The unique Alice Desert Festival

Australia is a culturally diverse country, brimming with an array of wondrous sights and activities. But there’s no better way to get a unique insight into Australian culture than to attend one of our many fascinating festivals. Boasting everything from scrumptious delicacies to unique musical offerings, here are four favourite festivals for the second half of 2015!

The Margaret River Gourmet Escape
When: 20th to 22nd November, 2015
Where: Margaret River, WA

The Margaret River Wine Region is world renowned for its much loved wine varieties and fine food experiences. As such, the Gourmet Escape Festival is a food and wine lover’s paradise. With events planned across the three days, visitors and guests are treated to a roster of food talent from places as diverse as Russia, Chile, Thailand and elsewhere. With food-based events, free entertainment and plenty of wonderful food stalls, the Margaret River Gourmet Escape Festival is a must-attend culinary delight!

The Taste of Tasmania Festival
When: 28th December, 2015 to 3rd January,  2016
Where: Hobart, TAS

With news of Tasmania’s world-conquering produce industry hitting the headlines, the Taste of Tasmania Festival 2015 is sure to be one of the year’s best food events! Held across a series of venues in the historic Hobart waterfront area, the festival promotes the quality of Tasmanian produce and highlights the very best in fresh food and other goods. With numbers of visitors reaching well into the hundreds of thousands, the festival takes advantage of the end of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. So consider it the perfect addition to a refreshing end-of-year holiday!

The Brisbane Festival
When: 5th to 26th September,  2015
Where: Brisbane, QLD

A major international arts festival, The Brisbane Festival is undeniably one of the state’s premier arts events. The September event is a family friendly and truly refreshing festival of all things artistic, bringing together the best in music, dance and circus ! Since 2009, the Brisbane Festival has enlivened the world-famous city with its eclectic mix of the uplifting and the challenging- so be sure not to miss out on this year’s fun!

The Alice Desert Festival
When: 27th August to 6th September,  2015
Where: Alice Springs, NT

A characteristic and charming Aussie festival, the Alice Desert Festival is the best way to acquaint yourself with the nation’s exotic, desert-based cultures. Boasting a line-up of local and international artists, the festival also offers many community based events and opportunities for family outings.

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The best in show…

The New South Wales North Coast Agricultural Show Circuit has officially kicked off, with over twenty diverse agricultural shows taking place along the north coast of the state’s border! From Bulahdelah to the Queensland border, twenty three shows will dazzle and delight rural Aussies and travellers alike, so be sure to make it along to these truly iconic country events!

Traditionally, the agricultural show circuit is a great way to get to know Australia’s local customs. With everything from dagwood dogs (a special type of show food) to cattle bellowing, country shows are about as Australian as it gets! Every year, agricultural shows offer guests the best in regional food, entertainment and agricultural competitions. In short, there’s something for everyone, so be sure to take a look at the different shows online.

This year, the first show of the social calendar year will take place in Camden Haven near the town of Kendall. The Port Macquarie area show is often one of the year’s best, boasting outstanding events and a portal into the agricultural life of yesteryear. The region’s oldest show is the Grafton Show in the Clarence Valley, and this year the event celebrates its milestone one hundred and fiftieth year! Similarly, the Wingham and Lismore events are also celebrating significant social achievements across a hundred and thirty time period.

The last show on the calendar will be held in Dorrigo in late November, so there really isn’t any excuse to miss out on the festivities and attractions. For those who have yet to consider visiting country NSW, the circuit is a great way to investigate the region and get acquainted with idiosyncratic local customs and ways of life.

For more information, visit the online sites of the various festivals, such as Camden Haven Show or Dorrigo Show. There, you’ll find valuable information about events and travelling. So get out there and enjoy the 2015 New South Wales North Coast Agricultural Show Circuit!

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In my opinion, Groovin the Moo is the best one-day festival in the country – it’s affordable, offers a phenomenal lineup of artists and takes place at a variety of country towns around the country, meaning you get to see some unique areas of Australia during your partying. Groovin the Moo combines the international lineups featured at bigger festivals such as Big Day Out and Stereosonic, yet it leaves out the shirtless, drugged-up festival heads. It has a down-to-Earth atmosphere more akin to the smaller festivals but includes a more impressive array of artists and food and drink stalls.

Groovin the Moo 2015’s lineup is no exception to its usual grandeur, boasting the likes of Ball Park Music, Sticky FIngers, A$AP Ferg, Charlie XCX, Hilltop Hoods, RL Grime, Flight Facilities, Broods, The Preatures, Peace and Peaches. As well as these well-known artists, GTM is also an oasis of emerging and upcoming artists, showcasing the fresh sounds of DMA’s, The Delta Riggs, Meg Mac, Tkay Maidza, Saskwatch and San Cisco just to name a few. Already in my preparation for the festival I have found some incredible new artists that I can’t wait to jig out to live: One Day, You Me At Six and Triple J Unearthed Artist Yours Alone are just some of these artists I have already discovered.

