Things to Do in Australia And The Pacific

Just north of Melbourne’s CBD, is Lygon Street, the main street in the city’s old Italian quarter.

Still referred to by some as ‘little Italy’, Lygon Street was once the epicenter of Melbourne’s café culture and more than part way responsible for the city’s enduring caffeine obsession. Victorian terraces still line the street and several Italian restaurants continue to beckon passers-by to eat and drink at their street-side tables.

As you walk along Lygon Street you get a sense of its diversity: Italian-influenced restaurants, cafes, cake shops and gelati bars still dominate the scene but you will also discover a whole swathe of mainstream and boutique clothing stores, one of Melbourne’s best independent bookstores (Readings Books & Music); La Mama Theatre and Cinema Nova, Melbourne’s largest and most treasured arthouse cinema.

Faraday Street intersects Lygon Street at its northern end and it’s here that you’ll find Brunetti’s, a long-standing Carlton institution that serves the best cakes and gelato in town.

Offering spectacular views both east and west of Alice Springs, the MacDonnell Ranges are a 400 mile (644 kilometer) stretch of mountain ranges. The ranges hold some of the Northern Territory's finest attractions including the ancient ghost gums and rock wallabies at the majestic Simpson's Gap, the stark beauty of Standley Chasm in the midday sun and the secluded waterholes of Serpentine Gorge and Ellery Creek Big Hole.

The ranges are dotted with micro-climates offering rare wildlife including the Centralian Tree Frog that lives in some of the very cold rock pools.

There are many sites of significance to the traditional owners, the Arrernte. These include ancient rock paintings at Emily Gap, Trephina Gorge and N’Dhala Gorge. You can also visit the old ochre pits where they quarried for ochre pigment.

Straddling the peninsula of North Head on Sydney Harbour, the town of Manly is Sydney’s most popular seaside resort. It offers the best of both worlds, with calm harbor beaches on one side and wild ocean waves on the other.

Linking the two is The Corso, lined with cafes and restaurants. Along with swimming, surfing, wining and dining, Manly’s most popular attraction is of course Oceanworld, on Manly Cove Beach on the harbor side of the town. Sharks and rays swim overhead curving walkways, or you can don a wetsuit and go diving with these monsters of the deep (if you dare!).

Manly is surrounded by gorgeous beaches linked by scenic seaside walkways. Boating, kayaking, surfing and cycling are popular pastimes in summer, while winter is a good time to visit the historic former quarantine facility Q Station or take a North Harbour walk to Shelly Beach or The Spit.

Enter through the iconic mouth of Mr Moon to experience the innocent joys of Melbourne’s Luna Park in St Kilda.

This ultimate city fair has brightened St Kilda’s Lower Esplanade for more than a century, featuring a classic Ferris Wheel, the Jewel in the Crown Carousel, the Silly Serpent Rollercoaster and a haunted Ghost Train, as well as many other family-fun and thrilling rides.

The most famous Luna Park ride is the Scenic Railway Roller Coaster, which has delighted passengers with paramount views of Port Phillip Bay since the Park opened in 1912.

London Court is an old-style open-roofed shopping arcade and an important tourist attraction in the city of Perth.

Built in 1937 for residential and commercial purposes, the Elizabethan arcade was constructed to look like an English street in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. A series of ‘small houses’ with window boxes, the structure of London Court is not the only element of the arcade hearkening to times past.

Ornate entrances with wrought iron gates and giant clocks mark both ends of the arcade at Hay Street Mall and St George’s Terrace. The Hay Street Mall clock shows four mechanised knights jousting as the clock chimes every quarter hour. The clock at the St George’s Terrace entrance depicts a miniature scene of St George battling the dragon. Gargoyles, shields, wrought iron brackets, masks, gabled roofs and even weather cocks complete the Elizabethan theme.

