Single Minded - Travel ideas for the single traveller

If you want to travel footloose and fancy free, and wouldn’t mind meeting other people travelling footloose and fancy freer, David Whitley done the research for you. The rest is in your hands . . .

Party then relax in Byron Bay

The local council in Byron Bay is probably the most fiercely protectionist in the country, banning pretty much any development as they try to stop a mass migration to Australia’s most easterly town. In fact, it’s a wonder that colour TV was begrudgingly allowed to slip through the net.

Despite all efforts though, Byron is a closet party town. It’s far less in-your-face than the Gold Coast, but the likes of Cheeky Monkey’s (115 Jonson Street, [02] 6685 5886), Cocomangas (32 Jonson Street, [02] 6685 8493) and La La Land (6 Lawson Street, [02] 6680 7070) are always full of people drinking and dancing. Often on tables.

If you’re after somewhere for a blow-out with a group of mates, but without being swathed in neon, there are few better places. Paradoxically, Byron is also very chilled out. Hippies roam the town like stray dogs telling people they’re beautiful, and the beaches are fabulous. For those considering heading up alone, it’s also a major stop-off on the backpacker circuit, which means that at any one time there’ll be thousands of people travelling independently who are fairly open to meeting someone new.

Take the ultimate road trip across the Nullarbor

The advantage of travelling without a family or partner in tow is that you can take on the areas of the country that are as appetising to them as a pickled herring, custard and chilli powder sandwich. The Nullarbor Plain, which covers much of the way from Port Augusta in South Australia to Perth in WA, is definitely one of those places. To some it’s awesome, mind-stretching, peaceful solitude; to others it’s abject purgatorial tedium. Either way it’s one of the ultimate road trips, whether as a bonding experience with whomever you can trick into coming along, or as a solo excursion to clear the head.

There are two routes available: the more scenic is along the south coast, where there are a fair few coastal towns to stop at; the more adventurous is straight through the plain, where it’s just spinifex and the occasional roadhouse until you get to the frontier WA mining town of Kalgoorlie.

One option is the Indian Pacific train (13 21 47 or www.trainways.com.au), on which you’ll at least come into contact with other humans. It takes 38.5 hours from Adelaide to Perth and costs from $309. To get the real deal, though, you need to drive it – in which case you’ll need plenty of time, plenty of fuel, plenty of water and more than one CD. The Nullarbor is one place you do not want to get stranded, especially with The Eagles on a constant loop.

Join the masses in Sydney

While many of Sydney’s attractions are rather overrated for the single traveller, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better city over Christmas and New Year. For a start, it has become a focal point for travelling orphans from across the globe on Christmas Day. Overstretched surf rescue teams (hundreds had to be pulled from the sea on December 25, 2003) have seen alcohol bans brought in on Bondi, Coogee and Manly beaches, but a we’re-going-to-have-fun-family-or-no-family atmosphere still prevails. As for the New Year’s Eve festivities, you’ll probably be sharing the harbour with more than a million others, so it’s a case of picking your spot; many are family-orientated, but some are less so. Embarkation Park in Potts Point is an excellent example – it has great views, live music and you can bring alcohol in.

Head to the Red Centre

The major sting of travelling alone – especially on an extended trip – is paying double price for accommodation. For a ten-day trip from Melbourne to central Australia and back, the price can get prohibitively expensive unless you rope someone else into sharing a room. However, some companies do cater for the singles market, and as long as you’re prepared to share a twin room with a stranger of the same gender, you’ll be able to get underway without needing to bother the bank manager. Solo Traveller ([03] 9859 9521 or www.solotraveller.com.au ) is running a week-and-a-half’s jaunt to Uluru, taking in the likes of King’s Canyon, opal cutting in Coober Pedy, and wino heaven in the Barossa Valley on the way. It leaves on December 28 and costs $909pp.

