Today, more than ever, you can enter into the world of an ancient culture accompanied by its modern day custodians, descendants of one of the most fascinating and unique cultures on earth. What’s more, you don’t have to go overseas to discover it! Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have an enormously diverse and complex culture that traces its roots back at least 50,000 years - one of the longest of any society on the planet! You can learn about their culture through art, story telling, dance, music and the land itself. So immerse yourself in the Dreamtime and discover the spirituality, tradition and ceremonies of our great land’s first inhabitants.

Aboriginal Art and Culture

Indigenous Australians are custodians to one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures predating the Roman Empire and the building of the Pyramids. And they’re eager to share their insights into this ancient land through art, story-telling, dance, and music.

You can experience their ancient, fascinating and wonderful culture through specialised tours in places such as Uluru, or by staying in an indigenous community such as at Iga Warta in the Northern Flinders ranges. You can even get a taste for island life on the remote Tiwi Islands in the Arafura Sea, where you’ll meet the tea ladies and learn how to weave pandanus.

Indigenous experiences and tours can also be found in places as unlikely as Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens, along our coast or even on Sydney Harbour aboard the Tribal Warrior. And it’s in our cities too that you’ll find there are great modern-day examples of contemporary Aboriginal Australia - such as the Sydney-based Bangarra Dance Theatre and Perth’s Black Swan Theatre.

Whether it’s rock art and cave drawings from 50,000 years ago, or the work of our modern day western desert artists, working in co-operatives such as Papunya Tula, you can immerse yourself in a wealth of Indigenous art and culture right across Australia.

Aboriginal Dreamtime

Aboriginal Australians were explaining their existence by telling stories about the land and animals around them long before the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.

The Aboriginal people are spiritually connected to the land and believe all life as it is today - human, animal, bird and fish - is part of a vast unchanging network of relationships which can be traced to the Great Spirit ancestors of the Dreamtime. Through ceremonial songs and dances they use the Dreamtime to tell the story of the development of our ancient land.

You too can go on a 50,000 year journey as you hear the Dreamtime stories of tribal elders in the Outback and tour remote and sacred lands with their Aboriginal custodians. You can listen to the legend of Namarrgon, the Lightning Man, in Kakadu National Park, discover Dreamtime Quinkans in Cape York’s Laura region or take a Dreamtime walk and retrace the steps of the Liru ancestors near Uluru. You can even immerse yourself in a modern-day Dreaming Festival in Woodford on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

As you explore the Aboriginal songline stories of Creation you’ll learn how Dreaming trails crisscross Australia, connecting important waterholes, food sources and landmarks. So go on, create a songline of your own.

Aboriginal Food

Any Aussie worth their salt knows that bush tucker refers to the huge variety of herbs, spices, mushrooms, fruits, flowers, vegetables, animals, birds, reptiles and insects that are native to the country. Once only found in the diet of indigenous Australians, native foods, however, are popping up on menus across the country and commercially produced versions are creeping onto the shelves of our supermarkets.

With Australian chefs experimenting more and more with its unusual and delicate flavours, there are plenty of opportunities to taste-test bush tucker. You can try an indigenous restaurant, or eat in a gourmet restaurant that just happens to have native ingredients such as emu or kangaroo on the menu.

Better yet, go on a bush tucker tour with Aboriginal Australians in the Outback. They’ll lead you back through time to places where you can find and cook our native bush foods in the wild. They’ll show you how they’ve survived off the land for centuries, by catching animals, digging up roots, eating leaves and even using them as medicine.

Whether you take a tour and learn to hunt for traditional bush tucker, or choose to buy some native produce at a local market and cook up a storm - don’t to miss the opportunity to taste the world’s oldest cuisine.

Spring in Melbourne means fashion and horse racing and it all starts with Australia’s largest annual sporting event, the Spring Racing Carnival (3 October – 22 November). Offering 50 days of action and excitement, the Carnival is characterised by glamour, fashion, celebrities, horses and parties so grab your fascinator and enjoy all the fun of race day festivities.

Famous for being Australia’s fashion epicentre, Melbourne delivers time and again as the ultimate shopping destination. Its hidden laneways, arcades and edgy shopping precincts are bursting at the seams with trendy boutiques, creative local designers big-name department stores and international labels that will satisfy even the fussiest of shoppers.

