Things to do in Australia
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Great Western Safari Northbound
21 days (Perth)
by Intrepid
Chill out on a Perth beach, Swim in turquoise rock pools at Karijini , Encounter dolphins in Monkey Mia, Tour through the wilds of Western Australia, Visit the…Not LP reviewed
from USD$4,080 - All things to do
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Red Centre Farm
Twelve kilometres south of Ti Tree, the Red Centre Farm sells unique Territory-style wine - made from mangoes. If that sounds a bit hard to swallow, try the other mango products, such as toppings, marinades and ice cream.
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Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve
At the Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve, a series of freestanding sandstone bluffs and cliffs, in shades ranging from cream to red, is one of central Australia's more extraordinary sights. A marked walking trail takes you past claypans and in between the multihued outcrops to the aptly named Mushroom Rock. Rainbow Valley is most striking in the early morning or at sunset, but the area's stupefying silence will overwhelm you at any time of day.
The park lies 22km off the Stuart Hwy along a 4WD track that's 75km south of Alice Springs. It has a basic camping ground.
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Palm Valley
Well known for its rare palms, Palm Valley is the kind of country in which you expect to bump into a T rex: high red cliffs, and majestic gums, palms and cycads. Leaving the Finke River at its junction with Palm Creek, head west past an old ranger station and 1km further on you'll arrive at the Kalarranga car park. You soon pass the excellent camping ground, in a serene setting opposite red-sandstone ridges, with hot showers and flush toilets.
Terrific walks include the Arankaia walk (2km loop, one hour), which traverses the valley, returning via the sandstone plateau; the Mpulungkinya track (5km loop, two hours), heading down the gorge before joining the Arankaia walk;…
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Ormiston Gorge
The grand Ormiston Gorge is the most impressive chasm in the West MacDonnells and well worth a couple of hours. There's a waterhole, and the gorge curls around to the enclosed Ormiston Pound. When the pound's waterholes dry up, the fish burrow into the sand, going into a sort of suspended animation only to reappear after rain. There are some excellent walking tracks, a visitor centre and a kiosk.
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Old Lutheran Mission
Shaded by tall river gums and date palms, the whitewashed walls of the old Mission contrast with the colourful countryside, captured by the settlement's most famous inhabitants, the Namatjira family. This fascinating monument to the Territory's early Lutheran missionaries includes a school building, a church and various houses. One building is now a gallery with examples of Namatjira's work.
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Nyinkka Nyunyu
The contemporary focus of the exhibitions in the Nyinkka Nyunyu gallery and museum make this one of the best cultural centres in the Centre. Excellent dioramas, prints and paintings produced by local artists show Aboriginal culture as a living culture, rather than a static one that stopped evolving after the boomerang. Dioramas depict the night patrol bus or the experience of working on local mines.
There are other displays of contemporary art and old artefacts - some recently returned by state museums. The attached shop stocks highly prized paintings, plus postcards and more.
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Namatjira's House
Back on Larapinta Dr, just west of Hermannsburg, is Namatjira's House. Albert Namatjira (1902-59), the Aboriginal artist whose European-style watercolours of the region were embedded with depictions of important Dreaming sites, lived in this two-room house (now in disrepair) in the '20s.
Albert did much to change the extremely negative views of Aboriginal people that prevailed during his lifetime. He also paved the way for the Papunya Tula painting movement that emerged a decade after his death.
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Memories Restaurant
The Club is like a bunker (no windows); inside is a refuge for families, pokie players and casual drinkers. You might just be able to see over your piled-high plate, stacked with steak or fish and chips, to the wall photos remembering the Queen's 1963 visit and the mayor meeting Di and Charles in 1983.
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Lambert Centre
Just 21km west of Finke (Aputula), a small Aboriginal community 230km from Alice Springs, and 12km north of the road along a signposted track, is the Lambert Centre. The point marks Australia's geographical centre and features a 5m-high version of the flagpole found on top of Parliament House in Canberra.
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Kings Canyon
Continuing west along Ernest Giles Rd, or detouring from the Lasseter Hwy, brings you to the Watarrka (Kings Canyon) National Park, which keeps one of the most spectacular sights in central Australia - the yawning chasm of Kings Canyon. Not much of a walker? The Kings Creek Walk (one hour, 2km return) is suitable for families, following the rocky creek bed to a raised platform with amphitheatrelike views of the towering canyon rim.
Walkers are rewarded with humbling views on the Kings Canyon Rim Walk (three to four hours, 6km loop). After a steep climb up a 100m-high cliff face, the walk skirts the canyon's rim and then enters the Garden of Eden at about the halfway mark.…
reviewed
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Julalikari Arts Centre
The artwork at Nyinkka Nyunyu - a gallery and museum in Tennant Creek - comes from the Julalikari Arts Centre, or 'Pink Palace' - a women's arts centre where the ladies come to produce their inimitable work; visitors are welcome.
