The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust
Where does your wanderlust lead you?
To Melbourne’s cafes or the vast deserts of the Empty Quarter, a New Zealand vineyard or the pavements of New York… what’s your neighbourhood?
Join travel journalists and editors Kirstie Bedford and Belinda Jackson for inspiring stories and inside information from across the world.
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The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust
EP 117 Roadtrip through Australia's Red Centre, Michelin Keys now rate world's best hotels & dogs on planes
As Australia celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Uluru Handback, host Belle Jackson shares how you can take a bite of the red dust on a drive holiday around the Red Centre Way.
From Alice Springs/Alice Springs to Watarrka/Kings Canyon and Uluru, here's your list of where to stay, what to eat and some of the best experiences.
Also, the world's best hotels are recognised in the new Michelin Key hotels guide; Australia's Lizard Island is the only the three-key hotel, with Longtitude 131 near Uluru, Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island and Drift House in Port Fairy, Victoria. For the full list
And dogs on planes - are you on board? Virgin Australia has launched its new trial, as well as more generous carry-on limits.
Belle's recommendations on the Red Centre Way:
Ooraminna Station, 40 mins from Alice Springs, https://www.ooraminna.com.au/
Ormiston Gorge, West Macdonnell Ranges https://nt.gov.au/parks/find-a-park/tjoritja-west-macdonnell-national-park/ormiston-gorge
Kings Creek Station https://kingscreekstation.com.au/
Ayres Rock Resort, https://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/
Standley Chasm, West Macdonnell Ranges, https://standleychasm.com.au/
Northern Territory Tourism https://northernterritory.com/
Other places mentioned:
Melbourne Winery https://www.melbournewinery.com.au/
Virgin Australia https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/
#northernterritory
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
Welcome to the World Awaits. Travel tales to inspire your wonderlust. Welcome back to the World Awaits. How are you all? How's your week been, Kirsty?
SPEAKER_00:I have been settling back into the grind after going to Tahiti and was fortunate to go to an industry event in this last week organized by you, Belle. Yay! At Melbourne Winery on Flinders Lane. Oh my god, it was such a cool venue. So I had no idea this place was there. So it's actually only opened in April, and it's Melbourne's first urban winery, and it's in a building that was built in the late 1800s, which was recently an office building, and it took them a year to um rebuild it, make it into this winery. And um funnily enough, they were saying that there was once an AA upstairs. Like it used to be a place where that people met Alcoholics Anonymous upstairs, um, which is kind of funny, but kind of I did not. He did say he was going to do an event with non-alcoholic wine for people um, you know, to kind of as a homage to that. But um, yeah, so basically they have their own wine label, which is wine made mostly from the ballerine from Scotchman's Hill, which anyone that knows their wines would know is pretty special. And you can go along and do, they have happy hour for all the locals, local office workers, and you can also go along and do this amazing wine tasting. And it's such a pretty venue. They just what they've done, the way they've designed it, and it's massive. So you walk in and there's like 72 wine barrels kind of just placed randomly around the place, and there's a beautiful cocktail bar, and then there's all the seating, and there's all these separate kinds of seating areas. So, and you can and you can order food there. They have really good food. They had really good pizzas and beautiful canopies. Um, so yeah, it was a pretty special place. So if you're in the city and you're near Flinders, because it's right near the train station, so you know, you can just call in there, have a few drinks, and then jump on the train on your way home. How's your how's your week been, Belle?
