Whether it’s a lifestyle retreat where you can focus on getting the mind, body and spirit back into balance, or a luxury seaside spa offering the latest beauty treatments and therapies, you can experience indulgence or relaxation with an Australian edge Down Under.

While Asian and European destinations are well known for spa and wellness retreats, Australia also has its fair share of unique indulgence getaways.

Australia's stunning landscape makes for the perfect romantic getaway

Many hotels and resorts along our coastline have spas and there are any number of special lifestyle retreats offering special holistic and natural therapies with all manner of concoctions, including Aboriginal herbs and lotions.

Australia has everything from indulgence spas to simple holistic spas with a wellness focus. There are experiences that nourish the soul as well as the mind and body. Some are wellness retreats others are set in bushland overlooking the beach, so you can enjoy the soothing therapy of water and the ocean in a beautiful setting in nature.

Massage away your stress in one of our distinctive spas or nature retreats. You can indulge in a beachside spa at a hotel or resort, a day spa in a beachside location, or an island spa at one of our Great Barrier Reef islands.

Or you may just want to escape to a peaceful beach retreat in a remote or secluded location where you can take long walks along the beach, or in the surrounding bush. Nourish the soul, feed the spirit and reenergize and relax away from the cares and worries of the outside world.

So, slip into your sarong or robe and slippers…it’s time for your treatment.

Lifestyle Retreats

• Surfing and yoga usually aren’t associated together but they are at the Samudra surf yoga retreats, held in great surf spots such as Byron Bay and Margaret River.
• Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland is a health and holistic retreat offering all kinds of treatments, organic cuisine and natural environment.
• Also in the Gold Coast hinterland, Golden Door and Camp Eden health and lifestyle retreats place an emphasis on fitness, remedial treatments and healthy eating in beautiful environment.
  

  Get away from it all Down Under

• Moondance Lodge in the Margaret River region of Western Australia is a tranquil sanctuary set on 13 hectares of bushland where you’ll have precious time to yourself. This Wellness retreat combines inspiring teachers, soulful cuisine, healing and wellness treatments with unique experiences that will enrich and revive you, such as the energizing Digeridoo meditation and the Moondance Morning Zinger.
• At Lifetime Retreats on Kangaroo Island one of the most beautiful natural havens in the world, you can participate in activities such as yoga, kite flying, wildlife watching, walking, painting, or just enjoying a delicious breakfast, lunch or dinner created by your own personal chef wherever you like.
• Authenticity, at Port Elliott along the coast on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, is set in botanic gardens, with a backdrop of rolling hills, oceans and vines.

The stunning sands of coconut beach

Nature Retreats

• At Coconut Beach Rainforest Lodge you’ll be holidaying in luxury. Unwind in the most exquisite of natural surroundings without sacrificing anything in the way of comfort and relish the private rainforest views with easy access to white-sand Coconut Beach.
• For an eco-friendly experience, take the 30 minute ferry ride from Hope Harbour to Couran Cove Island Resort on South Stradbroke Island, where the Day Spa overlooks the marina. It offers a range of treatments and special programs to promote health and wellbeing including stress management, yoga, Tai Chi, meditation and healthy eating.
• Kewarra Beach Resort is nestled amongst 78 acres of absolute private beach frontage, native forests and lush tropical gardens featuring two rock pools with spas and waterfalls. Just 20 minutes north of Cairns, this environmentally sensitive resort hosts an abundance of brightly coloured birds and butterflies.
• For a luxury nature retreat, try the Freycinet Experience. Based at Friendly Beaches Eco-Lodge, these four day guided walking trips discover the beaches and secluded bays of the Freycinet Peninsula on Tasmania’s east coast.
  

  You and your loved one can choose from a range of treatments

• Bay of Fires Lodge on the Freycinet Peninsula is set on a hilltop overlooking Wineglass Bay, 40 metres above pounding sea and surrounded by national park: the only building on 20 km of wilderness coast. Experience true communion with nature in lodge type accommodation with a touch of luxury, delicious meals prepared withlocal produce and open fires.
• Enjoy the wildlife with kangaroos at your back door, sea lions and dolphins at your front door when you stay in the rammed earth ecolodges at Baird Bay on the Eyre Peninsula in South Austtralia.
• The Bush Camp at Faraway Bay is so remote, so incredibly secluded, that it doesn’t appear on any map and the only way to get there is to fly in by charter plane. Overlooking the Timor Sea on the far north western Kimberley Coast of Australia, it provides simple, yet sophisticated accommodation in a location a long way from the frenetic pace of everyday. Sit back and watch wildlife swim by.
• The Ningaloo Reef Retreat eco camp, is set among the dunes between the beautiful corals of Ningaloo Marine Park and the spectacular gorges of Cape Range National Park. Snorkel off deserted beaches where the coral reef is just metres from shore. Sea kayak the sheltered lagoons of Ningaloo, or take a romantic walk along your very own beach.
• Kooljaman at Cape Leveque is an Aboriginal owned wilderness camp offering a unique blend of culture, adventure and recreation. A quiet place to get away from the crowd, it’s an excellent spot to fish, swim, snorkel or just sit back and relax. Located 220km north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula, access is by air or 4WD.

