Visit Australia
Australia has always been unique. It’s nearly as big as the U.S., but has a population of just 21 million. It has giant mice with bunny ears (kangaroos), beavers crossed with ducks (platypuses, or platypi, if you’re a local), and Ewok-like creatures that just sit in trees and eat a lot (koalas). It has an arrestingly beautiful landscape that stretches from tropical rainforests to endless red dirt plains and uninhabited white-sand beaches. Prices are low, the people are friendly, and the weather’s great. So why haven’t you been there yet?
Most people simply answer: “It’s too far.” But is it? Rosemary McClure of the L.A. Times says that if you’re flying from the West Coast, flight times are about the same as they are to Europe. In fact, McClure writes that spending a week in Australia is just as practical as a week in Europe—but cheaper. Virgin’s V Australia is set to launch in February, and this added competition is driving down flight prices. Not only that, but according to Arthur Frommer in the Chicago Tribune, it will also be much cheaper when you get there. Unlike Europe, which has become wildly expensive, Australia is now 40% to 50% cheaper for the American tourist. For the first time in a long time, vacationing in Australia is starting to make sense. So now that you’ve got no excuses left—let’s have a look at where you should go.
The Outback
Australia is so big and has so much to offer that planning a trip can be daunting; but never fear—IL is here. First, you must “go bush.” To find your inner Crocodile Dundee, you should visit the Top End—more than half a million square miles of the world’s least populated but most climactically diverse landscapes. Shane Mitchell of Travel and Leisure magazine was awestruck by its saltwater estuaries, arid savannas, hidden thermal springs, and impassable peaks. As director Baz Luhrman, whose new epic Australia is set to be released this month, explains: “You have your Wild West. We have the Wild North.”
There’s a different light up north and a different pace of life. The magnitude of the landscape overwhelms you and even the noisiest, busiest people slow down to the quiet calm pace of the outback. Mitchell found peace at Bamurru Plains, a Condé Nast-recommended safari lodge on the doorstep of Kakadu National Park. Surrounded by Aboriginal art, he ate kangaroo shepherd’s pie and drank famous Australian reds by the light of a kerosene lamp, as the night animals played in the bush outside under an impossibly bright canopy of stars.
Sydney
For a taste of modern Australia, you should head down to Sydney, with its sparkling harbor, lively atmosphere, and mouth-watering restaurants. Thrust onto the international stage by the 2000 Olympic Games, Sydney has all the convenience a tourist can expect from an Olympic host city: tourist trails, signposting, modern public transport, and easily accessible galleries and museums. But don’t worry; even in the middle of its biggest city, Australia won’t let you forget its natural beauty. At dusk, take a seat in Sydney’s Botanical Gardens, overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and watch the sun turn the sky and water every shade of pink, yellow, and orange. Above you, like a black cloud, the fruit bats will fly overhead on their nightly journey south to their feeding ground. Sometimes Sydney is so stunning it’s hard to believe it’s a city. I spoke to a local banker, and it seems the credit crunch hasn’t upset Sydney as much as the rest of the world: “Work is bad, but it doesn’t stay with you long—I can leave my office at 6 p.m. and be swimming on the beach by 6.30 p.m.” IL can understand why both Condé Nast Traveler and The Guardian recently voted Sydney the world’s best city.
Food and Wine magazine is also a fan of Sydney, and has voted it the sixth best culinary capital of the world. But for those of us in the know: Sydney, with its unique fusion of European and Asian flavors, has been on the gastronomic radar for years. Visit Sydney’s famous fish markets for fresh lobster, “John Dory,” and the Sydney Rock Oysters that fishermen here eat like potato chips. Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman loves to eat these freshly shucked oysters at an up-market restaurant on the water called Catalina’s. But Thomas Swick of the Houston Chronicle didn’t need to go upmarket to get his fix—and why should he in a city that has cheap, fresh produce all year round? He fell in love with Sydney’s street food—and in particular, the good old Aussie meat pie. Luckily, a friendly local gave IL a brilliant tip—for the best meat pies in town, head to a little street van called “Harry’s Pies,” which sits on the water outside the Wooloomooloo Finger Wharf. Come on, any place with eight o’s in its name has got to be worth visiting.
If you have any time left in your Australian journey, USA Today journalists and Finn Olaf-Jones of The New York Times think you should definitely visit Melbourne, Australia’s cultural capital. And if you can fit anywhere else into your itinerary, Margo Pfeiff of the L.A. Times suggests you visit Perth, Australia’s carefree western outpost.
For more information, visit the Australian Tourism Bureau, website: www.australia.com. Virgin’s V Australia starts flights in February; prices are currently being quoted around $1,700 from L.A. to Sydney roundtrip. See: www.vaustralia.com. Bamurru Plains is $700 per person per night in a double room and includes all meals, drinks, and daily activities. Tel. +61(2)9571-6399; website: www.bamurruplains.com. For accommodation in Sydney, The New York Times suggests the new Storrier art hotel, from $160 a night. Tel. +61(2)8988-6999; website: www.thestorrier.com. Catalina Restaurant, tel. +61(2)9371-0555; website: www.catalinarosebay.com.au.
Queensland
Dreaming of a white Christmas? Then Australia is your answer—and we’re talking white sand, not white snow here. Instead of freezing, sunbathe and relax in Queensland, Australia’s northeastern state.
Cash: In the Houston Chronicle, Arthur Frommer suggests that the best way to travel around Australia is by staying in hostels. Jason La of the L.A. Times found hostel heaven near Mission Beach in a tree house nestled in a rainforest. Rates at the Treehouse YHA start from just $18. Tel. +61(7)4068-7137; website: www.yha.com.au.IL hint: Make sure they’ve finished their refurbishment before you go.
Check: Recommended by Condé Nast Traveler magazine, Hamilton Island is the largest of the sparkling Whitsunday Island group, home to Australia’s most famous white-sand beaches and gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. On the resort, bungalows sleeping two to three people start from $250 a night. Tel. +61(2)9433-0444; website: www.hamiltonisland.com.au.
Credit: The Australian, Australia’s leading newspaper, recommends Lizard Island, a distant outpost on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Isolated from the rest of the world, only accessible by private plane, and housing 40 luxury suites—vacations don’t get more exclusive than this. A four-night package in a double room starts from $2,500 per person. Tel. +61(2)8296-8010; website: www.lizardisland.com.au.
Best of the travel blogs—see Antarctica from a plane
This month’s travel bloggers noticed that Croydon Travel has started offering trips to Antarctica, which take only 12 hours. How is this possible? Well, as Gadling blogger Abha Malpani explains: instead of a cruise, it’s a flight. This increasingly popular 12-hour non-stop flight from Sydney or Melbourne on a Boeing 747-400 gives you breathtaking views of Antarctica’s east coast. Prices start at $999, but as Jeannette Kimmel of the Intelligent Travel blog points out, that price refers to a seat in the middle aisle of the plane. Call me crazy, but I can’t imagine the views from those seats would be particularly thrilling. Thankfully, if you pay $1,399, you can see a lot more. I’ve flown past the Antarctic before, and I can promise you that the dramatic ice sheets and glaciers do seem to be from a whole other world. But is that worth 12 hours in a plane? Maybe if you have short legs.
For more information, visit: http://www.antarcticaflights.com.au; www.gadling.com; http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com.