Take your pick from countless options including GPO, QV, Melbourne Central, Centreway Arcade, Little Collins Street, Block Arcade and Flinders Lane and enjoy the unique range of products on offer. To get an insider’s peek into the hippest places to shop, go on a Hidden Secrets Tour where you will discover the boutiques and businesses that exemplify Melbourne’s X-factor quality.

Recharge and refuel with a quick espresso at Degraves or Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar and, if you are feeling a little peckish, take advantage of the plethora of cafes and restaurants scattered throughout the city including MoVida, Piadina, Gingerboy, Cookie, Bar Lourinha, The Journal and Switchboard.

Renowned as the cultural capital of Australia, make sure you visit the NGV International for the spectacular Guggenheim Collection: 1940s to now which is on show until 7 October. The exhibition features more than 85 works by 67 artists from the famous Guggenheim Museums including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and Jeff Koons.

Complementing this exhibition is Pixar: 20 Years of Animation at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), a unique exhibition which explores the creativity and technology behind some of our most loved movies of recent times including Toy Story, Monsters Inc, A Bug’s Life and Finding Nemo.

Arts and culture continues to take centre stage during spring with the Melbourne Fringe Festival (26 September to 14 October) which offers a quirky mix of arts and culture across theatre, dance and visual arts. The Melbourne International Arts Festival (11 - 27 October) presents an interesting collection of work by today’s leading contemporary artists. And for all those theatre buffs, Phantom of the Opera has made a special return to Melbourne for a limited season so make sure you book your tickets today!

For the best views in Melbourne, visit the city’s newest attraction, the Eureka Skydeck 88, which boasts the highest vantage point in the southern hemisphere. Adventurous types can even try the world-first ‘Edge’ experience – a glass cube that projects out three metres from the side of the building and is suspended 300 metres above ground.

If you’re visiting Melbourne with the family there are a range of activities to keep the little ones amused including the Melbourne Aquarium and Melbourne Zoo which boasts more than 350 different animal species in exquisite natural settings on the fringe of the city.

Spring is a particularly delightful time to visit Melbourne to enjoy the city’s vibrant culture, cuisine, sport and fashion.

Explore every corner of Melbourne with these exclusive package holidays:

Experience Melbourne

Capture Melbourne’s ‘Must See’ highlights with this fantastic introduction to Melbourne. Become acquainted with the city on an informative City Sights tour, exploring Melbourne’s spectacular Royal Botanic Gardens, Queen Victoria Market and tranquil Albert Park… (Read more here)

Melbourne And Yarra Valley Discovery

Enjoy Melbourne at your own pace by exploring Melbourne’s excellent shopping, cafes and galleries Journey to the heart of the picturesque Yarra Valley wine region. Ride through the forest on the famous Puffing Billy steam train. Enjoy a sumptuous lunch at F…(Read more here)

The Gold Coast is famous for its kilometres of wide, sandy beaches. And so it should be. You can have a fabulous holiday within an easy stroll of those beaches even if you do nothing else. But there’s much, much more to the Coast. In fact, you really are spoilt for choice.

There’s the lush and inviting hinterland, rich in natural wonders. There’s the Broadwater and extensive waterways where you can still find somewhere quite to drop in a line or just take in the view. There are the world famous theme parks for non stop excitement and family fun. There’s shopping, fashion and fine dining. Plus every kind of accommodation imaginable, from the simple and self contained to 5 star luxury and golf resorts to rival any on the planet.

Worlds of Fun

The Gold Coast’s theme parks deliver wonderful experiences for all ages. You can interact with farm animals, feel the thunder of highly skilled galloping horses and riders, get wet in a wonderful variety of ways, see performing dolphins, be thrown around on some of the wildest thrill rides in the world and much. much more. You could spend your entire holiday at the parks and most offer multi day passes to let you do just that.

• Warner Bros. Movie World on pleasetakemeto.com
• Sea World on pleasetakemeto.com
• Australian Outback Spectacular on pleasetakemeto.com
• Paradise Country Farm on pleasetakemeto.com
• Wet ‘n’ Wild Water World on pleasetakemeto.com

The Surprising Hinterland

Away from the beaches you can find a very different Gold Coast experience. From the charming villages along the ridge line of Mount Tambourine, with spectacular views to the east and west, to the magnificent hiking in Lamington National Park to the quaint cafes and shops of Springbrook, there’s enough to keep you captivated without even thinking of feeling sand between your toes.

