Take Flight Over Australia
Taking an Outback trek in Australia is definitely on a lot of people's wish list for a wild vacation, but maybe the 'trek' part is the tricky part for some. But if you're not as spry as you used to be, or just don't feel like backpacking across vast open spaces, how do you refine and elevate the walkabout?
In the air, of course.
The so-called flying safari may have been perfected in Africa, but the vast Australian Outback is an equally great place for hopping around in an aircraft while flying over some of the planet's most incredible landscapes.
A two-or three-week aerial itinerary can include many of Down Under's iconic natural, wildlife and cultural experiences as well as global treasures enshrined as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
It doesn't have to be totally in the air. Each stop offers the option of renting a vehicle to drive through the country's national parks and other nature preserves. And there's plenty of adventure along the way – hiking, biking, swimming, boating, nature or wildlife photography and maybe even a little 'shrimp on the barbie' for dinner.
Here's one way to undertake a classic Aussie Outback flying safari:
Broome and the Bungle BunglesThe town of Broome in Northwest Australia started life as a 19th century pearl diving center and gained fame during WWII, as it was attacked four times by Japanese aircraft.
Nowadays, it's a busy little tourist hub renowned for camel rides along Cable Beach, tiny treasures and exotic edibles at the waterfront Moon Night Markets and flicks at the historic Sun Pictures open-air movie theater.
Located along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, Broome is also a great place to watch and photograph migrating birds. For mammal fans, whale-watching excursions leave port between June and October, when around 20,000 humpbacks cruise the warm tropical waters off Broome.
A flock of local operators offer scenic fixed-wing, seaplane or helicopter excursions over the thoroughly wild and largely roadless Kimberley region east of Broome. These flights offer bird's-eye views of remote landmarks like the Horizontal Falls and four-level Mitchell Falls.
But the ultimate airborne excursion from Broome is either a day trip or overnight amid the Bungle Bungle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Purnululu National Park. This oddball mountain range features beehive-shaped peaks streaked with different colors. Many of the day trips from Broome offer time on the ground for a hike through Echidna Chasm or other amazing slot canyons.
Getting There: Qantas and Virgin Australia offer daily flights between Broome and Perth.
Where to Stay: Cable Beach Club (Broome); Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge glamping.
Darwin & The Top EndThe 'Top End' is what locals call the northernmost part of the Northern Territory, a sprawling region that includes the Indian Ocean coastline, several major national parks and what many Aussies from outside the region consider the country's most unique city – Darwin.
Named for the famed naturalist, Darwin lies closer to Indonesia and New Guinea than any other Australian capital city. The climate is totally tropical, think hot and muggy even at the best of times. An 1870's gold rush sparked creation of the town and an influx of migrants from around the world.
It's still multicultural, as reflected by the variety of international foods and handicrafts sold at the famous Mindil Beach Sunset Market – Indonesian, Korean, Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, Spanish, Italian and even Mexican.
After feasting on those exotic edibles, you can climb into the acrylic 'Cage of Death' at Crocosaurus Cove and get lowered into a pool inhabited by a huge saltwater crocodile – adult males can weigh in at 3,000-plus pounds. For those who want to swim in the ocean, Darwin boasts several 'croc-free' beaches (you don't want to swim just anywhere in the Northern Territory, for safety's sake). The city also offers sunset cruises and various WWII historical sites and relics.
The Top End is also home to two of Australia's most stunning nature reserves.
Located in a two-hour drive or puddle-jumper flight from Darwin, Kakadu National Park is renowned for towering waterfalls, masterpieces of ancient rock art and wildlife ranging from wallabies and bandicoots to dingoes, river sharks and saltwater crocs. Aboriginal guides lead boat, foot and vehicle tours with various themes through this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nitmiluk National Park is a three-hour drive from Darwin along the fabled Stuart Highway. Despite its spectacular red-rock location, the main theme is water: paddling adventures or scenic boat cruises through Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge or swimming at Leliyn (Edith Falls). Nitmiluk Tours offers one- and two-day canoe rentals for self-guided journeys through the gorge.
Getting There: Air North offers daily flights between Broome and Darwin; Qantas serves Darwin from other major cities in Australia.Where to Stay: Adina Darwin Waterfront; Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel; Cicada Lodge (Nitmiluk).
Alice Springs and The Red CentreThat town called Alice has been a magnet for mavericks of one sort or another since the middle of the 19th century. We're talking cowboys and sheep ranchers, gold miners and outlaws, lone-wolf artists, writers and others who felt the urge to get as far away as possible from civilization.
