10 ways to explore Australia on foot

From coastal walks and nature hikes to tree climbs and cave explorations, we went high and low to see where your two feet can take you (oh, and we borrowed some hooves, too).

1. Walk ancient clifftops just 45 minutes from the city

Where: Royal National Park, NSW

It’s hard to imagine city life and all its stressors are just 45 minutes north when you’re standing atop the white cliffs of new south wales’ Royal National Park .

There are incredible Easter eggs along the coast track way to find, such as the Figure Eight Pools (great for photos, not so great for swimming due to dangerous freak waves), Little Marley Beach and Wattamolla’s lagoon and beach.

2. Try bush food in the City

Where: Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, NSW ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN

Try black apples straight from the tree and wash your hands with foaming wattle leaves on an Aboriginal Heritage Tour of Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden .
Education co-ordinator for aboriginal programs, Jody Orcher, has made sure the tours are in-depth and honour indigenous heritage.

3. Visit an octopus’s garden beneath the sea

Where: Green Island, Great Barrier Reef, QLD

We felt we had to include this activity this year, because it is such a memorable adventure for the whole family.

With no diving experience required, you can actually walk on the sea floor, foot-to-sand and face-to-face with sea life off Green Island.

An underwater helmet is all that keeps you from planting a kiss on passing fish.

Seawalker Green Island is the ultimate underwater experience.

4. Four ways to get high and go low: see the country from the trees and from the caves

Where: Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, Walpole Wilderness, WA

Explore towering red tingle trees from 40 metres above ground.

Adrenaline upgrade: drive two-and-a-half-hours to Pemberton and scramble your way 61 metres up the pegs of the Gloucester Tree, or the 51-metre Diamond Tree, or complete the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk for a heart-pounding view.

Where: Tahune Airwalk, Huon Valley, Tasmania

At the highest point on this walk you’ll be suspended 50 metres above the Huon River.

Adrenaline upgrade: If that’s not enough to raise your heart-rate, take the Tahune Airwalk hang-glider across the rushing river.

Where: Mole Creek Caves, Mayberry, Tasmania

Tasmania has some of the deepest caves in Australia, so if you enjoy a sojourn in the underworld, Tassie is a good bet.

Marvel at crystals, reflective pools and glow worms.

Adrenaline upgrade: Kubla Khan is one of the more spectacular caves at Mole Creek , but you’ll need a permit; only 72 people are granted access each year.

Where: Tunnel Creek National Park, WA

One-time hideout for indigenous legend Jandamarra, who was eventually killed here in 1897 after a siege, Tunnel Creek is part of the ancient Devonian Reef.

The walk is 750 metres of pitch-black excitement, and you have a good chance of meeting a freshwater croc.

Adrenaline upgrade: A croc encounter is enough adrenaline, we feel.

5. Because sometimes four feet are better than two…

Where: Bogong Horseback Adventures, High Country, Victoria

Take a load off and swing into the saddle for these trails with a difference:

Lovely horses, incredible scenery and restorative mountain air, we loved this Bogong trail ride when we experienced it last year, and still think it’s one of the best in the country.

Take a five-day ride to really feel like a pioneer, or if you’re still getting familiar with our equine friends, you can enjoy a day tour – our favourite is the half-day with a long table lunch.

Where: The Flinders Ranges, South Australia

And if horses are just a bit tame for you, why not clamber onto a humped and hairy hoofed steed instead?

Camels played a huge part in opening up the country, and the Beltana Station Camel Experience in the Flinders Ranges is a wonderful way to explore the unforgettable terrain.

Or take a photography-themed trek with Camel Trek Australia .

6. Follow an ancient song line in the Northern Territory

Where: Nitmiluk National Park, NT

Walk 62 kilometres over six days following the ancient Jawoyn song line through Nitmiluk National Park.

The wild, uncurbed beauty of the Jatbula Trail will stay with you for the remainder of your days.

Swim in crystal pools, fall asleep to the sound of teeming birdlife and have an all-round life-altering experience.

You can trek guided or unguided.

7. Connect with the custodians of the land…

Where: Narlijia Cultural Tours, Broome, WA

Born and bred in Broome, with the blood of both the Yawuru people of the west Kimberley and the town’s historic pearlers running through his veins, Bart Pigram is uniquely qualified to lead tours of the area.

Taking keen visitors and locals alike on a walkabout through the town or the mangroves, a tour with Bart is to immerse yourself in one of the country’s most fascinating multicultural and indigenous histories.

What does it mean to be a Yawuru man today?

For me, it has to be the acceptance of responsibility as an indigenous man.

It’s definitely a challenge to balance our cultural responsibilities with the demands of mainstream employment and community commitments.