• Springbrook on pleasetakemeto.com
• Mount Tambourine on pleasetakemeto.com

Luxury all the way

The Gold Coast can deliver on simple pleasures. It can also provide a very broad range of sumptuously indulgent experiences, from luxury afloat to world class golf courses, fine dining and of course, magnificently appointed accommodation.

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A Walk on the Wild Side

You can get up close and personal with sea, land and bird life on the Gold Coast. From tigers and Polar bears specially designed, activity rich enclosures to fearsome sharks and nocturnal natives in the wild, the natural world is extremely accessible.

Paradise - and Not Just for Surfers

Surfers Paradise is alive 24 hours a day. The shopping and al fresco dining goes on and on and when night falls, the partying begins, with entertainment and action into the small hours every night. Of course, there is also the beach itself where you can even find lessons on how to really surf.

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• Brad Holmes Surf Coaching on pleasetakemeto.com

Kangaroo Island (nature, parks)

You’ll find amazing wildlife and wilderness areas right across South Australia, but it’s hard to go past Kangaroo Island for an unforgettable nature experience. Thirty per cent of the island (Australia’s third largest) is dedicated to national and conservation parks, it’s home to the world’s largest breeding colony of sea lions, and its dramatic scenery ranges from the Little Sahara (actually a massive sand dune) to the huge sculptured granite boulders called Remarkable Rocks.

Kangaroo Island has been carefully protected from mainland rabbits and foxes, so you’ll find heaps of native fauna including the echidna, koala, platypus, goanna, glossy black cockatoo, albatross and the island’s own species of kangaroo. Its shores are also home to the elusive leafy sea dragon and countless species of fish. You can walk among the sea lions as they bask on the beach in Seal Bay, follow an expert tour guide through the bush, or go fishing, bird watching, cycling or adventure caving.

Kangaroo lsland on SouthAustralia.com
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Murray River

Lounge on the deck of a luxury houseboat moored beside a gum tree. Drink award-winning wines after hiking around the eight-kilometre boardwalk trail at Banrock Station Wine and Wetland Centre. Spy a rare bird or two at Gluepot Reserve. Explore Australia’s paddleboat history at the Mannum Dock Museum. Grab a copy of the Riverland Wine and Food Trail Map and taste everything from stone fruits to wine and almonds to oranges. Or catch an elusive Murray cod before cooking it up for dinner back at your campsite. These are just some of the brilliant experiences that you’ll encounter on South Australia’s Murray River.

Houseboating is big business in South Australia. Watch the river float by as you sit in the jacuzzi on a multi award-winning Unforgettable Houseboat or relax in super-luxury aboard the River Dream Boatel (they’ll even organise a chef for you). Or for a more casual option, take a dozen mates away for the weekend to fish, water ski and enjoy a drink around the on-board barbecue.

Murray River on SouthAustralia.com
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Tasting Australia

13-20 October 2007
Take your tastebuds on tour as South Australia hosts some of the world’s top chefs in some of South Australia’s most stunning locations.

Learn all you need to know about food and culinary art from international chefs Rick Stein, Serge Dansereau, Gabriel Gate, Madhur Jaffrey and more.

Held biennially in odd years, Tasting Australia showcases the very best the nation has to offer in food, wine, beer, gastronomic discussion, hospitality, travel and lifestyle. Tasting Australia promises eight days of the best in eating and drinking blended with spicy discussion and cookery demonstrations with many of the world’s leading food and wine professionals.
This year the festival will begin with a bang with the two-day LifeStyle FOOD Channel Feast for the Senses at the Adelaide Riverbank Precinct, showcasing some of the best gourmet food, fine wine, premium beer, coffee and beverages Australia has to offer.

Tasting Australia
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World Heritage Listed Caves, Naracoorte, Limestone Coast

Naracoorte Caves National Park is one of Australia’s fourteen World Heritage Areas. The park was inscribed on the World Heritage List for the extensive fossil deposits found within the caves that have revealed so much about Australia’s marsupial heritage. Visitors to the park can view several fossil areas on a range of tours led by professional guides.