SPEAKER_04:Oh, well, I'm a bit uh bummed out about missing that one, to be honest with you. So I've had a I've had a very quiet week following my escapades in the Central Highlands and Tassie last week. But I did go to Emirates Roadshow as they launched their Euro Summer campaign. Um, and their hot picks for Europe, I'm pleased to see we are totally on trend, Kirsty. Their hot picks are Malta, Norway, and Portugal, just keeps uh keeps on keeping on with that one. Um, staying on airlines, I note with interest this week was always also the launch of Virgin Australia's new pet seats, which we'll tell you more about after our interview.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. So before we get into all of that, we're going to chat about the newest rating for the hotel for hotels around the world, which is called Michelin Keys. So everyone's heard of Michelin, the Michelin guide, and you know, knows about the Michelin restaurant, um, scarred restaurants. Um, but they've now extended it to keys. So it's basically an accolade from properties get one to three keys, and three's the highest you can get. Um, and it identifies the best hotels in the world. So they they use a criteria, and the five criteria to um for the mission to get a Michelin key is excellence in architecture and interior design, quality and consistency of service, overall personality and character, value for the price, and a significant contribution to the neighborhood.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so there's um nearly two and a half thousand properties received a key around the world, but only 133, uh sorry, 143 of those got the three keys, which is like the it's like the gold star for hotels. Um so expected, as expected, there were such icons as the Savoy in London, La Malmonia in Marrakesh, which I had the great joy to stay at years ago, um, the Maldives iconic Cheval Blanc, and Monaco's Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo, which was of course a favourite hang of Princess Grace, aka Grace Kelly of Monaco, and in New York, uh Casa Cipriani, which sounds like a mob hangout, but it actually set in a 1906 ferry terminal in Lower Manhattan.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and back at home here, we had so Australia had 35 properties that made the list, but only one property actually got the coveted three-key ranking, and that was adults only Lizard Island on Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.
SPEAKER_04:Have you stayed there? Because I mean, I was scheduled to stay, I was doing a cover story for the Sydney Morning Herald on New Island developments in Queensland, but it was adults only, and I was traveling with my little baby who was just nine months old at the time. She was jumping. Well, she wasn't jumping, she was being lifted in and out of helicopters, but but that ruled me out. So I haven't stayed, have you?
SPEAKER_00:A nine-month-old, you should have been able to stay at adults only with a nine-month-old. Um, I also haven't stayed, but I have stayed at a few of the others on the list. So there were nine in Australia that got the two keys, and one of those was longitude one three one. Oh my god, this place is beyond remarkable. So I was actually there when they shut that were shutting the borders for the pandemic. I was literally there that week that we came home from there, they shut all the borders. Um, and it's a luxury wilderness camp with 16 tented pavilions, and the pavilions are all named after Outback explorers, and they're all sort of dotted. They call them pavilions, but they're just like these gorgeous luxury suites. They're all dotted among the red rust sort of dunes of the desert with views across to Uluru. So in our one, we could just lie in bed and look out to Uluru. It was just amazing. And the resort's all-inclusive and the dining, like the food there, was honestly some of the best I've ever had, and with a daily changing menu. And others on that two key list were Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island, which was recently rebuilt after fire, and also Sapphire Fashioner and Taz and Jack-Ope Hotel on the Mornington Peninsula. And another one I stayed at, which was one key, was the One Hotel in Melbourne, which is a really new hotel. And they, it's a sustainable-led brand, uh um One Hotels. And they, oh my God, they really do walk the talk. So they incorporated a 1942 industrial Malcolm Moore Crane into the hotel design, restored it and repositioned it so it was sort of like a sculptural tribute to the shipping, the area's shipping. And inside that hotel are 7,000 plants and four and a half, 4,500 square metres of reclaimed timber. And you see it everywhere when you stay in the hotel, you you see it. So the reception desk alone is made up with repurposed elm trees from Melbourne's Metro Tunnel works. And there's an artwork above the desk that's crafted from 60 kilograms of textiles that were otherwise destined for landfall. I love that so much. And in the lounge, the decommissioned railway bridges were used for the staircase. And even the floor is is um offcuts of timber that were hand cut into little tiles. Like so that looks like little tiles, a beautiful flooring, but it's actually off-cuts of old timber.