Spend Christmas in Tasmania

If you’re looking for a more upmarket tour for single travellers, then Single Travel Connections ([08] 8293 6988 or www.singlestravel.com.au ) is running a nine-day trip to Tassie from Melbourne. With guaranteed single rooms, luxury transport and quality meals that could sink many a sturdy ship, this isn’t the adventurous, stripped-back option. However, it does include many of Tasmania’s highlights, including Lake St Clair National Park, the penguin colony at Bicheno and the world’s longest single-span chairlift at Cataract Gorge. It’s pricey at $3285, and it can certainly be done cheaper independently. However, company is guaranteed.

Go on a surf camp

At least 80 percent of people have an image of surfers as no-good lazy wasters, happy to spend their days frolicking around in the ocean at taxpayers’ expense. The other 20 percent have actually tried it and are either doing it or are deeply envious of those who can. A few days off from work during the festive period offers the perfect chance to join that minority – although the whole long-blond-hair, excessively-slow-drawl-and-thongs thing is strictly optional. Surfing lessons can be taken all over the country – try Surfing Australia ([02] 6674 9888 or www.surfingaustralia.com ) to find a local surf school. However, to make a proper holiday of it, get some serious practice in, meet new people and see some virtually untouched coastline at the same time, going to camp for a couple of days is far more satisfactory.

If you’re prepared to really get deep down and dirty with Mama Nature on the west coast, sleeping in a swag under the stars, try The Wedge Island Surf Company ([08] 9336 6773 or www.wedgeislandsurfco.com.au). Their two-day surfari to excellent beginners’ breaks 90 minutes north of Perth costs from $179. Another option is a five-day Sydney to Byron Bay (and back) surfing expedition. Waves Surf School (1800 851 101 or www.wavessurfschool.com.au ) does one for $479.

Wind through fern tunnels, stop for a wine in a tram bar, or chase giant murals across the wheatbelt. These drives and rides prove Victoria’s best stories are found off the straight and narrow.

There’s something unmistakably Australian about a road trip: car packed, playlist on, landscapes shifting. Travelling down the highway toward Healesville, in Victoria’s Yarra Valley , the mountains rise, flanking me on both sides. I feel its embrace, a silent invitation to explore what lies beyond.

Moss-covered embankments rise on either side, and towering mountain ash trees form a green tunnel overhead. Road signs warn of wombats and cyclists but with giant ferns lining the roadside, the landscape feels prehistoric, as if a dinosaur might suddenly emerge. This, the Black Spur , is one of my favourite road trips.

The Black Spur

Location: Yarra Ranges
Duration: 30 kilometres / 30 minutes

The Black Spur is short compared to other Victorian road trips, just 30 kilometres, stretching from Healesville to Narbethong. But what it lacks in distance, it makes up for in scenery. Just outside Healesville, Maroondah Dam offers bushwalks and scenic views. However, if pressed for time, Selover’s Lookout is an easy roadside stop offering uninterrupted views of the dam.

In Narbethong, close to the Marysville’s snowfield, is the Black Spur Inn , a charming double-storey brick hotel that’s been welcoming travellers since 1863. Here, diners cosy up by the roaring fire or gaze through the floor-to-ceiling windows, imagining horse-drawn coaches carrying hopeful gold seekers to the eastern goldfields.

Victoria’s Silo Art Trail

Location: Various towns across the Wimmera Mallee region
Duration: More than 200 kilometres / 4–5 hours but best over a minimum of three days

What began as a way to draw travellers back into town bypassed by highways – places such as Nullawil, Sea Lake and Patchewollock – has grown into a celebrated outdoor art movement. The Silo Art Trail now includes 23 silos, each transformed with large-scale mural portraits sharing local stories, celebrating community heroes, Indigenous history, farming life, or regional identity.

The Nullawil silo, for example, is a portrait of a local farmer in a chequered flannelette shirt alongside his loyal kelpie, painted by artist Sam Bates (AKA Smug). And the silos at Albacutya in the Grampians, painted by artist Kitt Bennett, depict her joyful memories of growing up in the countryside. Many of the murals sit right in the heart of small towns, such as Rochester and St Arnaud , making them perfect spots to pause for a country pub meal or something sweet from a local bakery.