We have responsibilities to care for the land, our people and our culture and language, which can be done while educating and sharing with curious visitors and open-minded locals.

It’s our responsibility to initiate and make this cultural exchange accessible.

How does your Mangrove Tour tell the story of Broome?

The Mangrove Tour is presented in Roebuck Bay and along the foreshore of Broome’s first boat passage cut through the mangroves by the early settlers.

Here, I can weave in the pearling history as this was also the highway for hundreds of pearling vessels either unloading pearl shell at Streeter’s Jetty or beached at lay-up time.

The older stories that fit this location are the Bugarrigarra Ngan-ga, or what’s generally called Dreamtime stories, that I have had the privilege of learning from the older people of our community.

What’s one fact about broome we wouldn’t know?

There are probably a few, but I have found several references to what is likely the first waterhole that was used by Broome’s first settlers, and was called Jirrgin-ngan by the Djugun/Yawuru people.

Now built over, it was on the corner of Napier and Dampier Terraces, near Roebuck Bay Hotel, and was a vital part of Broome’s history.

It’s a shame that it’s not commonly known.

You can walk in the footsteps of the first settlers, as well as explore the rich heritage of the aboriginal people, visit Narlijia Cultural Tours Broome for more.

8. Understand what it feels like to stand on the edge of the world

Where: Three Capes Track, Tasmania

Wild, remote and raw, Tasmania’s Three Capes Track walk opened last year and has since become one of the must-do hiking experiences in the country.

Taking in Port Arthur, Cape Hauy and Cape Pillar over four days, it’s you, a pack, and a lot of time to be alone with your own thoughts.

9. The city can still surprise you

Where: Melbourne, Victoria

Walk to Art is a walking tour with a difference.

Experienced visual arts professional Bernadette Alibrando will walk you through Melbourne, visiting local artists, designers, milliners and textile artists on the way, while experiencing and learning about the city’s diverse architecture.

10. From the most easterly point in the country

Where: Cape Byron Walking Track, Byron Bay, NSW

Be it sunset, sunrise or moonrise, the Cape Byron Lighthouse walk is a truly spectacular way to stretch your legs.

Don’t bail out once you get to the lighthouse; the pay-off comes when you keep walking to the most easterly point in the country.

Winding down in the Yarra Valley, where ‘work from home’ becomes ‘work from wine country’.

Steam from my morning coffee curls gently into the cool valley air, mist-veiled vineyards stretch out in neat rows below me. Magpies warble from trees, and the morning’s quiet carries the soft bleating of lambs from a nearby paddock. Midweek in the Yarra Valley has its own rhythm. It’s slower, quieter, with more empty tables at cafes and cellar doors, and walking trails I can claim all to myself. It’s as if the entire region takes a deep breath once the weekend crowd leaves.

walking trails in the Yarra Valley — You’ll find walking trails are less crowded during the week. (Image: Visit Victoria)

I haven’t come here for a holiday, but to do a little work somewhere other than my home office, where I spend too much time hunched over my desk. Deadlines still loom, meetings still happen, but with flexible work evolving from ‘work from home’ to ‘work from anywhere’, I’m swapping the view of my front yard to the vineyards.

A quiet afternoon at Yarra Valley Dairy

holding a glass of wine at Yarra Valley Dairy — Wine time at Yarra Valley Dairy, where you can enjoy a toastie or bagel in the cafe. (Image: Visit Victoria)

With the Yarra Valley just over an hour from the CBD, many Melburnians could drive here in their lunch break. I arrive late in the afternoon and am delighted to discover the Yarra Valley Dairy still open. On weekends, I’ve seen queues spilling out the door, but today there’s only one other couple inside. There’s no need to rush to secure a table; instead I browse the little store, shelves stacked with chutneys, spices, artisan biscuits and gorgeous crockery that would look right at home in my kitchen. It’s hard not to buy the lot.

a cheese tasting plate atYarra Valley Dairy — A cheese tasting plate at Yarra Valley Dairy.

I order a coffee and a small cheese platter, though the dairy has a full menu, and choose a wooden table with bentwood chairs by a wide window. The space feels part farm shed, part cosy café: corrugated iron ceiling, walls painted in muted tones and rustic furniture.

Outside, cows meander toward milking sheds. If pressed for time, there’s the option of quick cheese tastings – four samples for five dollars in five minutes – but today, I’m in no rush. I sip slowly, watching a grey sky settle over the paddock. Less than an hour ago I was hunched over my home-office desk, and now my racing mind has slowed to match the valley’s pace.

Checking in for vineyard views at Balgownie Estate

Restaurant 1309 at Balgownie Estate has views across the vines.

