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Put your own stamp on the holiday season with these hot ideas for a unique summerSummer is surely Australia’s favourite season. After the lull of the cooler months there’s a palpable craving for longer days and the pinch of warm sun on skin. It’s also the season this country does best. The water is once again inviting enough to leap into, an esky becomes a necessity and thongs become acceptable footwear nearly everywhere. |
Those long, hot days are perfect for giving the veranda a coat of sealer or for settling in for a day of cricket on TV. But don’t get stuck at home – you’ll miss the best time of the year to seize a slice of what makes this country great. So, with summer barely a cicada-chirp away, grab hold of this coming summer season – don’t waste it – with our guide to this summer’s best holiday ideas.
For many, boarding a plane signals just the beginning of a vacation. But a scenic flight, far from being a trip to be endured, is a highlight that can form the holiday centrepiece.
From Armidale Airport, take a one-hour flight over Six Gorges in the New England Plateau with Fleet Helicopters (Ph: 6772 2348). The scenery is spectacular and surprisingly few people know about the rugged natural beauty of this part of the State. Trips can be pricey if you fly solo, but two can secure a seat for $330 each.
On the Sapphire Coast, Merimbula Air Services (Ph: 6495 1074) can put you in the air for as little as $45. Longer flights mean better value, and one of the best is over the Victorian border to Gabo Island, offshore from Mallacoota, with its seal colony.
For the ultimate in romance, Sydney Seaplanes (Ph: 1300 732 752) fly from Sydney Harbour over the Northern Beaches to touch down in Pittwater, where you can enjoy Mod-Oz food and a stay at Jonah’s (Ph: 9974 5599) before catching the morning seaplane back over the city.
For adrenalin seekers, the ex-military pilots at Highland Warbirds in the Southern Highlands (Ph: 4878 5389) will engage you in air-to-air combat, and if you feel the need to jump out of a perfectly good plane, you can take the fast way down with Skydive the Beach in Wollongong (Ph: 1300 663 634), purportedly the only place in NSW where you can parachute onto a beach!
Nature gave you your own set of pistons so why not use them and get fit in the process? Jack Shick, who operates Sea-to-Summit Walks on Lord Howe Island, is a firm believer in walking as a healthy pursuit and a way of communing with nature (Ph: 6563 2218). Jack’s a fifth-generation islander who’ll guide you to the 875m summit of Mt Gower, pointing out species of endemic palms and birds along the way. Thanks to some steep slopes and its 8hr timeframe, it’s a walk best described as “not for the faint-hearted”, but that didn’t stop an 80-year-old Japanese man from reaching the summit recently.
Of course you needn’t do anything quite so strenuous, nor do you need to travel so far afield to enjoy the benefits of a walk. In Sydney, the Bondi-to-Coogee trail is something of an institution – particularly during November’s excellent Sculptures by the Sea exhibition. It’s at its most vibrant on weekends when sun-worshippers flock to the beaches and cafes lining the coastal walk.
There are several great walks in the Blue Mountains. Tread Lightly Eco Tours (Ph: 4788 1229) offers small-group tours that minimise harmful impact practices while instructing in Aboriginal culture, bush foods, fire and geology. Or take an alpine guided walk up Mt Kosciuszko; one- or two-day treks are available with a Lake Crackenback Resort guide who’ll take you through the national park and prepare your tents as well as your meals (Ph: 6451 3000). After all that walking, you’ll be thankful for the help.
If the idea of a serious week-long trek appeals, Tasmania’s Overland Track is second to none (Ph: 03 6233 6047). Each year 8000-9000 walkers from around the world take the 65km trek through the Apple Isle’s Wilderness World Heritage Area.
If your heart is set on water-based activities this summer, you’ll never be short of places to visit. On the NSW Central Coast, take advantage of the area’s superb waterways with a reef- or game-fishing charter from Ettalong and Terrigal, or hire a sailboard, kayak or catamaran on Tuggerah Lake.
Nestled between the Central Coast and Newcastle, Lake Macquarie is an enormous aquatic saltwater playground perfect for canoes, jet skis or houseboats. There are lovely sandy beaches along the foreshore and, at Catherine Hill Bay, a number of shipwrecks popular with divers.
| Further north, Newcastle is home to some of our finest surfing beaches, including Merewether, Stockton and the best-known – Nobbys. There’s no danger of bumping into the Pasha Bulker now that the ill-fated freighter has been towed safely away.
