Travel to Western Australia for its glorious display of wild flowers or Visit canberra for some high-tech fun with the kids. In part two of our TOURING GUIDE, Emily Bridges offers ideas on how to enjoy the warmer days in the other three states and a territory.
September and October are the perfect months to visit WA to see the State in glorious bloom with 12,000 wild flower species scattered across 2.5 million square kilometres. But where to start?
If you’re in Perth, catch the Wildflower Festival at Kings Park from September 22 to 26. From here you can visit ‘Central Wildflower Country’, which includes towns such as Yalgoo and Dalwallinu.
Around Yalgoo everlastings (white, gold and pink), billy buttons, wild pansies, wattle, purple vetch and daisies paint the landscape, while Dalwallinu is known as the ‘Gateway to the World of Wattles’. Dalwallinu holds a Wattle Week Festival from September 10–17; see a landscape awash in gold and enjoy festival highlights such as bush cuisine.
North-east of Perth is ‘Outback Country’, an ancient landscape scattered with delicate wildflowers. It’s also home to the world’s largest monocline, Mt Augustus, which is twice the size of Uluru. Explore Leonora, described as a “colourful wildflower paradise” with everlastings, mulla mulla, orange immortelle, blue pincushion and poached egg daisies. It’s also perfect 4WD country, with well-marked tracks in most regions.
Directly north of Perth you can experience the Indian Ocean Drive and enjoy views of the Indian Ocean and coastal cliffs as well as spectacular wildflower displays, which extend for kilometres, often as far as the horizon. From October you can see the unique golden bloom of the Western Australian Christmas Tree in the Moore River National Park.
Geraldton is known as the capital of the region and is steeped in history. Wildflowers are sprinkled along the roadsides and throughout the bush, and there are blankets of everlastings near Mingenew (south-east of Geraldton).
North of Geraldton is the Kalbarri National Park. Here river gums, gold and orange banksias, grevilleas, kangaroo paws, featherflowers, starflowers and eucalypts are widespread.
South of Perth choose to see any number of wildflower events, such as the Kojonup Festival of Wildflowers from September 24–October 1, the Albany Wildflower Festival from September 22–23 or the Porongurup Wildflower Walks from October 1–9.
There are a variety of organised botanic tours of WA. Contact the Western Australian Visitor Centre (see box) for details or see ‘Hot Tip’ below.
Hot Tip: NRMA Club Tours has an 11-day ‘Western Australian Wildflowers’ tour, which follows the native wildflowers’ route through the south of WA from September 24–October 4. For more details call 1800 447 019.
For more details visit www.westernaustralia.com or call 1300 361 351.
Food is South Australia’s largest export earner and it boasts a smorgasbord of fresh produce and speciality foods.
The Fleurieu Peninsula, a few hours drive south of Adelaide, has local produce with a Mediterranean twist. Stop off at McLaren Vale and visit Blessed Cheese, renowned for its Cheese and Wine Trail which won a prize at the Premier’s Food Awards 2004. Taste delicious cheeses or make your own in a one-day course that includes a gourmet lunch of local produce.
Chocolate lovers can visit David Medlow Chocolate at McLarens on the Lake; try all natural pectin fruit jellies and handmade chocolates.
Not far from McLaren Vale, Willunga Farmers’ Market, held every Saturday morning, is heaven for your tastebuds and offers a huge selection of fresh produce, such as meats, vegetables, dairy, eggs, organic coffee, olive and macadamia oils, almonds and organic tarts. Head to the Alma Hotel carpark at the entrance to Willunga.
Yabbies are a regional speciality of Fleurieu and further south from Willunga you can visit Inman Valley, the home of Galloway Yabbies. Try pickled yabbies or yabby pate.
You can pick up a Perfect Peninsula Picnic Map from any of the Peninsula Visitor Centres, which lists other places to visit in the area for fine fare. And as you travel through the area keep an eye out for food you can pick up from the farm gate.
The month of October is an especially good time to visit as the area celebrates its Fiesta! Food Festival, a month long festival of picnics, dances and more.