Spas and pampering

• Peninsula Hot Springs is Victoria’s first natural hot mineral spring and spa located an hour from Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula. Offering hot mineral springs pools and private baths (indoors and outdoors) and a Massage Spa Centre using Li’Tya spa dreaming products (massages, facials, mud and steam.
• The heritage Sea Bath buildings at St Kilda Baths in the Melbourne beachside suburb of St Kilda now houses a new Li’Tya Dreaming Spa.

There is no shortage of places to pamper yourself

Hotel Spas

• Pure indulgence awaits in Queensland’s “spa street” in tropical Palm Cove. At the Sebel Reef House & Spa or its sister property, Sea Temple Resort & Spa, unwind with a banana body wrap or warm mapi mud cocoon just metres from swaying palm trees, turquoise waters and stunning views of the Coral Sea.
• Bali Hai resort in Broome has a Li’Tya spa centre which even guests from other nearby resorts such as the Cable Beach Club, love to frequent.
• Camouflaged behind beach dunes in the Margaret River Region, Quay West Bunker Bay resort has a spectacular day spa, The Spa at Bunker Bay.
• For a Roman bath-house atmosphere, try the Aqua Day Spa at Sheraton Noosa Resort in Hastings Street. It has eight treatment rooms, a hydrotherapy bath, Vichy shower and steam room, and the Aqua Therapy Centre – a private courtyard of showers, pools and jets.
• On the Sunshine Coast, the Sun Spa at Hyatt Regency Coolum is a large complex with private “spa suites” for couples, a heated lap pool, aqua-aerobics pool, yoga rooms, and about 130 treatments on offer.
• On the Gold Coast, for ultimate opulence, head to PalazzoVersace’s Salus Per Aquum (Health through Water) Spa, the only Australian spa to be invited to join the Leading Spas of the World group.

Island Spas

• At Voyages Resorts & Hotels’ luxurious Lizard Island, the Great Barrier Reef’s most northerly resort, indulgence is almost a requirement. Drag yourself away from the 24 pristine beaches, the magnificent snorkelling and fine food and wine, and head for the Azure Spa, which offers treatments with names like Coral Sea Dreaming, Soul Aqua, and Mermaid’s Secret.
• Further south, the Whitsunday islands provide a myriad of choices for the spa-seeker. Exclusive Hayman is the setting for the Spa Chakra Hayman, which is part of the Guerlain-Spa Chakra Alliance global network and offers personally-tailored beauty and wellbeing programs. It has 13 treatment rooms, two relaxation lounges including a meditation suite, hydrotherapy area, saunas and steam rooms.
• On South Long Island, Peppers Palm Bay has a spa with the signature treatment an ‘endota rapt’ where guests are treated to full body exfoliation before being wrapped in West Australian clay.
  

  The heart-shaped reef at Hayman Island

• The Rejuvenation Spa on Daydream Island is one of Australia’s most advanced naturopathic testing and treatment clinics to balance your health, maximise energy and slow down the ageing process. Computerised iridology and a “vitality and longevity analysis” will reveal your body’s “real” age – be warned, it can be a shock. The spa also offers rejuvenation programs, as well as yoga and meditation, and a full array of pampering. Then there’s the view of the Whitsunday Passage from your treatment room.
• Brampton Island’s The Sea Spa offers – among other things – a “guilt-free” indulgence for chocoholics. Chocolate Obsession is a coffee latte body polish, followed by a chocolate mud cocoon and cocoa butter infusion, and finished by a massage with mango and coconut body lotion or Turkish delight body gel.
• Heron Island, off the Central Queensland coast, is so small you can walk around it in about half an hour, but there is an abundance of things to do, including indulging in the secluded Aqua Soul Spa, which has double treatment rooms and therapies designed for two.
• From Cairns or Mission Beach you can head to Voyages’ Dunk Island where The Spa of Peace and Plenty is two large tropical-style buildings linked by a floating boardwalk on a man-made lake. Most of the island is national park, renowned for its birdlife and Ulysses butterflies.

Next time you’re passing through a country town, head for the wide verandahs and cheery atmosphere of the local pub. Here you’ll discover the soul of a town; it’s where the beer is cold and the yarns are spun.

New South Wales

Apart from the legendary Pub With No Beer, NSW is dotted with quirky and colourful character pubs.

The Silverton Hotel is situated in a former mining ghost town, and is known for great hospitality and quirky locals

In the tiny township of Tilpa, 130km north of Wilcannia, in far west NSW, there’s a classic pub called the Tilpa Hotel. The interior of this old corrugated iron pub is plastered with graffiti from its many adorning fans. And, for a $2 donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, you too can leave your mark on the pub’s tin wall.

