluru (Ayers Rock). This hulking red rock is worth a day or two, hiking around the base and watching the sun cast shadows on its surprisingly rugged surface.
Don’t miss nearby Kata Tjuta, an undulating landscape of domes that looks like a collapsed Uluru, and a visit to Kings Canyon, a jaw-dropping slash in the earth that is home to one of Australia’s best short hikes, the Rim Walk, which runs up and around the canyon yielding unforgettable views of this harsh, arid landscape.
Few landscapes even come close, but that of the Kimberley does, further west in Western Australia. Here you’ll find the Gibb River Road, one of the world’s most spectacular, and challenging, road trips. Don’t even think about attempting it in anything other than a sturdy 4WD and allow plenty of time to stop off at swimming holes beneath dripping palm fronds and at remote homesteads where cattle outnumber people by several thousand to one.
Western Australia is also home to Australia’s unsung reef, the 300km-long Ningaloo. This is the world’s largest fringing reef (one of the three main types of coral reef), which makes it perhaps the most accessible. Simply don mask and snorkel, wade out from the shore, stick your face in the water – and see vast shoals of fish, reef sharks, turtles and dolphins. From March to July, you can also swim with whale sharks here, the ocean’s largest fish and a gentle giant that is sure to leave you spellbound.
Further south, Perth is a vibrant city with far more life to it than you might expect from one the planet’s most remote cities. This is the jumping off point for the wine region of the Margaret River, home to dozens of quality wineries, producing some of the country’s leading wines.
Start the search for your new favourite here, and continue the hunt in neighbouring state South Australia, where the Barossa Valley passionately produces wines many will argue are Australia’s best. There are some 80 cellar doors offering wine tasting here, as well as numerous bakeries, butchers and other food producers, so plan a couple of days to explore.
You’ll also want to jump offshore here to Kangaroo Island, so stocked with wildlife it feels like a zoo without barriers. You won’t have to look too hard to see kangaroos, koalas and fur seals; spend a little longer though and with some patience you might see echidnas crossing your path and the famously furtive platypus lurking in the streams.
Even more wilderness awaits for those who make the trip over the Bass Strait to Tasmania. Australia’s smallest state is big on national parks, with some 40% of the island protected in parks and reserves. With five days to spare, you can hike between glaciated mountains and past crystal clear lakes and thundering waterfalls on the Overland Track, said by many to be Australia’s best bushwalk. Alternatively, bushcamp at postcard-perfect beaches in the Bay of Fires or raft the wild Franklin river.
Back on the mainland, Victoria is home to one of the world’s best road trips, the Great Ocean Road. See the Twelve Apostles sea stacks and walk through fern gullies in the Great Otway national park, before driving into Melbourne for cafe culture and some of Australia’s best dining. Make time for a cricket match at the MCG if there’s one during your visit and explore the narrow streets of Chinatown and the boutique-lined laneways of the city centre.
More fabulous foodie finds await you in Sydney, where you must also walk across the Sydney Harbour bridge, see an opera at the iconic Opera House and take the Manly Ferry across the world’s largest natural harbour to lounge on the sands of Manly.
More perfect strands are found further north in Queensland, where the Great Barrier Reef lies offshore and a string of powdery white-sand beaches pull you up the coast past Brisbane to Cairns and the unspoiled rainforest of the Daintree national park beyond. Don’t miss driving on the beach and spotting dingos on Fraser Island, sailing past coral cays in the Whitsunday Islands and – of course – a snorkel or scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Nothing can prepare you for the mind-bending experience that is entering this underwater world, a wonderland built from coral. It is the planet’s largest living thing and home to a literally countless number of fish, molluscs and starfish, not to mention turtles, dolphins and rays.
With so much to do here, Australia has near limitless possibilities for your next holiday. So now it’s up to you, what will be the story of your next trip?
Trailfinders – tailormade holidays to suit you
Begin your adventure in tropical Darwin, the gateway to the spectacular Kakadu national park, before flying on to Australia’s cultural capital, Melbourne, where you’ll meet the local penguins on Phillip Island. Fly to Sydney for the grand finale. This nine-night itinerary costs from £1649, including flights, hotels and touring – call Trailfinders on 020 7368 1200 to book.
How to get there
Fly to Australia with Malaysia Airlines which has twice-daily flights from London Heathrow to Sydney and Melbourne, plus daily connections to Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and four connections every week to Darwin. Prices for return flights from London to Australia start from just £649. For more information and to book visit malaysiaairlines.com
