Tour company Maria Island Walk has combined the Tasmanian island’s renowned natural landscapes and wildlife with comfortable heritage-listed accommodation at the old convict settlement of Darlington in Bernacchi House.
A two-night winter-friendly experience provides spectacular walks during the day, followed by delicious meals and matching wines in the evening — and a warm, comfortable bed.
The house, dating back to 1880 when it was home to Italian settler and pioneer Diego Bernacchi, has been beautifully restored, with guests being greeted by a roaring open fire.
The guided winter walks leave and return to Bernacchi House daily and vary in length and difficulty.
Those who the climb to the top of Mount Bishop and Clerk, the highest point on the island, enjoy panoramic views over the eucalypt forests and across the Pacific Ocean.
The ‘Winter Escapes’ walk is priced from $1490 per person twin-share, including return transfers from Hobart to Triabunna, the scenic cruise across Mercury Passage to Maria Island, gourmet Tasmanian food and wine, two experienced guides, National Park entry fees, accommodation and use of waterproof jackets and day packs.
Phone 03 6234 2999 or visit www.mariaislandwalk.com.au
May through to October is probably the best time to discover the big Outback skies of Australia’s Red Centre and explore Uluru, one of the country’s most famous natural icons.
For the local Yankunytjatjara people there are three seasons during this period —Wanitjunkupai in April/May, the cooler winter weather of Wari in June/July when there can be frost on the ground, and Piriyakutu in August/September when animals breed and food plants flower.
During these times, the cooler weather makes it easier to walk longer distances amongst a desert landscape splashed with the vivid rusts, ochres and violets of Albert Namatjira’s famous watercolours.
As an added bonus, those visiting after the rains will see wildflowers in bloom, their vivid colours and green stems in sharp contrast to the red hues of the desert.
And there are no city lights to distract from the clear night skies above.
Ever eaten emu-egg omelette? How about kangaroo-tail soup, or camel sirloin with sweet-potato wedges, native thyme and garlic-chive butter?
When you pull up at the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna, you’ll find all of those on the top-notch menu.
Listed as one of the top 100 gourmet experiences in Australia, the Prairie Hotel’s ‘feral menu’ gives visitors a slightly bizarre, yet totally exclusive, chance to devour roo mettwurst, emu-liver pate and camel sausages.
The Prairie Hotel is a quintessential outback pub, fit for true Crocodile Dundee characters — a place were locals and travellers sleep, recharge and swap stories from the seemingly endless surrounding Outback.
Visit www.southaustralia.com
Those looking for the next big thing in European travel should include Bosnia & Herzegovina on their wish list.
That’s the message from Europe Holidays MD, Chip Popescu, who has just spent time reconnoitering the country: “While neighbouring Croatia is so popular it has challenges with over-tourism to Dubrovnik, we don’t focus enough on what’s just across the border and equally enticing.”
He reports that the heart-shaped land in south-east Europe has many fascinating locations to explore, including Sarajevo’s Bascarsija (Old Town) which he says offers one of the most impressive and charming market centres in Europe.
Europe Holidays offers several tours that incorporate Bosnia & Herzegovina, including a 10-night journey which includes Sarajevo and Mostar, with its famous stone bridge, as well as Dubrovnik, Split and Trogir, a centre of artistic activities.
Highlights include a ride on a miniature electric train through Postojna’s subterranean caves, a visit to Bled Castle, perched high above a lake on cliffs, a tour of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, before finishing in Zagreb.
Prices start at $2527 per person twin-share, including accommodation in first-class hotels, breakfast daily and six dinners, transport, touring and sightseeing.
UTracks is offering a three-day Northern Lights winter walking experience in Iceland especially designed for time-challenged travellers interested in pushing themselves physically.
The guided walking itinerary, exploring Iceland’s Golden Circle, will run between November and March, when the days are short and the nights are full of the possibility of viewing the extraordinary coloured lights streaming through the northern sky.
The tour departs from the capital Reykjavík and includes two-to-four hours walking each day amongst some of the country’s most dramatic landscapes.
Highlights include geysers, majestic waterfalls, and the fault lines of Thingvellir National Park to Glacier Lagoon, complete with its huge icebergs and sunbathing seals, and exploring an ice cave in the heart of Vatnajökull.
Prices are from $1690 per person twin-share, including two nights accommodation, services of an experienced walking guide, internal transfers in a minibus, glacial walk and ice cave and pre- and post-tour transport from Reykjavík hotels.
Visit www.utracks.com
Motorsports buffs aboard Seadream I will have the chance to take in a day of the Monaco Grand Prix during a nine-day sailing next May from Rome’s port of Civitavecchia.
Mind you, it will only be an outing for the well heeled.
Prices for the cruise start from about $8170 per person twin-share, including five-star dining, drinks with meals and from the bars, power and sail water-sports, use of SeaDream I’s onboard golf simulator and fitness centre, port charges and taxes, and crew gratuities. And tickets and transportation to the race are extra.
Other ports of call include Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Villefranche-sur-Mer and Nice on the Riviera, Porto Cervo Marina in Sardinia, Bonifacio and Calvi on Corsica, Portovenere on Italy’s medieval Ligurian coast, and the Italian fishing village of Portofino.
Visit www.seadream.com