In nearby Broken Hill, call into the Palace Hotel, the historic, three-story pub with long verandas and elaborate cast-iron balustrades featured in the movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, or visit the Silverton Hotel in the former mining ghost town, known for great hospitality and quirky locals.

Then, hit the Pacific Highway and head north to possibly our most famous pub of all. As country singer Slim Dusty once lamented “There’s nothin’ so lonesome, so dull or so drear, than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer”. But as legend has it that’s exactly what happened at this historic pub in Taylors Arm on the north coast of NSW. While the debate still rages as to whether this pub was in fact the inspiration for the song, one thing is for sure – with the addition of a new brewery the pub’s valuable liquid asset will never run dry again.

A little further north you’ll come across The Billi Pub in historic Billinudgel, the former home of Australia’s oldest publican, a woman by the name of Mar Ring.

Mar Ring was publican for 53 years until the age of 101. She taught former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke how to pull a beer, and was awarded an M.B.E. for community service. A painting of her still hangs over the public bar. This timber pub in the Brunswick Valley of Northern NSW, close to Byron Bay, is steeped in history, with many photos of the old township along with a good collection of memorabilia. The Billi is a good old country pub with tall stories and a friendly atmosphere, much the way it would have been in the early days.

Queensland

From Billinudgel you can head out west via Goondiwindi to Nindigully, just across the border into Queensland.

Walking into the rustic Nindigully Pub is like walking into the lounge room of the Outback. This quintessential Outback pub on the banks of the Moonie River has been the meeting point for locals for well over 100 years. It’s famous for the more than 140 Akubra hats from local farmers and stockmen which adorn the walls. Queensland’s oldest hotel, it was issued a license in 1864 after it had been shearers’ accommodation for Nindigully Station and is still in its original condition.

This famous pub has more than 140 hats hanging on the walls

From here you can head north to Roma where the historic 1863 Romavilla Winery is a rarity – an Outback winery. Sample the local wines in the rustic timber and corrugated iron building, and imagine the hardships establishing a winery here.

From Roma take the Matilda Highway north through historic Outback towns such as Blackall, Barcaldien and Longreach to Winton.

Legend has it that Australia’s best known and much loved national song and the nation’s unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda, was sung for the very first time at the North Gregory Hotel in Outback Winton in north-west Queensland. The Tattersalls Hotel in Winton has also been serving up genuine Outback hospitality for 120 years and is a top spot to share an icy beer with locals including miners, station owners, ringers, truck drivers, cattle buyers and shearers.

A little further north along the Matilda Highway through Outback Queensland be sure to stop and drink a toast to Australia’s hardest working dog, the blue heeler, at the Blue Heeler Hotel in Kynuna, the 100-year-old hotel where Banjo Patterson observed champagne being handed through the window to end the angry shearers strike of the 1800s. The Combo Waterhole, the famed billabong featured in Waltzing Matilda, is 20km south of Kynuna.

On the same Outback highway headed north towards Mt Isa you’ll meet locals as colourful as Mick Dundee over an ice cold beer in the historic Walkabout Creek Hotel in McKinlay in Outback Queensland. It’s famous as Crocodile Dundee’s regular drinking spot in the original movie of the same name. Known originally as the Federal McKinlay Hotel it was sold for $290,000 after the movie was made and is now the town’s one tourist attraction.

One of Australia’s most legendary watering holes is the Birdsville Hotel on the desolate Birdsville Track in Outback Queensland near the South Australian border. Built in 1884 it has been witness to history made, yarns spun and the survival of Australian mateship. It epitomises the essence of the Outback.

The legendary Birdsville Hotel

But even without heading so far Outback you can see some great Aussie pubs by sticking to the Pacific Highway. If you’re passing through Brisbane, stop off at the Story Bridge Hotel (formerly know as Kangaroo Point Inn), one of only a few hotels to feature architecture from the quintessential Queenslander period. Built in 1886, it’s famous for its Australia Day Cockroach Races.

Further north up the Pacific Highway on the Sunshine Coast is historic Eumundi. There is something special about a country Queensland pub with their wide balconies and timber lattice work shading dimly lit bars and swirling ceiling fans and Joe’s Waterhole (formerly The Commercial Hotel) in Eumundi is one of these treasures.

Rockhampton is Australia’s beef capital. The Great Western Hotel here is widely regarded as the home of great steak, beer and rodeos. This 116 year old pub plays host to major national rodeos and features a huge undercover rodeo arena for 1,000 people that attracts champion riders to the hotel, which also has a Saddler and Poker Saloon and Mavericks Western Wear Shop.

South Australia

The only stopover on the 528km Birdsville Track, the Mungerannie Hotel sits on the edge of the Sturt Stony, Simpson, Tirari and Strzelecki deserts and is nestled beside the Derwent River – an oasis in sharp contrast to its surrounds.