Visitors find it still marches to the beat of a different drummer than other Aussie cities, only nowadays you're likely to find more people flocking to iconic events like the Henley-on-Todd Regatta boat race in a dry riverbed (July) and the 10-day Parrtjima – A Festival of Light presented by the region's Indigenous Arrernte people (April).
Outstanding galleries make Alice one of the best places Down Under to purchase authentic Aboriginal art, with many of the works rendered by local masters. Araluen Arts Centre presents a wide range of Indigenous visual and performing arts from around the Northern Territory. Two other 'must see' attractions are the Megafauna Central museum, which showcases the huge animals that roamed the area eight million years ago, and the Kangaroo Rescue Centre, which looks after injured and orphaned Outback critters.
Because there's no regular air service, this final leg of the Aussie flying safari is on the ground – a five-hour drive across the Red Centre desert from Darwin to Uluṟu and its giant orange rock. You can rent a vehicle and drive yourself or hop aboard one of the luxury coaches that make the journey each day.
Formerly known as Ayers Rock, Uluṟu is an instantly recognized symbol of Australia. Formed around half a billion years ago, the massive inselberg (island mountain) rises 1,141 feet above the surrounding desert — nearly as high as the Empire State Building.
Uluṟu and a nearby rock formation called Kata Tjuṯa (The Olgas) form a joint national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site owned by the local Aṉangu people and jointly managed with Parks Australia.
Hiking is the main activity, especially the six-mile trail around the base of Uluṟu. Visitors can browse exhibits, watch presentations on 'bush tucker' (that is, native plants) and other Outback topics and sign up for ranger-guided activities at the park's Cultural Centre.
The good news is that you don't have to repeat the five-hour journey across the desert to depart. Several airlines offer flights from nearby Ayers Rock-Connellan Airport to major cities around Australia.
Getting There: Qantas and Air North offer daily service between Darwin and Alice Springs. Where to Stay: Squeakywindmill glamping (Alice Springs); Longitude 131° (Uluṟu).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
12 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Australians and Kiwis Are World's Biggest Cocaine Users
Good morning, it's Amy in Melbourne with the news you need heading into the weekend. It appears Aussie super funds can breathe easy over the so-called US 'revenge tax' that's been bothering them lately, but first... Today's must-reads: • Australia's big drug problem • Sports nutrition firm owners mull sale • Virgin Australia podcast A UN report shows Australians and New Zealanders are the biggest users of cocaine globally. The relative wealth of Australia, and the price that users in the country are willing to pay for drugs, has long made it an attractive market for criminals. The report paints a bleak picture of the worldwide battle against illegal drugs. Virgin Australia is back on the ASX after a five-year absence, marking the biggest IPO so far this year. Once grounded by the pandemic, the airline is now making money again and flying under new leadership. This week on the podcast, Rebecca Jones talks to Angus Whitley about the airline's financial reboot, its rivalry with Qantas, and whether this new Virgin can deliver for both investors and travelers.
Hamilton Spectator
21 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
For a huge train nerd like me, rail travel in Japan is a dream. I took a trip on a train that feels like it's from the future
Right from the start, it's clear that something special is happening on Platform Five. Although the track is empty, the little guardrail is already lined three-deep with Japanese onlookers, their phones held aloft. Video mode: on and recording. An announcement heralds the Spacia X limited express as it pulls into Tokyo's Asakusa station. It looks like it's not just arriving from the ancient town of Nikko but also the future. The silvery, super-streamlined train sweeps around the bend, and I see the engineer at the controls. He eyes the excited waves of the small crowd and returns just one stern nod, as if to say, We're doing important work here: moving a whole nation, by track . This is just another day on the greatest rail system the world has ever seen. Every stat about Japanese trains seems like hyperbole. By one estimate, more than 22 billion people travel by train every year in this country. The nation is the birthplace of the fastest train on Earth. Still in development, the L0 Series Maglev (short for magnetic levitation — yes, it will 'float') has been clocked at more than 600 km/h in test runs. The vast majority of the world's 20 busiest train stations are in Japan. The busiest, Tokyo's Shinjuku, sees about 3.5 million riders pass through each day. Why all the fuss about the Spacia X ? It's quite new and very different from a typical Japanese train. The whole design takes inspiration from destinations along the Tobu Railway track. The window frames are a nod to Edo-period kumiko crafts, for instance, while the exterior colouring resembles the gofun pigment used on shrines. Perhaps the coolest part: compartments like you've never seen on a train, including a cockpit suite inspired by a private jet, and a cockpit lounge with a bar. (More on that later.) The cockpit suite aboard the Spacia X was inspired by a private jet. For a lifelong train nerd like me, riding the rails in Japan is a dream. I've travelled on the Trans-Siberian across Russia, and on the Indian Pacific for the breadth of Australia. But there's no feeling like buying an unlimited Japan Rail Pass