{"id":800,"date":"2016-06-06T07:11:52","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T07:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/?p=800"},"modified":"2019-03-25T15:39:14","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T04:39:14","slug":"5-reasons-go-awol-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/5-reasons-go-awol-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"5 adventures all Australians should try at least once"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia<\/a>. The great land of opportunity. But in 2016 a lot of\u00a0young Aussies don\u2019t seem to think so. Most of us view Australia as small fry; a splodge on the corner of the world map. There\u2019s a bit of a \u201cgetting out\u201d and \u201cmoving on\u201d kind of attitude. At Uni, your ‘worldliness’ was judged on your number of passport stamps. But I\u2019ve realised that everything I was looking for in my \u201cauthentic\u201d overseas travels, I have found right here\u00a0at home.<\/p>\n

On Boxing Day this year my partner James and I set off on a seven month road trip around Oz. The past five months have been absolutely epic. And we can\u2019t figure out why we\u2019re not bumping into more young Aussies on the open road. So in the interests of getting out there and seeing your own backyard<\/a>, here are 5 Aussie adventures we should all try at least once in our lives.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Camp beneath the stars<\/h3>\n
\"Australian-adventures,-camping-in-the-Blue-Mountains---Vern\"

Image c\/o Vern, Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u00a0may not sound very appealing, but I assure you that there is nothing<\/em> like living in the great outdoors. Australia is home to some of the best camping in the world<\/a>, a lot of which is free. Sleeping under the beady golden eyes of crocs on the Pentecost river in Western Australia, waking up to dolphins surfing waves on Bribie Island in Queensland, and watching emus cross the salt lakes of Coorong NP in South Australia\u00a0have been a few of our camping highlights.<\/p>\n

Camping at mammoth-sized cattle stations and farms has also allowed\u00a0us to meet some classic\u00a0characters in the Aussie outback. The type of people you think only exist in corny Aussie movies. We’ve shared breakfast with horses at Bullara station, showered in open roofed water tanks under the stars of Wooramel station and camped on the mighty Murchison River carving out the gorge through Kalbarri NP. A\u00a0lot of people looking are for balance in their\u00a0busy lives these days, and to those people I cannot recommend camping highly enough. Sleeping under stars and waking to the music\u00a0of the bush has left me content in a way I never felt before.<\/p>\n

2. Hike up Australia\u2019s tallest summit<\/h3>\n
\"Australian-adventures,-Mt-Kosciusko-walk---Andrea-Schaffer\"

Image c\/o Andrea Schaffer, Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

One thing we haven’t lacked on our tour around Australia is adventure.\u00a01 day, 22kms, 30000 steps: Mt. Kosciusko is quite a feat.\u00a0We conquered Australia\u2019s highest summit Main Range loop in a day, but we could have easily spent a week among\u00a0the spectacular snowy gums and rugged heathland. Following the path of the Snowy River we dipped and weaved around the \u201chills twice as steep\u201d breathing in \u201cair clear as crystal\u201d (Banjo Patterson really nailed it!). Deep breaths at the summit is the ultimate feeling of freedom as you take in the sweeping 360-degree sub-alpine views of Snowy River country. One for the Bucket List.<\/p>\n

3. Snorkel the coral coast<\/h3>\n
\"Australian-adventures,-the-beach-at-Cape-Range,-Western-Australia---Sebastian-and-Tyson\"

Image c\/o Sebastian & Tyson, Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

From the highest summit in the country we dove into the depths of the world heritage-listed coral coast in Western Australia<\/a>. The first stop for 4x4s is Shark Bay in the remote Francois Peron Peninsula NP. A spindly bit of land poking out the side of the map, it\u2019s the best location to glimpse giants of the sea. From Skipjack Point a bit of patience will reward travellers with views of passing manta ray, dugong and humpback whales. Divers should slap on the googles and head further north to Cape Range NP near Exmouth. We swam with giant sea turtles at Lakeside beach, followed giant schools of fish around the oyster stacks and admired the giant \u201cAyres rock\u201d coral formation at Coral Bay. It’s straight off the beach and\u00a0looks like a scene from The Little Mermaid.<\/p>\n

4. Spider walk in Karijini<\/h3>\n
\"Australian-adventures,-the-spider-walk-in-Karijini-National-Park---Pat-Scullion\"

Image c\/o Pat Scullion, Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Karijini National Park<\/a> isn’t something the average Aussie knows about, but it was definitely the landscapes of my dreams. Located in the remote Pilbara region of WA, Karijini is a little pocket\u00a0of dramatic red rock chasms, deep gorges and freshwater creeks. Our first waterhole swim (and one we’ll\u00a0never forget) was at the Fern Pool, a short walk from Dales campground. This was followed by the so-called ‘Spider Walk’ (a delicate balancing act through the narrow Handcock gorge) and a rewarding swim at the picturesque Kermit’s Pool. It’s hard to describe Karijini in words. Like a lot of Australia’s remote and rugged northwest, it’s somewhere that can’t really be Googled. You have to travel it for yourself.<\/p>\n

5. 4WD\u00a0the Kimberley<\/h3>\n
\"Australian-adventure,-The-Kimberley---Mathias-Shoots-Analogue\"

Image c\/o Mathias Shoots Analogue, Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

There’s no doubt about it, out of the dozens of areas we saw on our road trip, The Kimberley stole our hearts<\/a>. Walking through green gum bush, past fat Boabs and fresh lily ponds, swimming in secluded billabongs. The limestone ridges\u00a0of Pentecost and King Leopold ranges will have you staring out the window the whole 660kms along the Gibb river road. For whatever reason we had this\u00a0place mostly\u00a0to ourselves. We could swim alone beneath the powerful falls of Adcock gorge, discover ancient rock art and spectacular views, and not see another tourist, let alone another Australian. The trick seemed to be to get up early, beforeAt 7am we watched the sun light up the red rock surrounding Manning falls from Mount Barnett camp.) For a UNESCO heritage wilderness the size of\u00a0\u00a0a small European country, it’s kind of bizarre\u00a0that a lot of Australians will go their whole lives without seeing The Kimberley.<\/p>\n

Isn’t it time you explored your own country? Check out the best of Australia with an Adventure Tours small group trip<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Feature image c\/o Michael Theis, Flickr\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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