Right in the heart of Burke and Wills explorer country, the Innamincka Hotel at Cooper Creek in South Australia once played host to early drovers who brought cattle down the Strzelecki Track. The pub’s convivial Outamincka Bar has become the stuff of bush legends and is must stop for anyone travelling in these parts.

You can’t get more Outback than the famous Prairie Hotel at Parachilna in South Australia. Built in the 1890s, the pub attracts visitors from all over the world who come to try the renowned Australian native cuisine or bush tucker, otherwise known as ‘feral food’, while drinking in the view of the magnificent Flinders Ranges.

Aussie beer served at the Prairie Hotel on Flinders Ranges

The William Creek Pub is located smack bang in the middle of the world’s largest cattle property, Anna Creek Station which, at 23,800 sq kms is almost half the size of Tasmania. William Creek is South Australia’s smallest town. The William Creek Pub has an almost legendary status and is the only watering hole on the Oodnadatta Track between Marree and Oodnadatta.

On South Australia’s Darling River is the picturesque town of Pooncarie. With only 89 residents, a general store and a pub built in 1976, the town has a lovely old country town feel. But the first Saturday in October sees the town swell to around 1,500 people for the annual Pooncarie races. People come from all over the country, and of course they drink at the old Telegraph Hotel.

Tasmania

In a beautiful little valley called Pyengana you’ll come across a sign that says, “Pub in a Paddock 3km – Come and see our Beer Drinking Pig”.  The Pub in the Paddock is surely one of Australia’s quirkiest pubs. This 1880s watering hole sits in the middle of a paddock in Tasmania’s Pyengana Valley and is famous for its beer swilling pig, Priscilla, who can scull a watered-down stubby in seven seconds. In a pen out the back the sign says, “Hi, Geez I’m dry, I’d luv a beer”. The owner claims the pig has downed 76 stubbies in on session, “more than Boonie”. A Tasmanian institution since 1880, the pub offers hearty country meals and comfortable accommodation.

Northern Territory

The colourful Daly Waters Pub, clad in corrugated iron, is crammed with decades of Australian memorabilia. Once a popular drover’s rest, this quirky pub built in 1930, gained fame again as a stopover for pilots and passengers arriving on the new Qantas airline in 1934. Today, it is a pit-stop for thirsty tourists travelling the Explorer’s Way between Alice Springs and Darwin.

At The Mataranka Pub at Mataranka Springs just south of Katherine you can lean against the bar with its brightly coloured paintings then toddle off to see the nearby replica of the hut in which Jeannie Gunn lived at Elsey Station. Her story was captured in the book We of the Never Never.

The Humpty Doo Hotel in Arnhem Land is conveniently located for travellers heading to Kakadu. The hotel has many colourful local characters, so stop in at the famous Humpty Doo Hotel when next in this part of the world.

The famous Humpty Dumpty Doo hotel is home to many colourful characters

At the Barra Bar & Bistro on the Kakadu Highway at Jim Jim, you can cook your own local delicacies on a supplied barbecue with an accompanying buffet.

Just south of Darwin on the Darwin River Road at Berry Springs,  you’ll find the Lichfield Pub, home of the bull arena and shed, which has a 180ft long bar.

Western Australia

Over on our West Coast, The Roey, Broome’s oldest pub, lives by the saying “if it’s going to happen in Broome, it’s going to happen at the Roey”. If you stumble across a local character by the name of Swindle, pull up a chair and order a coldie because he has enough tales about pearling and gangsters to last a week.

While sunset camel rides on Broome’s Cable Beach are world famous, it’s the tales about beer drinking camels that draw attention at the Whim Creek Pub.  Half way between Karratha and Port Hedland, this pub has its own wildlife sanctuary and was once home to a camel with a penchant for beer. Don’t worry about missing the pub – it’s painted bright pink!

The biggest and best known pub in Kalgoorlie is The Exchange. It holds the record for the biggest volume of Jim Beam sold in regional WA. It was originally constructed as a shed in the late 1800s.

The population of the small goldmining town of Kookynie, 200km from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, is less than 10 people, but the town’s 1894 vintage Grand Hotel with its big verandahs and spacious rooms continues to survive. It was once the favourite watering hole for local prospectors.

True Australian country hospitality is alive and well in our great Aussie pubs. Whatever the style of accommodation or the location, the locals will greet you with a firm hand shake and a strong stare. Our great Aussie pubs are about the people and the places, and they’re the heart of our nation.

Sand sticks between your toes with each step you take towards the ocean. The waves tumble noisily and roll against the shore. Several surfers plough through the water tossing their boards over the heads of the breakers. Beside you a giggling teen slides ungraciously off his board then quickly launches himself back into the fray.

This may be the first time you have donned a wetsuit and tucked a short board under your arm, but it won’t be the last. And now that Australia has five gazetted National Surfing Reserves, visitors have even more reason to sample this quintessential Australian obsession.