One special cave is home to the threatened Southern Bentwing Bat that returns to the cave each spring to give birth and raise their young. This special annual event can be viewed via infrared technology in the Bat Observation Centre, where visitors can take a peek into the bats’ normally inaccessible world and observe their daily activities. The nightly exit of thousands of bats is a spectacular sight.
Also at the park, the Wonambi Fossil Centre is a re-created scene of Naracoorte Caves as it may have looked 200,000 years ago. It features life-size models of the ‘megafauna’ in a simulated habitat of the era.

Naracoorte

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Wine Country & Gourmet Grazing

There’s a restaurant to suit every taste and budget in South Australia. Sample the award-winning fusion fare at The Grange in the Adelaide Hilton or match Petaluma wines with your meal at Bridgewater Mill in the Adelaide Hills. Eat fish and chips on the beach before catching the horse-drawn tram at Victor Harbor on the Fleurieu Peninsula or try regional cheeses and freshwater marron at the Ozone Seafront Hotel on Kangaroo Island.

Just an hour or so from the city and you’ll be in the heart of wine country. Tour the grand chateaus and 100-year-old vines of the Barossa. Drink the big reds from the red earth of Coonawarra. Cycle the 27km Riesling Trail linking dozens of cellar doors in the Clare Valley or relax on a houseboat and learn why the Riverland accounts for nearly a third of Australia’s wine grapes (it’s all the sunshine). Find your favourite wine labels or try the new breed of reds hailing from McLaren Vale. Drive just 20 minutes from the heart of Adelaide and find yourself in the white wine epicentre of the Adelaide Hills.

Wine Country & Gourmet Grazing on SouthAustralia.com
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Seafood & Aquaculture Trail – Eyre Pensinsula

The Eyre Peninsula accounts for 60 per cent of South Australia’s seafood, with calamari, crayfish, kingfish, mussels, prawns, tuna and whiting all sourced from the pristine waters surrounding the peninsula. Oysters, abalone and succulent scallops are also harvested commercially in local waters – and visitors can catch all of the action on Australia’s Seafood and Aquaculture Trail, a journey through 11 amazing businesses from Ceduna to Whyalla.

Bringing together seafood, dining and aquaculture experiences, the trail charts the journey of delicious seafood from the ocean to restaurant plates. Visit oyster farms, multi-million dollar businesses, fish farms and fishing boats along the way.

SeafoodTrail.com
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Flinders Ranges

Tree-lined gorges, rugged mountain ranges, rolling plains and rich colours mark the stunning ancient lands of the Flinders Ranges, with four-wheel driving, bushwalking, camping and adventure all part and parcel of the experience.

Make sure you visit the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna, a sleepy town with a total population of seven. This quintessentially Australian pub has earnt worldwide recognition for its gourmet feral cuisine, luxury accommodation and Outback hospitality.

The Flinders Ranges is also home to Wilpena Pound, featuring excellent bushwalking tracks, abundant wildlife, scenery and dense native vegetation. Shaped like a horseshoe, the pound forms a natural amphitheatre of great Aboriginal significance.

Further north Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary offers a range of experiences, including the spectacular four-wheel drive Ridgetop tour, the Arkaroola Astronomical Observatory and star chairs for deep space exploration, bushwalking trails and scenic flights over the northern Flinders Ranges and local inland lakes.

Flinders Ranges on SouthAustralia.com
flindersoutback.com

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A Brilliant Blend of Events

South Australia is certainly the place to be to celebrate events, with a brilliant blend of festivals and events taking place throughout the year. There’s always a huge line up of internationally acclaimed events sure to entertain and attract locals and visitors from across the country. Events include cultural icons like the Fringe Festival (now an annual event), the Festival of Arts and WOMADelaide to sporting spectaculars such as the roar of the V8s at the Clipsal 500, the power of the world’s best cyclists during Tour Down Under and the exciting Rugby 7s. Hundreds of thousands of visitors attend the jam-packed calendar of events on offer annually in South Australia and whether it is food, wine, music, culture, theatre, comedy, petrol power, the Outback or cycling, South Australia offers something for everyone.

A Brilliant Blend of Events on SouthAustralia.com