Australia still offers a variety of unique experiences, including world-class food and wildlife.
The tourism industry in Australia has had a tough 18 months. In the summer of 2019,-20 devastating bushfires devastated the South-Eastern States. Then came the coronavirus outbreak that made the world take a break from international travel. Australia hasn’t waited long to perfect what it can offer its visitors.
Australia’s most popular attractions are as well-known as ever – the Red Centre, the Great Barrier Reef, and the sophisticated Sydney. But “people want more intimate experiences,” says Joost Baker, restaurateur and sustainability advocate behind Australia’s innovative Greenhouse Restaurant and Future Food System.
The low population density of Australia, its vast wilderness, and the many places where you can get away will make it a leading destination for future travel trends. “That’s what everyone else is looking for.”
Two enduring Australian features are at the core of Australia’s new pitch to tourists: its extraordinary food and its unique wildlife.
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
Melbourne is a culinary destination that has few rivals. Pat Nourse is the creative director for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. She says that Melbourne, a city with fewer than five million residents, can compare favorably to London and New York.
The festival’s 2020 edition was originally scheduled to start in March of last year. However, the pandemic hit, and organizers were forced to cancel it just six days prior to the event. The timing was perfect a year later: the reimagined festival of 2021 launched in March 2020 for a domestic market, just as people began to emerge from a year full of lockdowns and isolation.
They’re a flowering of it,” says Nourse over a morning of musubi and coffee at Nourse says, “They’re a blossoming of it,” breakfast of musubis and coffee in 279 Victoria Street just up the street from Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market. This site is a key part of Melbourne’s culinary scene and will host many festivals.
“Melbourne restaurants have developed because people care about food. They want good food to be part of their lives, just as they want good sports and good art. It’s a part of living well.”
The 2021 festival, which will make up for lost time, is based on the concept of “one year, three Festivals.” It will start in March, then return in mid-winter, and culminate in regional Victoria during the spring.
The revamped festival, which is the best sign yet that Melbourne has returned to its former glory after a year of much more strict lockdowns in Melbourne than anywhere in Australia, is the surest sign that Melbourne will be back at its best.
Healesville Sanctuary
Bushfires in Australia’s southeast that devastated much of the region between late 2019 and early 2021 had a devastating impact on Australia’s wildlife. Since then, Healesville Sanctuary near Melbourne has helped to tell a powerful tale of recovery.
Healesville Sanctuary is one of the best places in Australia to see Australian animals (including koalas and kangaroos as well as emus, echidnas, wombats, and emus) in large, lush enclosures. Healesville’s sustainability record is second to none. In 2014, Healesville became the first carbon-neutral zoo on the planet. It has also nearly eliminated single-use plastics and will soon reach its goal of sending no waste to landfills. The zoo is powered by renewable energy.
The zoo’s staff traveled to the fire-ravaged regions of the country in order to establish triage centers to treat badly burned animals. Its state-of-the-art veterinary hospital also provided refuge to badly injured Koalas.
It also had a long-term goal.
Monika Zabinskas is the coordinator of Healesville Sanctuary’s Threatened Mammals Program. She says that Zoos Victoria made a decision a few years ago not to let any Victorian vertebrate terrestrial species become extinct under our watch.
Scientific research, captive breeding, and reintroductions into the wild have all helped the eastern-barred pygmy bandicoots, Tasmanian devils, mountain pygmy possums, corroboree frogs, and brush-tailed wallabies recover. Leadbeater’s Possums (Victoria’s State Animal) (only 40 of them survive in the wild), Orange-bellied Parrots (50), and Helmed Honeyeaters (just 200) are all on the verge of extinction.
Healesville Sanctuary is the reason they are still here. This is the only place on earth where you can see all of them.
Wine & Wildlife
Not only in Victoria can you experience the quiet resilience and wonder of Australia’s wildlife and wineries? Queensland and the Northern Territory are among the best places to watch wildlife on earth. Tasmania, New South Wales, and South Australia also have award-winning wine regions and world-class parks.
South Australia is home to some of Australia’s best-known and most respected wine regions. You’ll see cellar doors almost everywhere. McLaren Vale is one of many wine regions in the state. Others include Clare Valley, the Barossa Valley Coonawarra, and Adelaide Hills. You can enjoy winery tours and unique experiences in each region, as well as sample the cuisine of renowned chefs. Africola, Fino, or d’Arry’s Verandah are the best restaurants to complement the perfect vintage.
The wildlife of Kangaroo Island, which is not far from here, has made a remarkable recovery after the bushfires. It remains an exciting destination for animal enthusiasts. This laid-back island is home to kangaroos, birds, and dolphins. Learn how to help monitor endangered species with the Bushfire Recovery Wildlife Journey.
The Eyre Peninsula in South Australia is another option for those who want to combine wildlife and culinary experiences. Try some of Australia’s finest oysters on a tour in Coffin Bay with Oyster farm tours or Pure Coffin Bay Oysters. Then, head to Port Lincoln and swim with sea lions or cage dive with great white sharks with Adventure Bay Charters.
Western Australia is also ready and waiting for you to return. The Margaret River area in the southwest of the state is a gourmet and wine destination. Boutique wineries, artisanal cheesemakers, and farmer’s markets are part of a town that’s brimming over with energy from travelers of all kinds. Watch whales off the coast of the south with Naturaliste charters, surf the wildest breaks in Australia near Cape Naturaliste, and explore the little-known national park, Stirling Range National Park, located a day’s drive from Perth.
Australia is still a great place to visit, no matter where you go. The country can’t get enough of you.
