Australien

Proclaimed in 1916, Mt Field is Tasmania's oldest national park (along with Freycinet) and sits little more than an hour's drive north of Hobart. There's an upstairs, downstairs structure to the park, with its rainforest-covered lower slopes leaking waterfalls, while its tips hold exposed alpine moorlands, a laid-back ski field and the wonderful Tarn Shelf, which turns on one of Tasmania's finest autumn spectacles when the native fagus (beech) glows gold.

Goda nyheter för miljön. Nu finns världens första, och hittills enda, tåg som drivs enbart av solkraft. För drygt 20 kronor kan resenärer åka med på en tre kilometer lång färd mellan två stränder i det australienska surfnästet Byron Bay.

While it has its seedy and downright ugly side, there’s no denying that Surfers' frenetic few blocks and its glorious strip of sand attracts a phenomenal number of visitors – 20,000 per day at its peak. Party-hard teens and early-20-somethings come here for a heady dose of clubs, bars and malls, perhaps fitting in a bit of beach time as a hangover remedy before it all starts again. Families are attracted by the ready availability of spacious and affordable apartments, loads of kid-friendly eating options and, yes, that beautiful beach.

Rugged, remote Cape York Peninsula has one of the wildest tropical environments on the planet. The Great Dividing Range forms the spine of the Cape: tropical rainforests and palm-fringed beaches flank its eastern side, and sweeping savannah woodlands, eucalyptus forests and coastal mangroves its west. This untamed landscape undergoes a spectacular transformation each year when the torrential rains of the monsoonal wet season set in: rough, dry earth turns to rich, red mud and trickling creek-beds swell to raging rivers.

Just an hour from Hobart lie the staggering coastal landscapes, sandy beaches and historic sites of the Tasman Peninsula. Bushwalking, surfing, sea kayaking, diving and rock-climbing opportunities abound – all good reasons to extend your visit beyond a hurried day trip from Hobart.

Like a paste jewel set in a tiara of natural splendours, Broome clings to a narrow strip of pindan (red-soil country) on the Kimberley's far-western edge, at the base of the pristine Dampier Peninsula. Surrounded by the aquamarine waters of the Indian Ocean and the creeks, mangroves and mudflats of Roebuck Bay, this Yawuru Country is a good 2000km from the nearest capital city.

Unfettered and alive, West Coast Australia is 12,500km of truly spectacular coastline. There's a freedom and optimism here that the rest of Australia can't replicate.

Patterned with vineyards, olive groves and almond plantations running down to the sea, the Fleurieu (floo-ree-oh) is Adelaide's weekend playground. The McLaren Vale wine region is booming, producing gutsy reds (salubrious shiraz) to rival those from the Barossa Valley (actually, we think McLaren Vale wins hands down). Like the Adelaide area, this land is Kaurna country. Further east, the Fleurieu's Encounter Coast is Ngarrindjeri country, with an engaging mix of surf beaches, historic towns and whales cavorting offshore. Forget the weekend playground – there's enough here to keep you entertained for months.

Beyond the Great Dividing Range the sky opens up over tough country that's both relentless and beautiful. Travellers come for the exotic and intimate Australian experience, their restlessness tamed by the sheer size of the place, its luminous colours and its silence. It's a place that echoes with Indigenous stories down through the ages, and tales from Burke and Wills to Waltzing Matilda. Towns like Winton, Longreach and Birdsville in particular capture the essence of this vast place.

With mountains, rivers, lakes and bushland all within its compact boundaries, it's easy to see how the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) came to be known as Australia's 'Bush Capital'. At the territory's heart sits the cosmopolitan city of Canberra, a well-planned, leafy city with enough cultural cachet to match Australia's larger metropolises, alongside the laid-back feel of a regional centre. Sightseeing opportunities abound within the city limits – including several world-class museums – but there's also plenty to see and do in the wider ACT as well. Whether it's bushwalking and kangaroo-spotting in the nearby wildernesses of Namadgi National Park and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, sipping superb shiraz at one of the many local wineries, or window-shopping in the quaint towns of Hall or Bungendore, you'll find plenty to occupy yourself among the hills and plains of this quintessential Australian region.