Groovin the Moo kicks off in Oakbank on 25th April, followed up by Bunbury, WA the next day, then travels over to Bendigo in Victoria on 2nd May and Canberra on 3rd May. The final weekend will see the artists travelling to Maitland, NSW on 9th May and its final performance will be in Townsville, QLD on 10th May.

Tickets are just $99.90 (+ booking fee), making it the most affordable festival ticket of the calendar year. Its rural location also makes the festival the perfect excuse for a road trip through the authentic Australian countryside. GTM provides bus links to and from the festival  and also gives you many sources to find accommodation. Unfortunately, tickets to Maitland, Bunbury and Bendigo have already sold out, but if you can make it to the other venues be sure to book your tickets today.

If you’ve already secured tickets to Groovin the Moo, be sure to get listening to a Spotify playlist and book in your transport and accommodation today!

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An Aussie icon…

One of Australia’s biggest tourism drawcards is the world renowned Great Barrier Reef. Every year, thousands of travellers make their way to the wondrous site, bringing in millions of dollars worth of revenues and bolstering the nation’s reputation as one of the most beautiful places in the world. But it might all go the way of the dinosaur, if the Australian Federal Government has anything to do with it…

It seems that the Government is desperately searching for quick solutions after it was revealed that the Great Barrier Reef would likely be added to the United Nations World Heritage Committee’s list of sites currently “in danger”. Environment Minister Greg Hunt has begun lobbying delegates and fellow ministers from countries that have seats on the UNWHC, asking them to refrain from voting for the measure.

At a Senate Estimates Hearing earlier in the year, the secretary of the department of foreign affairs, Peter Varghese, described the state of relations:

“We are running a major campaign to prevent a listing of the Great Barrier Reef as being in danger. There have been a number of assertions made about the management of the Great Barrier Reef and about its vulnerability that are not grounded in fact and which need to be rebutted. We have tasked several of our heads of mission … to make that clear to the investment community.”

Since then, the minister and his staff have spent over forty thousand dollars on lobbying and various travel related expenses. The intense efforts have resulted in several high profile meetings, but very little in the way of proper environmental outcomes. Critics (within Australia and the international community) have been quick to point out this glaring lack of consistency. It’s almost as though the Federal Government just wants the whole matter ‘dead, buried and cremated’.

Last year, the UNWHC decided to defer a decision until June of this year. At that time, member states of the UN raised serious concerns about the future of the reef ecosystem. Bravely, the Jamaican delegation took the Government to task.

“We acknowledge with concerns the range of threats facing this exceptional example of [Outstanding Universal Value]. Based purely on the evidence referenced by the experts, it is clear that the integrity of the site is at risk. We would wish to encourage the State Party [Australia] to urgently review its recent decisions regarding development projects.”

What’s sad is that many concerned Australians feel the same way…

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The famous Whitsundays…

Australia’s top beach was up there with the world’s best. But which beach was it?
The top honour went to the Baia do Sancho in Brazil. The secluded locale has topped the list for the second time in a row, offering visitors a truly amazing and unique experience. Australia’s own Whitehaven Beach was ranked as the ninth best in the world, with no other Australian beaches appearing inside the top ten.

The famous Whitsunday’s surf was ranked as the South Pacific’s top beach and also as the nation’s best sea-side location. Jeff Aquilina, the director of Whitsundays Marketing and Development Limited (WMDL), told news.com.au that the listing and attention was appreciated by the local community.

“It is a tribute to the stunning natural beauty of the Whitsundays and our local tourism operators who allow visitors to experience the exceptional beauty and magic of Whitehaven Beach and the Whitsunday Islands whilst keeping it clean and preserving this natural wonder at the same time,” he explained.

Australia has long held a reputation as one of the best places for pristine, high-quality beaches. For the tourism industry, it’s a vital part of the country’s appeal and general success. So it’s heartening to see our humble beaches referred to as being among the best in the world!
The complete list of winners can be seen below…

Top 10 Travellers’ Choice Beaches Around The World:

1. Baia do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
2. Grace Bay, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos
3. Rabbit Beach, Lampedusa, Italy
4. Playa Paraiso Beach, Cayo Largo, Cuba
5. Playa de Ses Illetes, Formentera, Spain
6. Anse Lazio, Praslin Island, Seychelles
7. White Beach, Boracay, Philippines
8. Flamenco Beach, Culebra, Puerto Rico
9. Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Islands, Australia
10. Elafonissi Beach, Elafonissi, Greece

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By being connected to the ground, you are able to appreciate the slow and subtle shift in vegetation across the country, meet true blue Aussie characters and observe rural and country town Australia in all its warmhearted but slightly bogan glory.