There are plenty of places to catch some waves in Australia

Surfing in Australia is open to all. No one cares how well you paddle the board or how often you topple into the surf. The only rule, if there is one, is to wait your turn at the back of the break.

“If you don’t try surfing this year it will just be another year you wish you had,” says Brad Whittaker, beach operations manager for the recently gazetted Cronulla Beaches National Surfing Reserve, just south of Sydney.

“It’s not hard to get out there and have a go,” he says. “Sure there is a wide range of surfing breaks (at Cronulla) for the experienced surfer, but this coast has plenty of options for the new surfers, and you won’t believe the freedom you feel riding a wave.”

Former professional surfer Mark Aprilvic, who has been coaching new surfers for the past 30 years at his Cronulla Surf School, endorses this message.

“We’ve taught people from six to 70 to surf. Once you learn how to paddle and the standing technique, it’s not that hard. Anyway wiping out is part of the fun.”

Surf legend Mark (Occy) Occhilupo is a local Cronulla boy who has won 12 elite surfing tour victories and seven world specialty event titles, including the 1999 World Title.

According to Occy, the surfing reserves are “paramount to protecting the surfing environment and keep places like Cronulla the way it is – with so much variety for both pro and amateur surfers.”

“I remember thinking, ‘far out, I can’t believe this’, when I started riding waves,” says Occy. “This feeling stays with you.”

“I felt like that too,” says Mark Aprilvic. “Everyone does when they start to feel the water and enjoy this environment – it’s stress release. Like you are reconnecting with nature.”

"Anyone can be a surfer. It’s part of Aussie culture," says Brad Farmer, the National Surfing Reserves Chairman.

Getting to the Cronulla Beaches National Surfing Reserve is easy. Trains and buses service the area, and the beach is only a 40-minute drive from the centre of Sydney. Each of Australia’s existing surfing reserves are all a short drive from major arterial highways.

You do not have to be a professional surfer to enjoy these surfing reserves. They are open to anyone who feels the desire to dive into the sea or fling a beach towel across the sand. And you may pick up a few tips from the locals or learn new skills by joining a surfing class offered by one of the reserve’s accredited surfing schools.

There are 10,685 beaches along Australia’s 37,000-km coastline. It’s called the “ribbon of gold” for a good reason because some of the finest beaches in the world embrace this island nation.

It’s not surprising, then, that more than 80 per cent of the Australian population lives within 50 kilometres of the coast. International visitors are similarly attracted to Australia’s surfing breaks and an outdoor experience that is second to none.

“The beaches belong to everyone,” says Brad Farmer, the National Surfing Reserves Chairman.

“Anyone can be a surfer. It’s part of Aussie culture. We wanted to create National Surfing Reserves around the country for everyone to experience surfing. Cronulla is the fifth National Surfing Reserve in Australia and there are 24 more on the way.”

The first of Australia’s National Surfing Reserves was Bells Beach in Victoria. The reserve was established to protect the coastal environment and the beach culture that emerged along this coastal fringe in the 1960s and became so much a part of the Aussie way of life.

Bells Beach is the home to six lauded breaks, as well as the longest running surf contest in the world – The Rip Curl Easter Pro – and the birthplace of the iconic international surfing labels Rip Curl and Quicksilver. Many visitors say it is almost a religious experience to touch the sand or dip a toe in the water.

Surfing holidays are massively popular in Australia

Australia’s second surfing reserve was dedicated at Angourie in northern New South Wales in 2007. The surfing fraternity considers the right-hand point break at this north coast surfing village to be hallowed territory. On any given day you could be paddling at the back of the break alongside surf legends such as Nat Young and Mark Richards, or American champ Kelly Slater if he happens to be in town.

Lennox Head was the next to make the list. At the heart of the surfing hub of the far north coast of New South Wales, Lennox is renowned for its tough right-hand break off the point.

Crescent Head, also in New South Wales, became a surfing reserve in June 2008. This surfing hot spot was the breeding ground of the longboard surfing in the 1950s. Today Crescent Head attracts longboard riders from around the world.

National Surfing Reserves:

Bells Beach, Victoria -71 kilometres from Melbourne, off the Great Ocean Road. Visit during the Rip Curl Pro from 7 to 19 April 2009. Learn to surf with Southern Exposure Surf School. Ph: + 61 3 6261 9170. www.southernexposure.com.au

Angourie, New South Wales – Located less than 30 minutes south of Yamba, northern New South Wales. Enjoy year-round surfing with fewer surfers during the week. Yamba-Angourie Surf School will teach you the basics. Ph: +61 2 6646 1496. www.surfingaustralia.com

Lennox Head, New South Wales -15 minutes drive south of Byron Bay, northern New South Wales. Lennox Head hosts the annual Lennox Longboard Classic in August and Gromfest Junior Surfing Event in July. Best breaks are between May and August. Kool Katz Surf School provides instruction. Ph: + 61 2 6685 5169.
www.koolkatzsurf.com

