Australia held a virtual global tourism summit today (Nov. 16), with tons of great information and tantalizing stories about the country.
Canadians still aren’t allowed to visit, but there is a travel bubble with New Zealand, which allows Kiwis to visit without needing to quarantine. They’re hoping to set up an Australia-Singapore bubble soon.
There’s no date for when Canadians or Americans can go, but they’re hoping it’s not far away. Given that one in 13 jobs in Australia depend on tourism, there are a lot of reasons for Aussies to want to welcome overseas visitors again.
I was lucky enough to attend the Australia Tourism Exchange in Queensland a few years ago. Here are some places and activities I learned about.
THE CORAL COAST AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA
A whale shark near the Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.
This is the name they give the long (and I mean long) stretch of coast that stretches from Perth in Western Australia north to the town of Onslow or so. Western Australia, or WA as some call it, is kind of the Texas of Oz; the largest state and probably the one with the strongest frontier kind of feel. The state is 2.5 million square km’s (about the size of Western Europe and one-third of all Australia’s land mass) and has only about 2.6 million residents. Almost all of them are huddled near Perth in the far southwest corner of the state. That leaves the northern beaches of Western Australia virtually untouched. The Ningaloo Reef, which I’d never heard of, stretches on for 260 km’s. It looks sensational, and in parts of WA the reef is just steps from the beach, which makes it easier to access than The Great Barrier Reef on the other side of the country. Also stunning are the rock formations in Kalbarri National Park. The Kimberleys have a remarkable mountain range called the Bungle Bungles (I want to go more than almost anywhere in the country). I’d also like to see the Margaret River wine area south of Perth. Another crazy part of the state are Cocos and Keeling Islands and Christmas Island; small specks in the Indian Ocean about three hours away by plane and closer to Indonesia than to Australia. They both look spectacular; like “an untouched version of the Maldives,” as one tourism person put it.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
I’ve never been to this state, but I hear Adelaide is a cool city with great shopping, galleries and wonderful food. The nearby Barossa Valley is Australia’s top wine region, with outstanding red wines in particular and sumptuous Cabernet and Shiraz. There are some interesting German villages I’d like to check out, not to mention Kangaroo Island and the seaside town of Port Lincoln. The northern part of the state sounds fantastic, with cool rock formations and ancient craters and funky towns such as Coober Pedy.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Nitmiluk Gorge, Australia.
Nitmiluk Gorge should be high on anyone’s list of places to visit Down Under. Also known as Katherine Gorge, this seems to me to be like the Bungle Bungles, but much easier to get to. If you fly to Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, you can reach the town of Katherine in about three hours, I was told. The gorge is perhaps 45 minutes outside Katherine and features a series of deep valleys with beautiful wide rivers and waterfalls in season. They have a variety of accommodations, too, from budget on up to five-star luxury. Nice.
GREAT WALKS OF AUSTRALIA
Great Walks of Australia is a company that provides fantastic walks all over the country. They’ve now got a walking tour in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. There are four walks in Tasmania, which I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting. The one I’d love to take includes stunning Freycinet Bay. Overall, Tassie looks like a fantastic destination.
LUXURY LODGES OF AUSTRALIA
Cappella Lodge is a Luxury Lodges of Australia property on Lord Howe Island in New South Wales.
Luxury Lodges of Australia is another outfit with properties all over the country. I was lucky enough to stay at their Longitude 131 Near Uluru (Ayers Rock) a few years back and absolutely loved it. I’m told they’ve made significant renovations, including outdoor decks. The units were stunningly designed, going so far as to carve a hole in one of the walls so you could have a view of Uluru in the golden light of morning while you had your shower. Several of the lodges caught my eye, including Arkaba and the Southern Ocean Lodge in South Australia, Sal Salis in Western Australia (overlooking the Ningaloo Reef) and Capella Lodge on Lord Howe Island in New South Wales, where I was lucky enough to have dinner a few years ago. Lord Howe might be the most amazing place I’ve ever seen; an isolated dot in the middle of the ocean between Australia and New Zealand, which has the most southerly coral reef on the planet and just a handful of residents on a truly spectacular island.
