1 Walk this way
Lace up your hiking boots and bring your sense of awe – award-winning Tasmania Walking Company’s new Three Capes Adventure beckons.
From its wild and windswept landscapes to its curious critters, Tasmania was made for multi-day treks. The newest fully-guided offering from Tasmania Walking Company takes you 45 kilometres across the Tasman Peninsula, witnessing end-of-the-Earth capes, jagged coastlines and untouched forest over three days before ending at Fortescue Bay. While it might test your mettle at times, there are nightly rewards and plenty of comforts, including cosy private eco-accommodation at brand new Crescent Bay Camp and night two at Crescent Lodge, where gourmet meals are prepared while you sip a flute of sparkling. Here are some highlights.
DAY 1: HOBART – CRESCENT BAY CAMP
Today’s six-hour walk climbs through eucalypt forest opening to endless views over the coast and the Tasman Ocean, before descending to the Cape Raoul lookout – there are no roads here; the only way to arrive is on foot. If the fresh air doesn’t take your breath away, then the outlook surely will – the dolerite cape drops dramatically into the ocean. Keep an eye out for seals on the rocks and small islands below.
DAY 2: CRESCENT BAY CAMP – CRESCENT LODGE
Another six-hour day sees you work up a sweat with a morning ascent of Mount Brown. At the summit, you’re rewarded with vistas over Cape Raoul, Cape Pillar and Tasman Island. A private boat awaits at Safety Cove, where you’ll refuel before skipping over the waves to Denman’s Cove, ready to tackle the last few kilometres to the lodge.
DAY 3: CRESCENT LODGE – FORTESCUE BAY
Today’s eight-hour trek weaves through a diversity of landscapes and ecosystems, including exposed coastal heathlands and cool pockets of rainforest. You’ll also have the chance to climb the peninsula’s highest peak, Mount Fortescue (490 metres) before taking an invigorating dip at Fortescue Bay. What a way to end the day. taswalkingco.com.au
Australia, but not as you know it
AAT Kings has been taking adventurous travellers around Australia for more than a century. The company’s pioneering spirit remains to this day.
2 South Australian Outback Adventure (8 days)
The South Australian outback humbles, with its prehistoric escarpments, vast salt plains and opal caves. Epic stargazing is guaranteed. This itinerary is as much about connecting you to the countryside’s attractions as it is about connecting you to Country – you have the chance to walk on Adnyamathanha Country in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges with its Custodians, the Yura people, while staying at Wilpena Pound Resort.
WILD SIGHTS
• The eye-popping colours and shapes of Lake Eyre
• Sacred Ochre Cliffs outside Lyndhurst
• The moonscape surrounding Coober Pedy’s opal mines
3 Outback Explorer: Uluru to Adelaide (4 days)
Four days, 1,600 kilometres, countless adventures... This is your backdrop from the Red Centre to South Australia via Coober Pedy and Port Augusta. The colours of this countryside dazzle: pindan soil spiked with silvery eucalypts, horizon-bending blue skies, the glitter of parched salt lakes. It’s a landscape as harsh as it is beautiful.
WILD SIGHTS
• The colours change with every second when you're enjoying sunrise at Uluru
• Giant ripper lizards and dinosaurs star at Wadlata Outback Centre
• A vast ethereal saltpan, Lake Hart's community has all but deserted it today
TRAVEL FACTS
INFORMATION
4 Queensland Spirit: Heart of the Outback (7 days)
Things are bigger in the Queensland outback, from the colours to the working stations, the dinosaurs and the country characters – the latter come with plenty of swagger, and just as many stories about life on the land. This itinerary takes a deep dive into Australian history, from the Qantas Founders Museum to Winton, where Banjo Patterson penned ‘Waltzing Matilda’.
WILD SIGHTS
• Dinosaurs once roamed Winton. Follow in their (very) large footsteps
• Watch the Queensland countryside change on the Spirit of the Outback
• The ancient Dog Fence spans 5,300 kilometres across three states
5 Raft Bighorn Sheep Canyon
You’re guaranteed a wild ride at Colorado’s Bighorn Sheep Canyon. This foamy stretch along the Arkansas River is a veritable hot spot for whitewater rafting. A popular choice for beginner and intermediate rafters, Bighorn Sheep Canyon boasts roaring class I-III rapids dotted with peaceful areas of crystalline water where you
