David Whitley discovers underrated gems in Australia and New Zealand
Like this and want more details? Click here to download and save as a PDF.
Both Australia and New Zealand are destinations that tend to have well-worn, tried and tested itineraries. The Oz combo of Opera House, Rock and Reef is time-honoured, while most two to three-week paths through New Zealand tend to include old favourites such as the Rotorua thermal springs, all-action Queenstown and Auckland island hopping.
But despite the distance, the Antipodean duo aren’t once-in-a-lifetime destinations. Ease of travelling around, quickly-formed affinities plus friends and family connections mean many visitors go back repeatedly.
That, of course, means they want to explore beyond the obvious highlights reel. Mercifully, it doesn’t take too much digging to uncover some gloriously memorable experiences not too far from the most beaten tracks.
Australia
The Flinders Ranges
Around five hours north of Adelaide, the Flinders Ranges offer the most easily accessible taste of Australia’s stark, barren outback.
Wilpena Pound, a vast natural amphitheatre full of spectacular walking trails, is the star attraction. But head up to the top of pretty much any hill and you’ll get extraordinary Mad Max-esque rubble bowl panoramas stretching miles across the horizon.
Handily, key wine regions such as the Barossa and Clare Valleys are on the way to the Flinders Ranges from Adelaide. Thus packages such as Cox and Kings’ five-day Outback, Wilderness and Wine self-drive trip (from £525), including two nights in the Flinders Ranges and one in the Barossa, are easily strung together.
Lord Howe Island
Out on its own in the Tasman Sea, 372 miles east of the Australian mainland, Lord Howe is something of a secret wildlife paradise. It’s where the warm water and cold water currents meet, making for a remarkable diversity of aquatic life – and tremendous diving.
Elsewhere, rare bird species that don’t exist anywhere else are regularly found strutting around and enormous metre-long kingfish can be handfed on the beach.
The feeling of exclusivity is helped by strict limits on the number of visitors that can be there at any one time. It’s a place to splash out after the Qantas prop plane flight from Sydney, and Capella Lodge is among the finest accommodation in Australia. Four-night stays cost from £1,215.
Hobart
Newly hip thanks to the edgily world-class Museum of Old and New Art, the picturesque waterfront capital is also the jumping-off point for some of Tasmania’s top adventures.
Hobart’s strong on heritage, and the eerie yet beautiful Port Arthur is the best place in Oz to learn the convict story. Austravel sells a guided day trip for £98. The waterfront Henry Jones Art Hotel is the coolest in town, with doubles from £200.
Tasmania is also Australia’s rafting capital, and Water By Nature runs five-day expeditions down the wild Franklin River starting at £1,070.
The South West
Appealing equally to nature lovers and gourmets, the south-western corner of Australia can be easily tackled as a multi-day loop from Perth. Margaret River was once a surf town, but it’s now better known as a premium food and wine area.
Anzcro offers a £181 full-day wine-tasting tour there from Perth, but longer term exploration unveils giant caves such as Mammoth Cave, whale-watching from coastal towns such as Augusta, and walkways through giant, ancient forests in the Pemberton area. APT offers a 10-day coach trip through the region from £2,095.
Port Stephens
The long sheltered bay at Port Stephens makes it prime dolphin habitat, while humpback whales pass along the coast between May and November, so wildlife-watching boat trips are the order of the day.
It’s also home to the massive dunescape of Stockton Bight – perfect for bounding along in a jeep or sliding down on a sandboard. The dolphins and Stockton Bight can easily be packaged up on a day tour from Sydney. Do Something Different sells full-day trips, also including the Australian Reptile Park, for £102.
New Zealand
The Otago Peninsula
Just out of Dunedin – and easily covered as a day trip from there – the Otago Peninsula is New Zealand’s top wildlife spotting destination. A cruise on Monarch takes in seals on the rocks and swooping sea birds. These include the albatrosses that nest on the Taiaroa Headland, and can be seen up close from the Royal Albatross Observatory.
Rare yellow-eyed penguins can also be spotted at Penguin Place. These are fairly easily combined – and Travel 2 offers a £160, day-long package that combines the albatrosses and penguins with a visit to Larnach Castle, the only castle in New Zealand.
The East Cape
The country’s Maori heartland is unshowy – it’s real life, real marae (meeting houses) and real villages rather than made-for-tourists shows. But a loop round the East Cape of the North Island also shows off some rather splendid cliffs and surf beaches. It’s best tackled as a self-drive two or three-day loop, stopping in Gisborne for wineries and a lesson with Surfing
With Frank, and to hand-feed stingrays from the beach at Tatapouri. The latter is part of Dive Tatapouri’s £20 reef ecology tour. For travellers without their own wheels, Stray Travel does a four-day £163 East Bro backpacker bus pass around the Cape.
Stewart Island
Hanging off the bottom of the South Island, New Zealand’s ‘third island’ is 85% national park and has a population of fewer than 400. Humans, that is – there are plenty of native birds scuttling around. More adventurous types can tackle a three-day walk on the Rakiura Track, but a £45 cruise around Paterson Inlet with a visit to the Ulva Island bird sanctuary with Real Journeys is a less hardcore alternative.
Premier Holidays sells a three-day package, with a return ferry from Bluff and accommodation at the three-star Stewart Island Lodge, from £249.
Mount Cook
There’s plenty of adventure to be had in the shadow of New Zealand’s tallest mountain. The retreat of the Tasman Glacier has created Tasman Lake, where Anzcro sells Glacier Explorer boat trips around the icebergs for £90. It’s also a top spot for scenic flights over the Southern Alps, and Austravel offers a Grand Traverse trip over the Mount Cook and Westland National Parks for £187.
Stay at the historic Hermitage, which has been giving mountain explorers a good night’s sleep since 1884. Rooms cost from £88.
Napier
It’s not New Zealand’s most fun city (that’s Wellington), but Napier is the most striking. Following an earthquake, it was mostly rebuilt in art deco style – and the look is remarkably uniform. The Art Deco Trust runs architecture-focused tours on foot for £10, by bus for £20 or by bike for £25.
Napier’s also the gateway to the Hawke’s Bay wine region, where the diversity of terrains and micro-climates means a broad range of varietals can be produced. 1st Class Holidays sells a half-day wine-tasting trip for £54.