Crescent Head, New South Wales – 19 kilometres southeast of Kempsey, on the mid north coast of New South Wales. Malibu board hot spot with the Malibu Classic in May each year. Get ready for the waves with Crescent Head Learn to Surf. Ph: +61 2 6566 6609.www.surfingaustralia.com

Cronulla Beaches, New South Wales – 40-minute drive from Sydney. After a five-year hiatus, Pro Surfing returns to North Cronulla Beach with the Australian Open surfing event in March 2009. Cronulla Surf School offers classes for beginners. Ph: + 61 2 411 544 146. www.cronullasurf.com.au

Did you know?

Americans played a key role in bringing surfing to Australia. It was Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion Duke Kahanamoko who introduced surfing with demonstrations of boardriding at Cronulla, Freshwater and Manly in 1914. He created a sensation, especially when he stood on his head on the board. In 1959 the Californians brought the short Mailbu boards to Cronulla Beach and started a surfing revolution.

We all know about the traditional and well-trodden routes in Australia, but if you’re looking for something a little more unique this year, then why not choose from some of these unusual experiences…

• Swim with whale sharks. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the World growing up to 14m long. You can snorkel with these gentle giants on Ningaloo Reef (Western Australia).
  

  Take a swim with these gentle giants

• How about a pub crawl with class? Take a helicopter around the Sydney surrounds to visit local pubs and enjoy local beers and wine as well as a gourmet lunch. (New South Wales)
• Take part in the bi-yearly Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive – the recreation of Australia cattle droving of yesteryear. 5 day/ 4 night packages are available for the visitor to take part in a section of this fantastic adventure (South Australia)
  

  Live like a jackaroo for a day!

• Want an alternative to the Barrier Reef? Head to the blue-green seas surrounding the Tasman Peninsula. Many experienced divers regard this area as the World’s best temperate-water dive site. Ethereal forests of kelp and clouds of colourful boxfish welcome you to an otherworldly realm. Dolphins, whales, seals and seahorses, attracted by the plankton-rich water, glide among spooky cathedral caves and the wooden skeletons of long-lost ships. (Tasmania)
  

  For an altogether different diving experience, try the Tasman Peninsula

• Relax in style at the ultra-sophisticated Palazzo Versace where the ‘I’m a celebrity’ contestants stayed to smooth away their aches and pains after being in the jungle. Everything in the hotel is Versace, from the bed sheets to the chandeliers and it is the only Versace hotel in the World! (Queensland)
• Forget relying on the National Lottery to get rich, how about mining for your very own gold! You can do this at Sovereign Hill where you step back in time to a goldfield township in the 1850s where real gold flows in the creek and history comes alive. (Victoria)
• At the Milky Way Café you can be served coffee and cake whilst viewing and discovering the night sky. You are taught to identify planets with the aid of powerful telescopes and binoculars. (Northern Territory)

Getting to Australia

There are a myriad of flights to choose from, and many different routes – via America, via the Far East and via the Middle East.

Lufthansa,British Airways, Quantas Airways, Air India, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France, South African Airways, Air Canada, Gulf Air and American Airlines all offer flights at different prices.

Many of the scenes of Baz Luhrmann’s ambitious film Australia were shot around the million-acre El Questro Wilderness Park and it’s here that you’ll find a character who could have walked right out of Luhrmann’s epic – Dave “Chilli” Chilcot.

A crocodile tooth leers from the side of Chilli’s akubra hat. “It’s a $30,000 tooth,” he says, fondling the memento of the cunning croc that got away, minus an incisor. “I’ll sell it to you for five bucks.”

Dave "Chilli" Chilcott was a professional rodeo rider before taking the ranger’s job at El Questro Station

He’s joking, surely. Outback legends don’t give up their trophies lightly. Or do they? Perhaps it is enough to have done it all – bareback brumby riding, buffalo wrangling, barramundi wrestling, crocodile trapping for the lucrative zoo market – without having to keep souvenirs. After 40 years of Top End living, Chilcott hardly has the room on his hat to notch up all of his wild adventures.

Chilcott first fell for Australia’s northern reaches when he ventured onto Darwin’s rodeo track in 1969. After a decade on the competitive rodeo circuit, he indulged his love of untamed landscape, working variously as station hand and butcher in the Northern Territory, Queensland and the Kimberley. A stint as fishing guide at Bullo River Station led to a ranger’s job at El Questro Station in 2006.

“I ain’t leaving here,” laughs the 58 year old, whose wife of 38 years, Kath, is also in thrall to the east Kimberley. She’s the skipper on El Questro’s Chamberlain River cruise boat, and is also handy with cattle. In her spare time she collects seeds to make hand made jewellery. The pair have a property in northern New South Wales where they plan to breed horses should they ever retire.