SPEAKER_04:And that's what I guess they're looking for. They're looking for that that unique, that sense of place. I mean, I I loved seeing Drift House in Port Ferry on the Victorian South Coast on that list. Um, and that's a rare thing, another rare thing in Australia, which is a family-owned and run boutique hotel right at the top of its game, and it really exemplifies that Michelin Key. Um, I've actually stayed there a few times, and it's each time it's been spectacular. But if you're in Sydney, the QT, the Ace, and the new Eve Hotel, which opened last year in Redfern, made the list, um, along with the gorgeous capella in the old Department of Education Building in the city. And the Langham. I I've got to say, Kirsty, I was actually surprised to see Qualia on Hamilton Island at only one key. I thought it would have been a two key, who knows? Um, because it is it is just an astonishing piece of um hotel property. And a special mention to Osborne House in Bandanoon in the New South Wales Southern Highlands. Um, I'm it is on the list, and I'm mentioning it because it's been on my must-visit list for a thousand years. It is just the most. If you want interior design, oh, it makes my heart sink.
SPEAKER_00:I reckon we just need to tickle these 35 off, um, you know, the ones that we haven't done. Um, and we will put a full list of all the hotels in the show notes, um, where you can also search this for affordable Michelin Key properties, because as they say, it's not just about the price per night, but about offering a stay with hospitality and experience that encapsulate a sense of place. This week I'm Chattana Bell. She takes us on a driving holiday through the Red Centre, so buckle up, friends.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, absolutely. It is the iconic Australian destination.
SPEAKER_04:And um, this is a really timely discussion because this year marks the 40th anniversary since the Uluru Handback, which was when the federal government handed the title deeds for Uluru back to the Indigenous people of Australia. So they actually own the land. If you can remember back that time, it's a really significant, it was a really significant moment for Indigenous Australia. Um, and it's such a symbol of Central Australia. And, you know, of course, it's one of our most recognizable landmarks.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and when you're there, you certainly feel it feels pretty special. Um, so it was good timing to go along. So tell us about uh how you how you got there, Belle.
SPEAKER_04:Well, of course, the easiest way to visit the Red Centre is to fly into Airs Rock Airport, stay at the resort, jump on some of the activities and see Ularu. It is that easy. You can tick that box in a long weekend. But I think that there's um more to it than just than just Ularu Katajuda. So we spent eight days driving the Red Center Way.
SPEAKER_00:Amazing. Um, yeah, no, it definitely deserves more time. Um so tell for anyone that doesn't know what the Red Center Way is, how long is it and how do you do it?
SPEAKER_04:Um well, it's a loop drive. The Red Center Way is a loop drive between Alice Springs, the West McDonnell Ranges, Kings Canyon, Uluru, and then you go back up to Alice Springs. In total, it's about 1,100 kilometres. Um, there is one section from the West Max to Kings Canyon that is currently unsealed and it's advised as four-wheel drive only. So you could start in and in location, but usually it's Alice Springs because that's where most of the facilities are, including car hire and supermarkets. You can hire some cars at Uluru, but um in my experience, it's been really tricky and often you won't find those four-wheel drives or a choice. So we flew in and out of Alice Springs for this journey, and each day and a bite-sized drive, sometimes just an hour or two. The longest was the drive back from Uluru to Alice Springs, which took about five hours for this um, you know, for this great loop through the Red Center.
SPEAKER_00:So tell us uh what did you do it and and where did you stay?
SPEAKER_04:Well, uh there were five of us. So we actually, it sounds a bit odd, we actually had two cars. So we had a brand new four-wheel drive Ford Warrior, which had two rooftop tents on top of it, and a Toyota Lancruiser Prado, which is a standard car out here for much of the Northern Territory's government fleet, just because it is really such a sturdy car. In the past, I've done sections of this drive in a regular two-wheel drive car. And as a bloke said to me in the Westmax, most of the residents out here, and by that he means um people living in the villages and communities around this area, are banging along in old Commodores. So you don't have to be kitted out of the big macho$10,000 four-wheel drive kit. But of course, you know, a four-wheel drive doesn't actually hurt. So we had we had the um two tents on top and um and another tent below.
