Western Australia’s southwest is primarily known for its wonderful wines around the Margaret River region, but its forests are also simply magnificent with some of the tallest trees in the world around the suitably named “Valley of the Giants”.
Its certainly worth half a day to explore and the best way to do it is:
#1 Drive through the area – in particular on the Great Forest Trees Drive near the Shannon River.
#2 Walk the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk – a walkway suspended 40m / 130ft high that allows you to walk through the forest canopy.
Very decent views from the Giants Treetop Walk
#3 Climb the Gloucester Tree – a giant Karri tree with a 58m / 190ft viewing platform at the top, making it the second tallest tree lookout in the world. But it isn’t so much the height that is unusual. Instead, it is the 153 spikes that ring the tree and are the method for climbing it that stands out. For those even remotely scared of heights, this is a truly terrifying experience wrapped up as a family friendly activity – especially as people have to pass you by on the way up or down. Only 20% of people make it to the top lookout . . . and back down again – respect if you do.
The Gloucester Tree – yes, hectic
The Gloucester Tree and Treetop Walk can get a little busy (relatively), so I would suggest prioritising the Great Forest Tree Drive as there are various options to be able to stop and have a walk around with the forest largely to yourself, including a 8km Great Forest Trees Walk across the Shannon River. The drive is also in between Gloucester Tree and Treetop Walk, so you can then chose to drive to either as part of your route.
The drive from Adelaide to Darwin through the Red Centre is one of the great road trips – not because every stop is amazing, but because of the sheer scale, isolation and sense of adventure that comes from driving through the middle of Australia.
There are some excellent highlights along the way – Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), and Kakadu in particular – but the thing you’ll remember are those huge empty roads, red desert landscapes, strange outback towns and the feeling of being a very long way from anywhere.
It’s a big one – nearly 4,000km / 2500miles of driving. If you like road trips and big landscapes, this is a classic and one of the highlights of this amazing country.
In a nutshell:
- Distance: 3,800km
- Time needed: 10 days
- Start and finish: Adelaide to Darwin
- Best for: Landscapes, adventure, iconic Australia
- Highlights: Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kakadu
- Difficulty: Long distances but easy driving
Kakadu is the highlight of the top half of Australia’s Northern Territory. A vast national park where the combination of scorching dry seasons and flooded wet seasons have created sharp rock formations and billabongs that attract a variety of wildlife and make it feel like the definition of what you have in mind when you think of Australian Wilderness.
In addition, its one of the best places in the country to experience the traditional Aboriginal way of life with its ancient rock art.
Only a brief travel entry on this occasion as we only had a day in this wonderful place. But key tip is to head out to one of the many hikes that finish with a refreshing swim in the rock pools and views across the national park. Motorcar Falls was in particular beautiful.
New Zealand’s South Island has some of the most rugged natural beauty of anywhere in the world. World famous sites such as the fjords of Milford Sound, the Frans Joseph and Fox glaciers, and the adrenaline sports of Queenstown. Yet is also super accessible by road and very compact to get around. The combination of these factors makes it one of the most appealing places for a roadtrip, scores the maximum Wow-factor rating and I’ve listed below a great 10 day itinerary to get the best of the island.
Sensational views of the mountains and lakes as you jump from Bob’s Peak and ride the winds through the clouds. The hike up is worth the day alone. A must do for this part of the world.