Speaking of surfing, if this is to be the summer when you finally learn to hang ten, try hunting down Wagga Wagga’s infamous ‘5 O’clock’ wave. Surfers have allegedly ridden hundreds of kilometres on the inland wave – but you didn’t read it here. It’s a tall tale that has kept tourists in awe (and the locals amused) for years. |
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Sydneysiders will be well acquainted with the pleasures of the Harbour but here’s a tour with a difference: the Tribal Warrior, a traditionally owned and operated 100-year-old ketch, provides wonderful insight into pre-white settlement Sydney.
Its sister ship, the Deerubbun (Dharuk for ‘running water’) also conducts tours of significant Aboriginal landmarks, with a visit to Clark Island for a traditional welcome dance.
Both ships are used to train youths from tough backgrounds to become deckhands, riggers and captains. The tours help raise revenue for the Tribal Warrior Association (Ph: 9699 3491), whose aim is to instil a sense of pride in Aboriginal identity.
There’s something quintessentially Australian about a road trip, and there’s no better time to explore than during the heady days of our hottest season (forgetting for a moment the bugs that bombard the windscreen at this time of year).
From Sydney, there are plenty of easy day trips on offer. The drive via Windsor to the riverside villages of Ebenezer and Wisemans Ferry is simple and pleasant. Then cross over the Hawkesbury River and up to St Albans to stop for some delightful pub fare at the Settlers Arms, which dates from 1836. Another great short break takes you into the rolling green hills of the Southern Highlands; the residents of the heritage towns en route possess a country hospitality that makes you feel a world away, rather than a mere 90 minutes from Sydney or hour’s drive inland from the South Coast.
To the north, on the edge of the New England Tablelands, there’s a superb drive from Inverell to Gloucester known dramatically as Thunderbolt’s Way, named in honour of Captain Thunderbolt, the notorious bushranger who terrorised the area for many years.
Southeast Queensland’s Woodford Folk Festival (Ph: 07 5496 1066) is more than just the country’s biggest folk festival, it’s a utopia for the free-spirited. Get into the vibe of the festival by car-pooling your way there (December 27 to January 1). Slightly smaller but having no less invigorating a line-up is the Thredbo Blues Festival (thredboblues.com), with more than 100 top performers in a variety of indoor and outdoor mountain settings (January 11-13).
From the sublime to the whimsical, a drive to the original film set of your favourite blockbuster might just be the best road trip you ever take. The Silverton Hotel, 25km northwest of Broken Hill, is a Mecca for fans of Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, with Mel Gibson’s V8 Interceptor still parked right outside the pub.
Of the many festivals in January, one will attract more boot-scootin’ fans than any other: The Tamworth Country Music Festival from January 18-27 (Ph: 6766 1839). But where to kick off your boots and rest your cowboy hat? Try the unusual Retreat at Froog-Moore Park (Ph: 6766 3353). Themes include a Japanese Maeda Room, a gorgeous Moroccan Suite, and dungeon room complete with black walls and black linen.
No such gimmicks are to be found at the Black Sheep Inn, set in rolling countryside seven kilometres west of Orange (Ph: 6362 6946). This 100-year-old shearing shed has been transformed into genuinely beautiful accommodation while preserving key elements of the original building – the galvanised iron roofing, sheep chutes and red shearing machines can all still be seen. It’s a memorable experience, not least for the scrumptious breakfast. It’s also a good place to lodge if you plan on venturing to the Elvis Revival Festival, also in January (from 11-13).
Were you ever envious of the kids on the TV show Round the Twist? You too can stay in a lighthouse at the Smoky Cape Lighthouse in South West Rocks (Ph: 6566 6301). And for more accommodation ‘with a twist’, you’ll sleep soundly at the White Cliffs Underground Motel in NSW’s northwest (Ph: 08 8091 6677). Regardless of the intense heat aboveground, the temperature in the dugouts hovers at a steady 22 degrees.
Just opened in time for summer, the Oaks Pacific Blue Resort in Salamander Bay (Ph: 4916 1200) offers a more conventional way to beat the heat: private plunge pools. And that’s in addition to the lagoon pool – the largest in the country – encircling the resort (see p.41 for your chance to win a family holiday at Oaks Pacific Blue).
For those who are serious about their leisure time and have the means to fund it, there are few more luxurious places to stay than El Questro Homestead in the Kimberley (Ph: 08 9169 1777). Couched in ruggedly beautiful surrounds and cantilevered over the magnificent Chamberlain Gorge, the remarkable El Questro offers discerning guests the highest standards in food and service.
There’s no doubt about it – you can enjoy the months of summer in more than just a few ways. But don’t take my word for it. Use this guide, talk to your friends, leaf through brochures, make plans. It’s all you’ll need to cast off the last shackles of winter and enjoy nature’s finest season.
4WD
