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The Lonely Planet Journey: The Ghan

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:00:01 GMT

Darwin to Adelaide is – as they say in the Outback – a bloody long way. Look at a map: the distance between the cities is nearly 3,000km, a countrywide gulf of yellow-red nothing. No wonder no one was very keen to cross it. That is, until the Afghan cameleers arrived. From the 1860s, small numbers of immigrants from Asia disembarked with their "ships of the desert" and set about opening up Australia's hostile Red Centre. They did a fine job, and their legacy (aside from the million-odd feral camels that now plague the Outback) can be felt on one of the greatest train journeys in the world.

Australia: Between a rock and a hard place

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:00:01 GMT

For the adventurous traveller, everything is pointing in the same direction: along the epic Stuart Highway from Adelaide in South Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory. This year is the 150th anniversary of John McDouall Stuart becoming the first man to cross this vast country from south to north. In mid-April the dry season begins in the “Top End” of Australia, the ideal time to make the journey. Simultaneously, air fares from Britain tumble to their lowest. And there are even new flights connecting both ends of the route, making this the perfect time to follow in Stuart’s heroic footsteps.

Australia: Follow the herd in the Outback

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:00:01 GMT

As we ride into camp, the last light of the day paints the austere rock face of the Cockburn Ranges with a fiery red glow – its rippled reflection captured in the water of the croc-inhabited Pentecost River. After a long session in the saddle, I'm ready to hang up my hat, kick off my boots and tuck into a hearty drover's dinner.

Lost in the landscape: Wilderness and wildlife in Australia’s Top End

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMT

"I do love Big Arse," murmurs Amy, fondly. "Trouble is," she continues, "he doesn't like me. And he doesn't like boats, either. Matter of fact, I think he only likes himself." It's early morning on Home Billabong – a narrow body of water in the Mary River National Park at the heart of the Top End, that northernmost bulge of Australia's Northern Territory. Our helmswoman Amy Ricketts is referring to the huge estuarine crocodile that has claimed this oasis as his own. All eyes scan the dark waters for any sign of the misanthropic reptile.

Traveller's Guide: Great Barrier Reef

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:30:00 GMT

There's a reason that it's called the Great Barrier Reef. With a surface area larger than the British Isles, the most extensive reef system in the world is 2,000km long: the only living structure visible from the International Space Station. It's made up of more than 3,000 separate fringing reefs that lie between Australia's Queensland coast and the edge of the continental shelf. All exist thanks to colonies of tiny polyps, the "architects" of the reef, whose outer skeletons form intricate multicoloured coral metropolises.

Travel Challenge: A holiday in Queensland, Australia

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Each week we invite three companies to give us their best deal for a specific holiday. Today: a two-week trip to Queensland in May. Prices are per person, based on two sharing. All include flights from Heathrow.

Reach across the water: Sydney Harbour's islands provide a great escape from the crowds

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Sydney Harbour is one of the great travel icons – its Opera House and the Harbour Bridge form an enduring shorthand for a fine city. All the more surprising, then, that the harbour's islands are overlooked by most visitors.

A dateline in the sand on Stevenson’s treasured island

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:01 GMT

Perhaps the most striking feature of Robert Louis Stevenson's house, situated on a hillside above Apia, the Samoan capital, is a brick fireplace. It was never used – not surprisingly, given the perennially steamy temperatures outside – but it reminded Stevenson of home. "His body was here, but his heart was always in Scotland," says Margaret Silva, who shows visitors around the plantation-style villa, now a museum.

Nature rules in the heart of the outback

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:01 GMT

There is water everywhere. It runs off the tin roofs of farm buildings in a clattering rush, making great red rivers in the sand. Our Land Rover aquaplanes, chased by bolts of lightning, as cracks of thunder fall like boulders around us.

Travel Challenge: A two-week holiday in New Zealand

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:00:01 GMT

Each week we invite three companies to give us their best deal for a specific holiday. Today: a two-week trip to New Zealand. Prices are per person based on two sharing. All include Air New Zealand flights from Heathrow in early February.

