5 emerging experiences in Australia

Journey with our writers as they take you into Australia’s top 5 emerging travel experiences from our 100 Emerging Destinations and Experiences series.

1. Get exclusive access to Australia’s cultural assets

Travelling with: Megan Arkinstall

Money-can’t-buy experiences can, in fact, be bought, thanks to Cultural Attractions of Australia. This collective of the country’s most iconic galleries, sporting grounds and performing arts venues has tailor-made experiences that everyday folk wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

Derek Oram Sandy performing at QAGOMA — Witness the cultural performance of Derek Oram Sandy at QAGOMA. (Image: Lewis James Media)

Imagine viewing masterpieces in Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia when the doors are locked to the general public. Or spending an exclusive evening immersed in Indigenous art and dining at Brisbane’s QAGOMA. What about gaining behind-the-scenes access to the players’ rooms and inside the century-old scoreboard at Adelaide Oval?

It’s also worth splashing some cash on a private dinner under the 24-metre blue whale skeleton at WA Museum Boola Bardip in Perth.

Australia's remarkable cultural assets — Ramingining artists, The Aboriginal Memorial, 1987-88, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased with the assistance of funds from National Gallery admission charges and commissions in 1987. (Image: Tourism and Events Queensland)

2. Street art comes out from underground

Travelling with: Carla Grossetti

You know the graffiti movement has gone global when it cements itself in the regional NSW town of Griffith. Head to Banna Lane in its backstreets to find a wall of works that includes a striking rendition of painted honeyeaters signed by artist Thomas Jackson.

The UK-born Australian artist draws inspiration from nature to paint large-scale murals of wildlife listed as vulnerable species.

a woman looking at a Katherine Street Art — Explore Katherine Street Art. (Image: Tourism NT/Elise Derwin)

There is a long-held tradition of street artists acting as social commentators to present their interpretation of the world and what they see as important. And there are great examples of street art providing more context to the built environment everywhere from Newcastle to Dubbo, Kiama, Perth, Shepparton and Katherine.

the banna lane festival — The Banna Lane Festival has brightened up Griffith. (Image: Caitlin Withers)

Progressive councils across the country have recognised that life looks different when viewed through the eyes of a street artist and are now inviting them into public spaces to tell stories about their cultural identity. Our urban environments are all the better for it.

These intense layerings of paint on plaster or brick add more than splashes of colour to the edges of society’s broader fabric. It’s an expansive, albeit ephemeral, archive of people and community.

the Perth street art scene at Banna Lane 2022 — The Perth street art scene even has its own Instagram handle: @perthstart. (Image: Caitlin Withers)

3. Spotlight on inclusive travel

Travelling with: Elizabeth Whitehead

An estimated 1.3 billion people around the globe living with a disability, accessible tourism is a fast-growing area. Sydney was recently ranked by the Valuable 500 – a business collective striving for disability inclusion – as one of the top 10 most accessible cities in the world. While features such as public transport, wheelchair accessibility at attractions and the 2100-plus Braille street signs across the city were highly rated, there’s still plenty of room for improvement – in Sydney and beyond.

a person on a beach wheelchair — Sustainable travel must also cater to differently-abled people. (Image: Parks Victoria)

Luckily, technology is changing the face of travel by providing tools that allow people with disabilities to better navigate the world. One example is Vacayit, an app that uses compelling, high-quality audio stories to help blind and low-vision visitors connect to place with more than 120 guides around Australia. The app is compatible with assistive technology such as screen readers, transcripts and voice search to be more accommodating to users.

The tourism industry is also becoming more mindful of the diverse needs of visitors. The result is a more inclusive range of offerings, such as the beach wheelchairs available in Victoria’s coastal national parks, and thoughtful touches such as free sensory backpacks at WA Museum Boola Bardip in Perth to help accommodate children prone to overstimulation. Ultimately, inclusive travel recognises that we are all unique and that the joys of travel should be accessible to all.

a person on a wheelchair overlooking the vast seascape — See the beauty of the world from a different perspective. (Image: Parks Victoria)

4. Do the big lap of Australia by sea

Travelling with: Kassia Byrnes

There’s a new way to see Australia arriving in 2025 and it comes with comfort, luxury and nautical miles. Viking has announced a Grand Australia Circumnavigation cruise, which will make its way around our stunning coastline and beyond over 32 days.

Viking Cruise in Sydney Harbour — The Grand Circumnavigation Cruise arrives in 2025. (Image: Viking Cruises)

Wave goodbye to Sydney Harbour before sailing up the coast to Cairns with stops in the Whitsundays and more before hitting the Arafura Sea at the Top End. From here you’ll divert to Indonesia for stops in Komodo and Bali before circling back to where you started via Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Phew!