The illustrious sounding moniker David Charles Chilcott the Fourth was never going to sit easily with the lifestyle of its bearer, who has been known as “Chilli” since childhood. He is the quintessential larrikin, quick with a joke and compulsively anti-earnest. So he can laugh at his own ignorance of the who’s who of Hollywood – even when it comes to his home turf.

When the cast and crew of ‘Australia’ the movie came to El Questro, Chilli took homestead guests for a glimpse of the action.

“I knew the bloke who was in charge of the horses, so I went to find him to say g’day,” he recalls. “I bowled up to the first bloke I saw and asked him where my mate was. He directed me to him. When I saw my friend I asked him ‘So, where’s all the big knobs?’. He told me that bloke I just asked for directions was one of the biggest.
“It was Hugh Jackman.”

Fast Facts

For further information on visiting the epic landscape of Australia the movie, visit the Western Australia Tourist Board Website.

You can either fly through Perth or fly direct to Broome or Kununurra from many Australian capital cities. Qantas operates direct flights on a seasonal basis to Broome from Melbourne and Sydney, while Virgin Blue operates direct flights to Broome from Adelaide and connecting flights from all other capital cities. Skywest and Airnorth fly from Perth to Broome and Kununurra and provide connections between Broome, Kununurra and Darwin in the Northern Territory.

For more information  El Questro Wilderness Park click here.

Australia Day saw the launch of celebrations marking the 60th Anniversary of Australian citizenship. First introduced in 1949 with the enactment of the Nationality and Citizenship Act, prior to this, most Australian residents were British subjects. Since the act was passed, more than four million people have become Australian citizens in the past 60 years, and today over 95 per cent of the nation’s population are Australian citizens.

Celebrating Australia Day

The first citizenship ceremony was staged at the Albert Hall, Canberra, on 3 February 1949. Seven men became citizens – one to represent each state and the ACT. They were from Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Spain and Yugoslavia.
During 1949, almost 2500 people from more than 35 countries became Australian citizens. Most were from Italy, Poland, Greece, Germany and Yugoslavia. Today, Australian citizenship is celebrated annually on Australian Citizenship Day, which is the September 17.

Commemorations in 2009

• the opening of Citizenship Place, on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, on Australia Day. Citizenship Place will feature a timeline wall and engraving of the Australian citizenship affirmation, and will be a focus for future citizenship celebrations
• a commemorative mintmark coin released by the Royal Australian Mint
• a 60th anniversary of citizenship message from the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, for all conferees throughout the year
• a 60th anniversary edition of citizenship school education resources, and 60th anniversary-themed conferral ceremonies at landmark events including Citizenship Day.

Each year, local communities nominate exceptional citizens to become their state or territory’s Local Hero in the Australian of the Year awards. The local heroes are people whose actions exemplify civic values. The 2009 Local Heroes are:

• New South Wales: Dr Jamal Rifi, Muslim community leader
• Victoria: Beverley Wall, town hero
• Queensland: Cyril Golding, philanthropic businessman
• Western Australia: Graham Drew, sea rescuer and educator
• South Australia: Beverley Langley, wildlife rescuer
• Australian Capital Territory: Tim Gavel, sports journalist and community worker
• Tasmania: John Layton Hodgetts OAM, band leader
• Northern Territory: Chowdhury Sadaruddin, Muslim community leader

More than 120 000 people from more than 200 countries became Australian citizens in 2007-08:

• New South Wales: 45 000
• Victoria: 30 700
• Queensland: 17 400
• Western Australia: 17 000
• South Australia: 6300
• Australian Capital Territory: 2500
• Tasmania: 900
• Northern Territory: 600

Most were from the United Kingdom, India, China, New Zealand and South Africa.

The Citizenship pledge

Citizenship for all Australians Australian citizenship carries responsibilities and privileges. It is a commitment of loyalty to Australia and its people and their shared democratic beliefs, laws and rights. It is a bond uniting our culturally diverse society.

The citizenship certificate

It is fundamentally important that we all understand our civic responsibilities and the meaning of Australian citizenship, whether we are Australian by birth or by choice.

New Australian citizens make a public pledge of their commitment to Australia. The Australian citizenship affirmation allows all existing Australian citizens to do the same by reciting the words:

As an Australian citizen,
I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people,
Whose democratic beliefs I share,
Whose rights and liberties I respect,
And whose laws I uphold and obey.

Did you know…

Notable Australian citizenship conferees of the past include ground-breaking medical specialists Dr Victor Chang and Prof Fred Hollows, authors Bryce Courtenay and John M. Coetzee, former world boxing champion Kostya Tszyu and performers Jon Stevens and John Farnham.

The 26th January marks one of Australia’s most important holidays – Australia Day. Australia Day marks the anniversary of the day Captain Arthur Phillip first raised the British flag at Sydney Cove, and commemorates the arrival of Europeans to Australia on 26 January 1788.