As my car rolls to a stop at Balgownie Estate , I’m quietly excited, and curious to see if my plan to work and play comes off. I’ve chosen a suite with a spacious living area and a separate bedroom so I can keep work away from a good night’s sleep. I could have booked a cosy cottage, complete with open fireplace, a comfy couch and a kettle for endless cups of tea, but as I am still here to get some work done, I opt for a place that takes care of everything. Dinner is served in Restaurant 1309, as is breakfast.

oysters at Restaurant 1309, Balgownie Estate — Oysters pair perfectly with a crisp white at Restaurant 1309.

On my first evening, instead of the usual walk about my neighbourhood, I stroll through the estate at an unhurried pace. There’s no need to rush – someone else is preparing my dinner after all. The walking trails offer beautiful sunsets, and it seems mobs of kangaroos enjoy the view, too. Many appear, grazing lazily on the hillside.

I wake to the call of birds and, after breakfast, with the mist still lingering over the vineyards, I watch two hot-air balloons silently drift above clouds. Perched on a hill, Balgownie Estate sits above the mist, leaving the valley below veiled white.

kangaroos in Yarra Valley — Spotting the locals on an evening walk. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Exploring the Yarra Valley on two wheels

the Yarra Valley vineyards — Swap your home office for a view of the vineyards. (Image: Visit Victoria/Cormac Hanrahan)

Perhaps because the Yarra Valley is relatively close to where I live, I’ve never considered exploring the area any way other than by car or on foot. And with a fear of heights, a hot-air balloon is firmly off the table. But when I discover I can hop on two wheels from the estate and cycle into Yarra Glen, I quickly realise it’s the perfect way to step away from my laptop and experience a different side of the region.

COG Bike offers pedal-assist e-bikes, and while the bike trail and paths into town aren’t particularly hilly, having an extra bit of ‘oomph’ means I can soak up the surroundings. Those lambs I heard calling early in the morning? I now find them at the paddock fence, sniffing my hands, perhaps hoping for food. Cows idle nearby, and at a fork in the bike path I turn left toward town.

It’s still morning, and the perfect time for a coffee break at The Vallie Store. If it were the afternoon, I’d likely turn right, in the direction of four wineries with cellar doors. The ride is about 15 kilometres return, but don’t let that put you off. Staying off the highway, the route takes you along quiet backroads where you catch glimpses of local life – farmers on tractors, weathered sheds, rows of vines and the kind of peaceful countryside you don’t see from the main road.

A detour to the Dandenong Ranges

legs hanging over the sides of the train, Puffing Billy Railway — The iconic Puffing Billy runs every day except Christmas Day.

The beauty of basing myself in the Yarra Valley is how close everything feels. In barely half an hour I’m in the Dandenong Ranges, swapping vineyards for towering mountain ash and fern-filled gullies. The small villages of Olinda and Sassafras burst with cosy teahouses, antique stores and boutiques selling clothing and handmade body care items.

I’m drawn to RJ Hamer Arboretum – Latin for ‘a place for trees’. Having grown up among tall trees, I’ve always taken comfort in their presence, so this visit feels like a return of sorts. A stroll along the trails offers a choice: wide open views across patchwork paddocks below, or shaded paths that lead you deeper into the quiet hush of the peaceful forest.

The following day, I settle into a quiet corner on the balcony of Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis and soon hear Puffing Billy’s whistle and steady chuff as the steam train climbs towards town. Puffing Billy is one of Australia’s most beloved steam trains, running through the Dandenong Ranges on a narrow-gauge track. It’s famous for its open carriages where passengers can sit with their legs hanging over the sides as the train chugs through the forest. This is the perfect spot to wave to those on the train.

After my midweek break, I find my inbox still full and my to-do list not in the least shrunken, just shifted from one task to another. But I return to my home office feeling lighter, clearer and with a smug satisfaction I’d stolen back a little time for myself. A midweek wind-down made all the difference.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Balgownie Estate offers everything from cellar door tastings to spa treatments and fine dining – all without leaving the property.

Playing there

the TarraWarra Museum of Art, Yarra Valley — Visit the TarraWarra Museum of Art. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Wander through Alowyn Gardens, including a stunning wisteria tunnel, then explore the collection of contemporary artworks at TarraWarra Museum of Art . Cycle the Yarra Valley with COG Bike to visit local wineries and cellar doors.

Eating and drinking there

Olinda Tea House offers an Asian-inspired high tea. Paradise Valley Hotel, Clematis has classic pub fare, while the iconic Yering Station offers wine tastings and a restaurant with seasonal dishes.

seasonal dishes at the restaurant inside Yering Station — The restaurant at Yering Station showcases the best produce of the Yarra Valley. (Image: Visit Victoria)