Stop off at breathtaking locations like Hamilton Island. (Image: Viking Cruises)

5. The tiny trend making big waves

Travelling with: Emily Murphy

Surrounded by a lush green pine forest, I step out of my car and am greeted with silence as I’ve never heard it. Calm, peaceful, sleepy serenity. I’m physically only two hours south of Sydney, but mentally I’m a world away. We pack our things into wheelbarrows and tread down the steep hill, a few hundred metres into the wild unknown. Enveloped by ferns and leafy canopies, I’m amazed this can be found so close to the city.

The trees open into a clearing, and then we see her. Jojo, our Unyoked cabin. With cabins all over the country, Unyoked was created to help people understand how nature can make us better and allow us to weave it into our lives easily and regularly.

Jojo Unyoked in Illawarra — Discover the joy of seclusion in Jojo. (Image: Declan Blackall Photography)

Jojo welcomes us with her charm, comfort and all-encompassing luxury. The plush KOALA queen-size bed sits surrounded by two giant windows overlooking the small valley below, the same serene views you’ll soak in from the bathroom’s rainfall shower.

The next two days are filled with fire-making, games of UNO and Scrabble, kitchen experiments, walks in the forest and a whole lot of lying in bed watching and hearing wildlife float by the windows. I leave feeling more connected to nature than I have in as long as I can remember.

Ashi Unyoked in the Northern Rivers — Ashi is another cosy Unyoked cabin in the Northern Rivers of NSW. (Image: Jessie and Trent)

The pure perspective of how big nature is and how small we are in comparison reminded me I need to show more love and give more space to the world around me. Unyoked isn’t the only company going off-grid for nature. The trend is growing, with tiny houses springing up like mushrooms after rain.

Nook on the Hill in the Grampians — Enjoy an outdoor bath at Nook on the Hill in Grampians/Gariwerd.

For an immersive tiny house in the foothills of Victoria’s Grampians/Gariwerd, Nook on the Hill is built almost entirely from repurposed materials. Complete with a stunning outdoor bath, this tiny house is the perfect cosy escape.

Heyscape Fiona cabin in the Serpentine — Fiona the Heyscape cabin is the perfect hideaway in the Serpentine. (Image: Martin Callow Photography)

Over in WA, you’ll find Heyscape – tiny cabins for those who love being immersed in nature, but also love a comfortable bed with the blinds drawn. In Queensland’s Lamington National Park, part of The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, Binna Burra Lodge has just opened its new Tiny Wild Houses.

Binna Burra Lodge's Tiny Wild Houses in Lamington National Park — Bunker down in Binna Burra’s Tiny Wild Houses.

Part of the historic rainforest lodge’s post-bushfire rebuild, they have an entire glass wall providing stunning vistas of the Ships Stern Range. If you’re looking for capital in Canberra, Cubby and Co offer ‘naked’ stays, encouraging guests to leave technology behind and reconnect with loved ones, nature and the stars.

Time your visit to Margaret River just right, and you can spend the ultimate weekend wining, dining and exploring the region with Pair’d Margaret River Region x Range Rover.

Wine, world-class produce, surf, sun and beaches: it’s an alluring combination. And the reason so many pin the Margaret River region high on their travel hit-lists. There’s drawcard after drawcard to the southwestern corner of Western Australia, and the Pair’d Margaret River Region x Range Rover food and wine festival showcases the best of it over the course of one weekend in November. It’s never been easier to sip, see and savour the Margaret River region.

In partnership with Pair’d Margaret River Region, Range Rover invites you on a seven-day itinerary of refined adventure, where luxury and exploration go hand in hand. It’s the perfect WA road trip, and there’s no better way to do it than in a Range Rover.

Day 1

the pool at Pullman Bunker Bay — Check into Pullman Bunker Bay.

There’s no more popular West Australian road trip route than that between Perth and the Margaret River Region. It’s an easily digestible, three-hour drive, with worthy pit stops along the way.

Make the first of them one hour and 15 minutes in, at Lake Clifton. Here, find a 2000-year-old living thrombolite reef. Drive for a further 40 minutes and chance meeting some of Bunbury’s dolphin population at Koombana Bay.

Pullman Bunker Bay is the final stop, just over three hours south of Perth. This beachfront, five-star resort is the ultimate base for exploring the Margaret River Wine region.