However, the event has this year been surrounded by controversy after the newly crowned Australian of the Year, Mick Dodson, demanded that the date of Australia Day had to be changed because it “isolates” indigenous people.

Dodson said, “To most indigenous Australians it (Australia Day) really reflects the day on which our world came crashing down.
“Many of our people call it invasion day.”

However, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has ruled out a change to the date of the national day. He said, “Let me say a simple, respectful, but straightforward no.”

What is Australia Day?

It is a designated public holiday and is a time for Australians of all backgrounds to celebrate national unity. It is also a time to appreciate heritage and history; to take an active part in the community and to remember colonial pioneers.  The day usually begins with morning formalities; flags are hoisted, the national anthem is sung, cannons are fired, special community projects and individuals are recognised, ceremonies are held to welcome the country’s new citizens. Many of the formal occasions are coordinated by the national Australia Day Council network.

Over the years many informal events have become so popular they are now considered an Australia Day tradition. There are free BBQ breakfasts and fun beach parties, corroborees and concerts, parades and pageants, sports, festivals and fireworks.

For more information visit the Australia Day website.

History of Australia Day

Britain’s gaols were crowded and the crime rate was soaring in 1787 when King George III sealed Australia’s fate by declaring it Britain’s new penal colony.  Being sent to Botany Bay was a severe punishment. Sentences ranged from a minimum exile of seven years to life, with varying degrees of hard labour.

Australia Day commemorates the first landing Sydney Cove

Under the command of Arthur Phillip, 11 ships of the First Fleet left Plymouth on 13 May 1787. It was an arduous journey with more than 1,400 people living in cramped conditions for 251 days. Captain Phillip arrived at Botany Bay onboard The Supply on 18 January 1788, two days ahead of the rest of the fleet. He thought the unprotected bay with its poor soil was unsuitable for permanent settlement.

The fleet then sailed north into Port Jackson and landed at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788 after eight months at sea. The new site had everything the first settlers needed; deep water close to the shore, shelter and fresh water. Phillip named it Sydney Cove, after Lord Sydney the British Home Secretary.

More than 700 convicts (188 female), 700 merchant seamen, Royal Navy and Marine personnel and families, 209 fowls, 74 pigs, 35 ducks, 29 sheep, 29 geese, 19 goats, 18 turkeys, five cows, four stallions, three mares and two bulls disembarked from the First Fleet.

Australia Day for Indigenous Australians

Australia Day means different things to different people and evokes mixed emotions, particularly for Indigenous Australians who face past and continuing inequities as a result of European settlement. For many Indigenous Australians, 26 January is an occasion to reflect on past loss and suffering. There are also people in the wider community who have mixed feelings about Australia Day and who acknowledge that Australia Day evokes a variety of emotions.

Today, organisers of Australia Day events are more mindful of Indigenous heritage and culture, and of the continuing problems confronting Indigenous communities. Australia’s national day is an important annual opportunity to recognise the place of Indigenous Australians in our nation’s history, and to promote understanding, respect and reconciliation.  It is also a time for each Australian to think about our identity, the many aspects of Australian life that give us pride and areas where we have the opportunity to make the nation stronger for the future.

The National Australia Day Council

It was not until 1946 that the name ‘Australia Day’ was adopted and proclaimed a public holiday throughout the country. A decision was made in Melbourne that year to establish an Australia Day Council (ADC) which would encourage an appreciation of the day’s significance.  The ADC played a major role in cultivating the goodwill which is now so prevalent in Australian society. The ADC network aims to foster national pride and to instill in Australians from all backgrounds a desire to contribute to the country’s future.

Australia Day Events 2009

So, how can you celebrate Australia Day?
Here is the UK you can visit the  Edinburgh Australian Wine Festival, find your nearest Aussie bar and enjoy and ice cold beer, watch a special Australia Day screening of Australia, the movie, or download the new Australia track pack for Guitar Hero!

On Australia Day, hundreds of events are held across the country

In Australia, hundreds of Australia Day events take place across the nation. In Sydney, thousands of people gather along Sydney Harbour foreshore to watch the Australia Day parade on the water. In towns across the nation, people gather to raise the flag. Other activities include citizenship ceremonies, community breakfasts, and the presentation of Australia Day awards. Also on the agenda are concerts, sporting events, cultural and historic exhibitions and, in a few cases, a fireworks display.

For the calendar of events visit the Australia Day website.

This week sees the start of Sydney’s biggest festival, with the sun-soaked Harbour City set to enjoy numerous fringe events, music, outdoor cinemas and fireworks.

2009 will see over 600 local and international musicians, dancers and DJs performing al fresco to the assembled crowds, and there’s plenty for the whole family to enjoy, with aboriginal stories, folklore and music for kids all included in the line up.

Culture vultures will have plenty to choose from, with theatre and dance events being held at venues across the city.