GET SOME NORTHERN
EXPOSURE
It’s a long way to the top if you
want to stop and stroll. Actually,
it’s around 29 hours give or take,
in a typically Queensland style of
casual estimation. However long
it takes you, a drive from Cairns
to the tip of Cape York (or the
other way round) is a quintessential
Australian experience. Whether
you choose to brave the crocs
and cassowaries alone or join the
safety of a tag-along tour, the
wilds and wonders of this part
of the country are the stuff of red
dirt-encrusted dreams. We suggest
timing your drive to coincide with
the biennial Laura Dance Festival
of Indigenous performing arts for
a once-in-a-lifetime experience
you can (and will) retell for the
rest of your days.SEE TASSIE’S WILD SIDE
The full stop on the exclamation mark of Australia, Tassie is perhaps one
ofour most road trip-friendly states. While the whole isle is ripe for vehicular
exploration, the East Coast, with its standout stops at Freycinet National
Park and the Bay of Fires, gets our blue ribbon. The Great Eastern Drive
isaprecise but pretty 176-kilometre stretch, making it entirely doable
over a long weekend. Begin in Orford, continuing onto Triabunna to make
thecrossing to Maria Island National Park. Hit the road again before
taking in the wine route from Swansea to Bicheno, then make your
merry way to Freycinet and onto the grand finale at Binalong Bay.75
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