A number of boutique retail stores occupy London Court. Aboriginal Art and Pigeonhole, selling art and homewares; Sweets of London, specializing in British confectionery and groceries; and the ‘olde worlde’ Antiques and Heirlooms are just some of the eclectic mix of businesses that occupy the building.

The Maheno Shipwreck sits starkly rusting against the pristine sands of Cathedral Beach, a majestic and haunting site. The S.S Maheno was built in 1904 in Scotland and was originally a world-class luxury liner.  She became a hospital ship in the Mediterranean during WW1 after which she was purchased for the run between New Zealand and Australia.

In 1935, while being towed to Japan for scrap metal, a cyclone blew her ashore onto Fraser Island. Luckily, there were only a few crew members on board, who tried unsuccessfully to free her. Since then,  three and a half stories of the ship have been buried below the sand.

After being used for bombing practice during WW2, the Maheno was in pretty bad shape and has since rusted away. Still, she is an impressive site and is occasionally used as a kooky, lopsided wedding venue.

Low Isles is a small coral cay off the coast of Port Douglas.

Lying on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, it’s a fabulous spot for snorkeling and diving, thronged with hard and soft corals, tropical fish, reef sharks and turtles.

Cruises come out to Low Isles from Port Douglas for a conveniently close taste of the reef. There are no facilities on the island, just a lighthouse, but the surrounding shallow lagoon is an idyllic place for a swim or snorkel while your cruise vessel is moored offshore.

The Great Ocean Road is one Victoria’s most naturally stunning sights, and Loch Ard Gorge is a dramatic highlight of an already dramatic journey. It was at this spot in 1878 where a ship carrying settlers from England to Melbourne was tragically wrecked on the rocks. Of the 54 passengers aboard the ship only two of the passengers survived—a teenage boy who heroically rescued a fellow teenage girl. After spending the night in a coastal sea cave, the duo found help with local settlers after scaling the rugged cliffs. Today those cliffs have a set of stairs that lead to the golden sands, where a protected beach is tucked beneath the towering, time-sculpted bluffs. Though the weather can be spectacularly stormy in winter, summer days are an invitation for picnicking, swimming, and sunbathing, and the striated cliffs form a natural amphitheater of coastal beauty around you. The gorge is located just a ten minute drive from the famous Twelve Apostles, which are arguably the most popular and visited site on Australia’s Great Ocean Road. At the top of the cliffs above the gorge, a modest cemetery has a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Loch Ard shipwreck—just one of an estimated 700 ships that have sank off this southern coast.

Walk alongside the imposing form of Uluru to the Kantju Gorge and waterhole, on land held sacred by the Anangu indigenous people. The Anangu have walked this land for thousands of years, and once held religious ceremonies here. They believe that the shape and physical features on this section of the monolith represent the activities of the Mala (or rufous hare wallaby), which they see as one of their ancestral beings, during the time of the Tjukurpa (creation time).

The sheer cliffs of Uluru look amazingly different from every angle, and scroll through a vast array of colours as the sun moves across the desert sky. You will never tire of looking at this incredible figure, as it is always changing. If you’re lucky enough to be visiting during heavy rain you will see quite a show, since small streams and waterfalls cover Uluru, transforming it into a completely different natural wonder.

Though the walk can easily be self-guided, a free ranger-guided tour will provide much more insight into the ways of the Anangu, their rock art, and the story of the Mala. These tours can be accessed all year round, by meeting a ranger at the Mala Walk sign at either 8am from October to April, or 10am from May to September.

This is one of the shortest walks at Uluru, covering a 1km stretch of its west side.

This iconic park has been entertaining locals and travelers with a lively midway, carnival games, giant Ferris wheels and contemporary Big Top concerts since 1935. With more than 20 rides, including the dizzying Spider, hilarious Tumble Bug and the classic carousel, visitors to this Sydney standard are sure to have a fun-filled day at the harbor. Travelers agree the best time to visit is during hot summer nights, when city views from atop the Ferris wheel are most impressive and the glow of neon lights lends the park a true sense of nostalgia.