The Barossa Valley, only 65 km north of Adelaide, doesn’t just produce great wine. Local food producers have joined together to create a regional food brand called Food Barossa, the products of which can be bought from cellar doors and visitors centres in the area or the local deli. Maggie Beer and Beerenberg jams are based here, and you can visit Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop in Nuriootpa and browse through her products or stop for lunch.
If you pass through Tanunda, visit the Apex Bakery. The oven was built in 1924 and holds the record as Australia’s longest continuously fired oven. Its just baked Streuselkuchen is said to cause a stampede of customers. Or start the day by picking up fresh Barossa Valley produce from the Barossa Farmers’ Market, open every Saturday morning at the Vintners Sheds, Angaston.
For more details visit www.southaustralia.com or call 1300 655 276.
Tassie in spring is perfect for sipping some of the best cool-climate wines in the world. Tasmania’s pinot noirs are legendary, and its riesling, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and pinot gris, all display a rich diversity in style and flavour. The northern Tamar Valley and the adjoining Pipers River produce around 80% of Tasmania’s wine, mostly European-style sparkling whites, pinot noirs, chardonnays and cabernets. Visit Pipers Brook, 50 minutes north of Launceston, Ninth Island vineyard south of Pipers River and Strathlynn on the Tamar River, which serves a delicious lunch.
The east coast offers some of the richest pinot noirs in the world. The Freycinet Winery, near Cranbrook, make some of the best pinot noir in Australia (the grape takes well to Tasmania’s cooler climate), and Apsley Gorge at the Gulch in Bicheno is also well-known for its pinot noir and chardonnay.
French-influenced taste buds should head for the south-east, such as Coal River Valley wineries, a relatively new region north-east of Hobart, offering chardonnay, Riesling, iced Riesling, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. The Huon Valley lays claim to Australia’s most southerly vineyards. Sample the fruits of the vine at Panorama Vineyard near Cradoc (the oldest commercial winery in the region) and Home Hill Wines at Ranelagh near Huonville.
For more details visit www.discovertasmania.com.au or call 1300 655 145.
Canberra’s huge variety of affordable educational attractions makes it an excellent holiday destination for the whole family. Whatever the weather, there’s always a fun place to take the kids and, who knows, you might learn something new yourself.
for kids and teenagers. Another educational port of call is the Mount Stromlo Observatory Visitors’ Centre, which has reopened after it was gutted by the Canberra bushfires in 2003.
Older kids can learn how today’s bikes evolved at the Canberra Bicycle Museum and see comic older ones such as the penny-farthing; younger kids will love the 1914 merry-go-round in Petrie Plaza (Civic) with its original organ and hand-carved horses.
At the National Zoo and Aquarium you can see Australia’s only tigons (the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion). You’ll also come face-to-face with sharks, lions, European brown bears, snow leopards, monkeys, dingos, tigers and pumas. Or for beasts from bygone days, the National Dinosaur Museum has full-sized replica skeletons, bones and skulls of prehistoric creatures that once roamed Australia.
Australia’s most beautiful and colourful birds fly freely at Canberra’s Bird Walk, with its enormous walk-in aviary alive with 500 birds. The young parrots are hand-reared and will sit on your hand and let you feed them (feeding times are 10am and 4pm).
A 40-minute drive from Canberra is Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, where kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and emus roam wild. You can guide yourself along one of the walking trails or join a free weekend guided walk (also available school holidays). Entry is free.
For kids with a lot of energy to burn, Corin Forest Mountain Retreat, south of Canberra, offers rides on bobsleds and flying-foxes, while those after a cultural experience should take a walk around the collection of miniature buildings from Great Britain at Cockington Green. Built to scale, there’s also buildings from Australia, South Africa, Chile, Holland and the Czech Republic, and young children will love Playtown, an interactive play area.
Hot Tip: Use NRMA’s online Travel Planner for accommodation ideas and map routes to any destination in this article.
For more details visit www.canberratourism.com.au or call 1300 554 114.
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