and settling into a seat in the Green Car, with my destination still unknown. The JR Pass , sold only to overseas tourists, allows you to ride as much as you want for 7, 14 or 21 days, on the JR network, which operates all over the country. (Travelling on the Spacia X is a separate ticket.) My 'plan,' usually: Ride until I'm tired, then disembark at a town that, you know, looks nice. Then, do it all again the next day. Japan's transportation decision-makers went all-in on trains after the Second World War. They rebuilt their nation by binding it together with ribbons of steel. All that accelerated with the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, when the country wowed the world with the first Shinkansen (bullet trains). More and more trains and tracks have been added in the decades since. Trains operate all over Japan. The popular Tokaido Shinkansen, for example, makes it easy to zip between Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. But even if you're not a train nerd, rail travel is the best way to explore Japan, as tourists continue to visit in record numbers. Japanese trains are safe, efficient and almost always on time. And they'll whisk you away, right quick, from crowded cities to small towns and villages, big mountains and rugged shorelines in the countryside. Plus, riding the rails here is a cultural attraction in itself. Today's trip on the Spacia X will carry me only a couple of hours north of Tokyo. But in many ways, the ride is a microcosm of all the charm and quirk and fun features that create Japan's magic on the rails. Gliding away from Platform Five, the train slides along on an elevated track, slicing through the urban morass. Crammed little laneways roll by below, our viewpoint allowing peeks into people's tiny backyards. There are thousands of stations in Japan, and each stop is announced with its own unique jingle, called an eki melo . Here on this train, the seven-second song sounds like a 19th-century waltz being interpreted by an old-school Nintendo system. (Johann Strauss meets Super Mario, if you will.) Eventually, Tokyo falls away, and soon, dark mountains rise on the horizon. I make a visit to the cockpit lounge at one end of the train, right behind the engineer's controls. There's a gleaming bar with beer taps, huge hexagonal windows and cushy couches, plus the main attraction: a glass wall at the front. Those lucky enough to secure a seat in the lounge enjoy a constantly moving view of the oncoming track. In the cockpit lounge, travellers can enjoy beers along with a constantly moving view of the oncoming track. I snap a few photos, and vow that on my return trip, I'll secure a seat here. (I do.) After a chat with a friendly cabin attendant, who points out a few design elements, including geometric patterns that recall Japan's Edo period, I return to my seat. Hot springs and 17th-century temples and a snazzy stay at the lakeside Ritz-Carlton await me in Nikko. But what I'm most excited about right now, as we slow into our destination station? Getting back on board this train, for the ride back to Tokyo.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Bear on runway halts flights at airport: "We're in a stalemate"
A bear roaming the runway forced a Japanese airport to cancel flights on Thursday and declare itself off-limits to passengers for the day. The black bear appeared at northern Japan's Yamagata Airport, immediately prompting the closure of its runway. The bear, which was about four feet tall, was first spotted near the runway at around 7 a.m. on Thursday, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. This first sighting resulted in a delay of up to an hour of four flights, before the animal reemerged around noon, this time "running" on the runway. Airport staff used a car to chase it away and closed the runway again, with the bear still at large somewhere in the facility. "Given the situation there is no way we can host plane arrivals now," Yamagata Airport official Akira Nagai told AFP Thursday evening, adding the second closure led to 12 flight cancellations. With hunters brought in to set up a trap and police officers surrounding the airport to prevent the bear from escaping, "we're in a stalemate now," Nagai said. The facility plans to keep the runway closed till around 8:00 pm, the official said. Human encounters with bears have reached record levels in Japan, with 219 people attacked and six deaths in the 12 months to April 2024. Last month, a bear sighting brought a premature end to a golf tournament in central Japan, with organizers citing safety precautions. Climate change affecting food sources and hibernation times is a key factor, but as Japan's aging population shrinks, humans are leaving rural areas, and that is also leaving room for bears to move in. "Then that area recovered to the forest, so bears have a chance to expand their range," biologist Koji Yamazaki, from Tokyo University of Agriculture, told CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer in 2023. Japan is one of the only places on the planet where a large mammal species has been reclaiming habitat — which is good news for the bears, but if, as biologists suspect, the bear population is growing, the country will have to figure out new ways to protect people, and vital infrastructure like airports, from the animals. Japan's government in February approved a bill allowing hunters to shoot bears in populated areas. In December, a bear that rampaged through a Japanese supermarket for two days was lured out with food coated in honey. Police said the animal was trapped and later killed. Young Cuban girl asks Trump to lift travel ban stopping her from joining mom in U.S. Why are U.S. adults eating less fast food? Closing arguments set to begin in Sean "Diddy" Combs trial