Australian court moves to end Qantas strike

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:00:02 GMT

Stranded British passengers could be in the air within hours after a court ended the Qantas union strikes and the grounding of the airline's fleet.

Stranded passengers await Qantas crisis talks

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:35:07 GMT

Stranded British passengers were waiting to find out today if emergency talks would end their misery, after an industrial dispute left hundreds of flights grounded.

Stranded passengers await Quantas crisis talks

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:35:07 GMT

Stranded British passengers were waiting to find out today if emergency talks would end their misery, after an industrial dispute left hundreds of flights grounded.

Traveller's guide: Victoria, Australia

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:00:01 GMT

Victoria may be the smallest mainland state of Australia (though it's still more than 10 times the size of Wales), but it's also the second-most populated, with most Victorians residing in its cosmopolitan capital, Melbourne. Despite its small size (by Australian standards, anyway), Victoria has myriad landscapes that keep walkers, cyclists, foodies and wine-lovers busy.

The Hedonist: Sydney

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:00:17 GMT

A seasoned hedonist should never have a massage before a night of debauchery, but that's exactly what I've gone and done. Smothered in essential oils from a pampering session at the Shangri-La hotel's Chi the Spa (00 61 2 9250 6000; shangri-la.com), I feel more placid than party-girl, as I float upstairs to my suite. It's almost too tempting to wrap up in a bathrobe, order room service and guzzle the mini-bar dry. But gazing out at the glittering harbour view, Sydney's nightlife beckons – and Australia's sassiest city is a mistress who waits for no one.

The Big Six: Stylish rentals in Australia

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:00:49 GMT

Trail of the unexpected: Dunedin, New Zealand

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:00:22 GMT

Should you ever be asked the location of the world's southernmost statue of Robbie Burns, the answer is: in the middle of an octagonal piazza in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. I know this because the only substantial human settlement south of Dunedin is on Antarctica and the treaty of 1961 forbids such structures.

Is this the finest place on earth to hear the call of the wild?

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 23:00:03 GMT

As darkness fell on the olive trees and the grazing deer, I slipped into the Jacuzzi in my tree house and listened to the Pacific breakers roll in.

Traveller's Guide: New Zealand

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:00:02 GMT

New Zealand has endured easier years than 2011. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch in February brought death and despair to a country better known as a realm of pastoral beauty. A second quake in June added to the misery. Beyond the news, though, this distant nation – huddled 1,300 miles east of Australia on the south-west edge of the Pacific Ocean – remains a destination of considerable appeal.

Australia: We came in search of paradise...

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 23:00:08 GMT

The Landcruiser bumped to a halt and we – all six of us on the new Kingfisher "City to Straddie" one-day eco tour – gazed back through a gap in the trees. Two hours ago, we had been sitting in the maw of traffic in downtown Brisbane.

Take the beach highway...right into the sea

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 23:00:01 GMT

'Oops," he says. I laugh at my brother.

The secret of happiness is an island called Rodrigues

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 23:00:01 GMT

On my first night in Rodrigues I stayed with Lelio Rosseti and his wife. Lelio had to excuse himself from time to time to watch the Queen's state visit to Dublin on satellite television. Twenty-five years ago, Mr Rosseti had worked for the Post Office in Britain, and at dinner, under the stars, he told me of his admiration for Margaret Thatcher.

Briton found badly injured on Sydney street

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:32:45 GMT

A British tourist is in critical condition in hospital in Australia after he was found lying in the middle of a city street with massive injuries.

Western Australia: A beach break with a difference

Fri, 13 May 2011 23:00:41 GMT

Glenn McFarlane looked bone weary. "Any luck tonight?" I ventured timidly. "No, no turtles," he replied. Though frustrated, he mustered a half smile and looked for the silver lining. "Just a lovely walk on the beach with good company and good conversation. Now I have a date with my pillow."

Where the weird things are: Antipodean marvel with spiky ways

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 23:00:01 GMT

It's primary school stuff: mammals give birth to babies; birds lay eggs. Except that this particular mammal – also known as the spiny anteater – lays a big, rubbery whopper. Clearly it had its head in an ant hill when the rules were read out. Or perhaps, like many Australian creatures, it was simply being perverse.