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Harts Range Gemfields
About 70km north of Alice, the Plenty Hwy heads off to the east towards the Harts Range. The main reason to detour is to fossick in the gemfields about 78km east of the Stuart Hwy, which are well known for garnets and zircons. You're guaranteed to get lucky at the popular Gemtree Caravan Park.
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Geckos Cafe
The bright interior and courtyard tables of this licensed café make it a popular meeting place. It serves a large range of salads and wood-fired pizzas (perhaps spiced prawn, banana and coriander aioli), plus more substantial dishes and snacks. The attached ice creamery serves shakes and gelati.
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Ellery Creek Big Hole
West along Namatjira Dr is another series of gorges and gaps in the range. Ellery Creek Big Hole has a large permanent waterhole - a great (and popular) place for a swim on a hot day, but the usually shaded water is freezing. About 11km further, a rough gravel track leads to narrow Serpentine Gorge, which has a waterhole blocking the entrance (no swimming) and a lookout at the end of a short, steep track.
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Devil's Marbles
The huge granite boulders in precarious piles beside the Stuart Hwy are called the Devil's Marbles; Karlwe Karlwe is their Warumungu name, for whom the site is associated with many stories and traditions. According to scientists, the 'marbles' are the rounded remains of molten lava eroded over aeons. A 20-minute walk loops around the main site; look for bottle-shaped mud nests of fairy martins on the underside of the overhanging boulders.
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Battery Hill Mining Centre
Gold-bearing ore was originally crushed and treated at what's now Battery Hill Mining Centre. Tours of the gold battery go underground at regular intervals and take about an hour. You can also pay a little extra to try your hand panning for gold.
For geology buffs there's the Minerals Museum, and for the histroy buffs there's the Social History Museum, tracing local life up to the '60s.
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Arltunga
Situated at the eastern end of the MacDonnell Ranges is the old gold-mining ghost town of Arltunga. Its history, from the discovery of alluvial (surface) gold in 1887 until mining activity petered out in 1912, is fascinating. Old buildings, a couple of cemeteries and the many deserted mine sites in this parched landscape give visitors an idea of what life was like for miners here.
There are walking tracks (the Government Works area has the best collection of remnant drystone buildings) and old mines to explore (now hosting bat colonies), so bring a torch. The unstaffed visitor information centre has many displays and old photographs of the gold-extracting process, plus a…
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Anna's Restaurant
At Bluestone Motor Inn, Anna's boasts a super menu. Take your pick of a range of hybrid delights - beer and lemon myrtle-battered barra, or perhaps salmon-and-watermelon salad?
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Aileron
Aileron continues the grand Australian tradition of building very big things by the side of the road to pull up drivers. Naked Charlie Quartpot, the Anmatyerre man, cuts a fine figure at the back of the property. The owner's personal collection of Namatjira watercolours (at least 10 by Albert) is displayed around the roadhouse's bar and dining area. With all that, it's only polite to stay for a meal or at least admire the art over a drink.
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Toorak Wines
Toorak Wines, a local winery, is open for tastings and sales.
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Terrigal Dive Centre
Clinging to the slopes of a rocky coastal gulch, Terrigal is a sometimes hectic social omelette of beach culture, alternative lifestyle and cosmopolitan cafe hobnobbery. In late 2009 an Australian Navy frigate, the HMAS Adelaide, is set to be sunk just off the town’s shore, creating an artificial reef for divers to explore. Terrigal Dive Centre, Australia’s oldest dive school, can help with updates on the Adelaide and other local diving opportunities.
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Supermex
Infusing Terrigal’s fish-and-chip morass with some (pricey) red-hot-chilli-pepper spice, Supermex serves up volcanic enchiladas, tacos, burritos and quesadillas. The itemised chilli selection ranges from manageable jalapeños to face-melting habañeros (Johnny Cash’s favourite chilli). Service can be patchy.
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Sunrice Centre
With the recent drought, the Riverina’s crops have seen better times, none more so than the rice industry. Even so, see how the industry operates at the SunRice Centre, which has presentations at 9.30am and 2.45pm.
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Lillypilly Estate
Lillypilly Estate is a local winery open for tastings and sales.
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Le Gobelet
For a unique dining experience head to this French restaurant (it’s the one painted bright purple) at the top of the Mall. Run by a husband-and-wife team, the service can be haphazard and the language colourful but the food is absolutely beautiful. Bring a sense of humour.
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