Metung to Mallacoota

Location: Gippsland
Duration: Approximately 220 kilometres / 4 hours

The Gippsland Lakes are a much-loved holiday spot in Victoria, but road-tripping further east reveals much more. Begin in Metung and time your visit with the monthly farmers’ market, or simply linger over lunch on the lawn of the Metung Hotel. Twenty minutes away is Lakes Entrance , where you can watch the fishing boats return with their catch.

Lakes Entrance. (Image: Visit Victoria/Iluminaire Pictures)

Continue to Marlo, where the Snowy River spills into the sea, and Cape Conran for its many beaches and walks. If needing to stretch your legs, Croajingolong National Park is home to the historic Point Hicks Lighthouse and the Wilderness Coast Walk. Birdwatching and rainforest trails near Bemm River are worth a pit stop before arriving in Mallacoota, where the forest meets the sea.

Great Ocean Road

Location: South-west Victoria, from Torquay to Allansford
Duration: Approximately 250 kilometres / 4–5 hours but best over a minimum of three days

Victoria’s most famous road trip delivers it all: world-class surf breaks, rainforest walks, clifftop lookouts and wildlife encounters. The journey begins in Torquay, the state’s surf capital, then hugs the coast past Anglesea and Lorne to Apollo Bay, before curving inland through the lush rainforest of the Otways. Stop at Cape Otway Lightstation or take to the treetops at Otway Fly.

Between Cape Otway and Port Campbell lies the most photographed stretch – seven of the Twelve Apostles still standing, alongside the golden cliffs of Loch Ard Gorge. Further west, Warrnambool is a winter whale-watching hotspot, before the road winds to Port Fairy, a charming fishing village of whalers’ cottages, walking trails and offshore seal colonies further along the coast.

Bellarine Taste Trail

Terindah Estate. (Image: Visit Victoria/Emily Godfrey)

Location: Bellarine Peninsula
Duration: Approximately 80 kilometres / 2–3 hours

The Bellarine Taste Trail is a feast for the senses, winding through coastal towns, past boutique wineries and artisan producers. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure style trail – simply grab a map and build your own delicious journey.

You might wander historic, seafront Queenscliff, sip wine in a converted tram bar at Terindah Estate , sample a locally distilled whisky at The Whiskery in Drydale or pick up a jar of honey at Wattle Grove in Wallington. Seafood lovers can head to Portarlington, famous for its mussels. Eat them fresh at local restaurants or head out on the water with Portarlington Mussel Tours.

O’Keefe Rail Trail – Bendigo to Heathcote

Pink Cliffs Reserve in Heathcote can be seen on the O’Keefe Rail Trail. (Image: Visit Victoria/Emily Godfrey)

Location: Central Victoria
Duration: Approximately 50 kilometres / 4 hours cycling

Travellers first journeyed between Heathcote and Bendigo in 1888, when the railway line was built to link the towns. Trains stopped running in 1956, but today the route has a new life as the O’Keefe Rail Trail . The path is mostly level for easy riding, and along the way you’ll cycle past bushland, waterways and reserves. There are plenty of places to picnic, birdwatch, and if you’re lucky, spot a platypus.

The trail is well supported with water stations, bike repair points, shelters, and signage. Axedale makes a great halfway stop, with the pretty Campaspe River Reserve for a rest and local cafes for refuelling. Begin in Heathcote, known for its wineries and cafes, or in Bendigo, which is easily reached by train from Melbourne/Naarm. Shorter sections, such as Heathcote to Axedale, are also popular.

Goldfields Track – Ballarat to Bendigo

Location: Central Victoria
Duration: Approximately 210 kilometres / 2–3 days cycling

The Goldfields Track traces a route once so rich in gold it made Melbourne one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Starting at Mt Buninyong, south of Ballarat, the trail leads mountain cyclists and walkers north through Creswick, Daylesford and Castlemaine before finishing in Bendigo. Along the way, you’ll encounter granite outcrops, eucalypt forests, rolling farmland and remnants of the region’s mining past.

As it passes through the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung and Wadawurrung people, the track shares gold rush history and Indigenous stories brought to life by interpretive signs. Walk or ride the full trail or choose from one of its three distinct sections. With cosy stays, cafes and pubs, it’s easy to mix wilderness with comfort.

Single Minded – Travel ideas for the single traveller