Day 2

After a leisurely morning breakfast with an ocean view, start your Range Rover and head towards the Dunsborough town centre. Browsing the decidedly coastal-themed goods of the town’s many independent boutiques is a great way to while away the hours, breaking up the sartorial with an artisan gelato snack stop, or some good old-fashioned Australian bakery fare.

Leave room; you’ll need it for the Good Natured Gathering dinner at Wayfinder. Indulge in a four-course feast by chef Felipe Montiel, which uses produce from the winery’s market garden to enhance a selection of sustainably sourced seafood and meat. But food is just the support act. It’s organic wine that’s the star of the show, generously poured and expertly paired to each dish.

Day 3

Settle in for cabernet at Cape Mentelle Winery.

With a grand total of 20 wines from vintage 2022 to try, it’s a good thing Cape Mentelle’s International Cabernet Tasting kicks off early. Make your way to the estate for a 10:00 AM start, where a global selection of wines will be poured blind, before a long lunch by Tiller Dining is served.

Given that the Margaret River is responsible for more than 20 per cent of Australia’s fine wine production, it’s only right to delve into it while in the area.

Continue exploring the region via taste and terroir aboard Alison Maree, a whale-watching catamaran, as you cruise Geographe Bay . Admire the rolling green hills and crisp white beaches of Quindalup in sunset’s golden light, all the while sipping through the Clairault Streicker catalogue and dining on canapes.

For a more substantial dinner, venture into Busselton for a seven-course British x Australian mash-up , courtesy of Brendan Pratt (Busselton Pavilion) and Oliver Kent (Updown Farmhouse, UK). They’ll be putting their rustic yet refined spin on the likes of local marron, wagyu and abalone – championing the simple beauty of the world-class ingredients.

Day 4

Wrap your fingers around a wine glass and wiggle your toes into the sand at Pair’d Beach Club x Range Rover on Meelup Beach. Sit down to an intimate wine session with sommelier Cyndal Petty – or a four-course feast by Aaron Carr of Yarri – and revel in the open-air beach club, bar and restaurant’s laidback coastal vibe. It’s a whole new way to experience one of the region’s most renowned beaches.

Follow up a day in the sun with a casual Italian party at Mr Barvel Wines . Purchase wines –including the elusive, sold-out Nebbia – by the glass and enjoy canapes with the towering Karri forest as a backdrop.

If you’d prefer to keep it local, head to Skigh Wines for the New Wave Gathering , where the region’s independent wine makers and their boundary-pushing wines will be on show. Street-style eats, a DJ and complimentary wine masterclasses complete the experience.

Day 5

pair'd Grand Tasting — Taste your way through Howard Park Wines. (Image: C J Maddock)

Spend the morning at your leisure, driving the winding roads through the Boranup Karri forest in your Range Rover. Soak in the views at Contos Beach, and call into the small cheese, chocolate and preserve producers along the way.

Make your next stop Howard Park Wines for The Grand Tasting presented by Singapore Airlines . Numerous wine labels will be pouring their catalogues over four hours, accompanied by food from chefs Matt Moran and Silvia Colloca, with live opera providing the soundtrack.

Cap off a big weekend with one last hurrah at Busselton Pavilion. Six ‘local legends’ – chefs Brendan Pratt (Busselton Pavilion), Mal Chow (Chow’s Table), Aaron Carr (Yarri), Ben Jacob (Lagoon Yallingup), Corey Rozario (Dahl Daddies) and Laura Koentjoro (Banksia Tavern) – will be preparing a dish each. Dance the night away as vinyl spins and the sun sets on another day.

Day 6

Ngilgi Cave western australia — Head underground. (Image: Tourism WA)

After a busy few days of wining and dining, it’s wise to observe a rest day. There’s no easier task than unwinding in the Margaret River Region, also famous for its high concentration of world-class beaches.

Relax on the grassy knoll as you watch the region’s most experienced surfers braving the World Surf League break at Surfer’s Point, or don your own wetsuit and try out one of Gracetown’s more beginner-friendly waves. Swimmers will find their Eden at Meelup Beach, Eagle Bay, or Point Piquet, where the sand is brilliantly white and the water as still as a backyard swimming pool.

Not into sun, sand, and surf? Head underground at Mammoth Cave, just one of the region’s many stalactite-filled caves.

Day 7

Burnt Ends event at Pair'd — Farewell the Margaret River.

Pack up your Range Rover with new favourite wines and newfound memories, ready for the three-hour journey back to Perth.

Prebook your discovery journey through the south-west corner of Western Australia with Pair’d Margaret River Region x Range Rover.