Traipsing through the Australian ‘outback’ provides a much more authentic and unique experience as opposed to simply driving up and down the populated East Coast. As of 2012, according to the Australian Population & MIgration Research Centre, just 0.34% of the Australian population lived on 84.2% of the land area, at a density of 0.1 persons or less per km – and this land is all in Central Australia.

Of course there is a reason the East Coast of Australia is the busiest section of Australia, for both residents and travellers: there are incredible sights, stunning coastlines, plenty of exciting activities and festivals, and the abundant tourism makes getting doing things and getting around much easier.

However, there is something incredible about travelling to the inland of Australia and experiencing the heart of the country.

I believe one can’t say they’ve truly experienced Down Under if they haven’t planted themselves in the open plains where yelling at the top of your lungs elicits no response; met the quirky but incredibly friendly bar owner of a country town pub; sweltered in the blistering sun and watched the sweat drip down your body past the ripples of heat cascading across the red sand; and sung along to classic hits in a packed car with your head enjoying the breeze as it dangles out the car window.

A word of warning though: I don’t want to glorify this type of trip too much as of course road tripping through Australia can get a little dry – in both senses of the word. The subtle changes in vegetation are beautiful…but they truly are subtle and looking at similar landscapes for long periods of time can quickly become tiresome; the heat – as vital as it is to experience at one point of another – can quickly become very irksome; and sitting in a car for long periods of time can sometimes lead to sore legs and bums, agitated passengers and claustrophobic tendencies a little too easily.

The key to an exciting and memorable road trip through country Australia is to break it up. Stay in little towns along the way, break frequently for food or activities, and bring plenty of things along for the ride to keep you occupied. Good music, riveting books, and a repertoire of fun car games are an absolute must for Aussie road trips. It is also a great idea to bring along balls, a cricket set or surf boards to give you something active to do to burn off all your pent up car-sitting energy.

Taking it slowly also means you need to leave a fair amount of time to complete a road trip. Try not to rush a trip – you need time to enjoy the little things, and leave enough room for you to be spontaneous and head to unplanned areas that might take your fancy.

Another word of advice to make the most of your country road trip is to go a different route on the return journey. While all of the above aspects are important for travellers to experience, they are never quite as exciting as the initial trip. Doing one trip along the coast and the return journey through central Australia (or vice versa) would provide a remarkable experience that gives you the best of both worlds.

For example, my recent car journey from Sydney to Adelaide was a phenomenal drive through country New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. But taking the longer route back home along the coastline was well worth the extra time to experience a different side of the country and make the most of the beaches along the way.

When done right, a road trip through country Australia could easily become one of the most memorable and exciting journeys you undertake in the nation.

Leaders of Singapore, France, New Zealand, Myanmar and Senegal will also be arriving in Australia on the weekend to fulfil official duties and hopefully get out and about with Australians as our summer approaches. The most famous of our overseas visitors this November was Barak Obama who flew out during the week after his speech for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane where he confronted our prime minister, Tony Abbott, over Australia’s lack of commitment when it comes to climate change. Mr Obama also used the address to announce a $US3 billion contribution to an international fund helping poor countries cope with the ramifications of climate change. Not surprisingly, his comments were given prominent coverage. Indeed, with such a mix of charismatic leaders in town, a lively and impressive month is guaranteed.

Considered the third most powerful leader in the world, Chinese president Xi Jinping is also in Australia visiting most states and joked that he should receive a certificate for his Australian travels. Officially here to participate in the formality for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed after nearly ten years of negotiation, the agreement sees those in the mining sector, dairy farmers industry and wine exporters reaping the benefits. The signed agreements will also benefit Tasmania in taking advantage of the growing economy of China’s middle classes through wine and food exports, tourism and trade, and renewable energy aims. Mr Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, have been touring Hobart to meet with primary school children after they sent him a hand-written letter in Chinese arousing his curiosity. Before lunch with the acting governor, Mr Xi and his wife were treated to ‘cuddles’ with a baby Tasmanian devil and a Tasmanian-made lavender bear, which is popular with Chinese tourists.

As November draws to a close and the politicians fly out of Australia, their presence will have been felt as we reap the fiscal benefits, none more so than Brisbane whom the Sydney Morning Herald reported will reap $100 million in economic benefits from the G20 conference. The Summit has provided a platform for new business and research collaborations to network potentially generating innovation, ideas and research for the future.

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On Tuesday, North Queensland Bulk Ports, GVK Hancock and the Adani Group announced that they would reconfigure their plans so as to achieve better environmental outcomes. The companies stated that they would submit a new proposal to the Environment Minister Greg Hunt, an advocate of the initial dredging plans.

Opposition to the development has been vocal and global. The Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage Area, a designation which confers a kind of special status. It is a much-loved and renowned representation of Australian natural life. Annually, millions of visitors flock to Queensland to soak in the summer and explore the colourful coral formations living beneath the surface. For the State of Queensland, the landmark has acted as a kind of totem pole around which the rest of the industry dances. In short, it brings much-needed revenues into the State.

As you might imagine, local opposition has been vigorous, with Whitsundays MP George Christensen yielding to overwhelming public sentiment. Over the weekend, the besieged MP ordered several prominent advertisements in local papers. “I didn’t foresee the angst the dumping of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef marine park would cause to tourism operators and to residents in the Whitsundays,” he admitted before laying out his claim for a more detailed investigative process.

Talk of a land-based option has had locals wondering about the next proposed dumping site, but (for now) it seems local activists have managed to save one of the “Crown Jewels” of Australian tourism.

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Teeming with charming local life and Australiana, Brisbane has become a cultural hotspot for good food, hip living and fun culture. The museum and gallery scene is as vibrant as its residents, and there are literally dozens of knock-out cafes within a small district. The nightlife is also pretty wild, offering revellers a host of hip and happening hot-spots. All in all, Brisbane is an up and coming cosmopolitan destination.

Outside of the city, there’s plenty of natural beauty on offer. As the city features a river in its landscape, it’s the best jumping off point for a heap of really memorable day trips. At Kangaroo Point, there are plenty of rock climbing and abseiling challenges, as well as an incredibly scenic bike route. But for the less outwardly active, there’s also the possibility of simply paddling downstream as the cityscape passes you by.

The picturesque Moreton Island!

And then there’s the Moreton Bay and Islands area. This vast Eden offers tourists the opportunity to get active and throw themselves headlong into an adventure. Locals can often be found around this area snorkelling, diving, parasailing and generally living the good life. For interested travellers, it’s the perfect opportunity to try something completely different and embrace a whole new kind of outdoor activity.

So if tropical weather and balmy beaches sound good to you, then Queensland might be the perfect holiday destination! Remember to check out our website for further information and even more discussion of Australia’s many great cultural highlights.

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It’s thought that the first flight will be launched within the next year. Passengers will pay hundreds of thousands dollars a pop to experience zero gravity, to see the Earth from a completely new perspective, and to find themselves closer than ever to the stars.

(‘Stars’, in this case, refers not only to the far-flung, shining space objects, but also to the likes of Kate Winslet, Brangelina, Katy Perry, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio, all of whom are rumoured to have space trips lined up for the not-too-distant future.)

But while the tourism industry is looking upwards, could they be neglecting what lies below?

It’s no secret that humans love the ocean. We’re fascinated by (and, at times, fearful of) dolphins, fish, sharks, whales and other animals that live underwater. The Little Mermaid was a huge hit back in the 1989, and Sofia Ford Coppola is re-making the classic as you read this. Millions of us make annual summer pilgrimages to spend a week or two in close proximity to the water, and swimming remains a key source of enjoyment an exercise for broad swathes of the Australian population. Diving’s pretty popular, too.

Given this clear fondness for water and its various attractions, then, it’s not nonsensical to suggest that the tourism industry would do well to place more of an emphasis on ocean-based activities.

One aspect of this new strategy could be an investment in submarine tourism.

In 1966, The Beatles sung happily about living in a yellow submarine. While we’re not sure we’d like to spend such a big expanse of time underwater, perhaps it would be quite pleasant. At the very least, Ringo Starr – lead vocalist on ‘Yellow Submarine’ – has lived arguably the most untroubled, contented life of the Famous Four.

In a more modern, Australian context, submarine tourism could be put to use in multiple locations. For one thing, there’s an awful lot of stuff beneath the surface of Sydney Harbour. Some of it’s beautiful, some of it’s gross, some of it’s historically significant and some of it’s boring – but there’s certainly enough material to warrant exploration on the part of tourists.

Perhaps more obviously, submarine services would surely do a roaring trade around the Great Barrier Reef. The coral, the flashy-coloured fish and the stunning underwater ecosystems in which they live make the Reef one of the world’s premier natural drawcards. Of course, the ability of submarines to traverse the Reef could be impacted by legislation, and visibility could be impact by recent, controversial dredge spoil dumping allowances. In theory, though, there would certainly be a market.

Submarines already have a wide range of uses. They have a well-known history of navy usage, and can also be valuable for the research of marine scientists. Outfits such as Neptune Marine Services (which sounds part-Branson, part-underwater, but is resolutely the latter) use them for things like underwater maintenance, repairs, manufacture, engineering and stabilisation. They’re clearly fairly versatile, then. Passenger submarines companies do exist, but they operate almost exclusively out of the US, leaving a gaping hole in the Antipodean market.

Who knows? Perhaps submarine tourism could be Mr. Branson’s next big project. Once he’s back from space, that is.