SPEAKER_00:So what was it like? So were you staying in there?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah, we were camping. We had those rooftop tents, which are amazingly easy. After the first time to pop it up, here's a hot tip. Don't try to put them up the first time in the dark. Um, very boring. And and we had another single tent on the side just to accommodate all of us. There was um me, my friend Jude, her, two teenage boys, and I had my teenage daughter as well. So the first night was actually really interesting. We stayed at a property called Orimina Station, which is about 40 minutes southeast of Alice Springs. Um, and then we stayed in the Ormiston Gorge in the Westmax. We stayed at King's Creek Station, which is about 30 minutes from King's Canyon. And then down in Uluru, um, Ezrock Resort is the main place you can stay. And it has accommodation there from the highest longitude, which we were talking about earlier as Michelin Key property, down to the campground, the slightly more humble campground where we stayed. Although it did have a lot of great facilities, you know, laundries and hot showers and um picnic areas and um and a swimming pool as well. So, you know, we weren't totally roughing it, I've got to say.
SPEAKER_00:That was gonna be my next question. What were the campgrounds like? Um, and obviously because a lot of people road trip there, right? So you're gonna have good campgrounds. That's um so what do you do if what about if you don't have sort of where where would you stay if you didn't have uh somewhere to with camping gear?
SPEAKER_04:Well, yeah, if you don't have all the gear, I mean, firstly, we didn't have to lug all of our gear up from Melbourne. It came with a van hire. So the sleeping bags, the cooking equipment, the tents, everything was already in there. Um, we did pack very lightly though, too, because those, a lot of those, um, like you can't just fill up with giant bags um of your own gear. So you've you've got to keep it light because you've got your food in there and you've got water and things like that. But look, even if you weren't a camper, that is totally not going to stop you. As I said at the top, you know, you can fly in and stay at one of the best hotels in the country if you're going to. Um, Alice obviously has a lot of accommodation. And then Uramina Station, which I mentioned, um, which is this old cadle station, it's so like it's such a an amazing place. You know, the the landscape is incredible because you've got this red desert, you've got these escarpments everywhere. Um, that the woman who bought Uramina actually um has been using it as um for movie for filming movies on site. So it was really strange. We drove in and and you literally drive into like an old town main street on this station, which has been built. So they're just facades built for a movie site, so for a movie setting. So you've got the old palm.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's got the palm with the piano in it, which is absolutely kills what are loved there, a bit the teens out there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was like, get on the lockup, guys, which is the police station. It was the road. Um so you could camp around those sort of areas, which was which was great.
SPEAKER_04:And then um, but it also has these four beautiful little stone cottages that are built around the property. And um, and actually I I met a few people uh who live and work in the uh around the Red Center, and they were saying, Oh yeah, we're gonna go stay there next week. Really super romantic, just um completely solitary and isolated. So they're very rustic and they're very gorgeous, hidden in that landscape. But then you go up to the main homestead, um, which is where you go for your meals, where you can hit the Wi-Fi, you can have a swim in this gorgeous pool, which I did, you know, I was trying to do a swim every day while I was there. Um, but then so that was Orimina. I mean, there is a range of accommodation at Discovery Resorts at King's Canyon. That's also it's kind of like a um similar to uh Ezrock Resort. You've got everything from camping to motel rooms um and up to the higher-end accommodation. And also at Kings Creek Station, where we were staying, um, which has got the same thing: camping, motel stays, luxury gamp lamping with private pools and sparkling wine that you, you know, and panapes and all of that sort of thing. So I think that's I think it's absolutely not necessary that you have to do the full camp. I mean, we saw so many families, you know, with their with the vans, obviously doing either a a long a driving tour, because we were there in the first week of Victoria's School holidays. So there were people taking their kids around into the road center, or you can see doing the larger lap around. And they were totally kitted out in these four-wheel drive campers and um not so much motorhomes around here, but uh but yeah, so you don't have to do the cool camp. You you really can um do it in style or do it on a budget as well.
SPEAKER_00:So, how did the kids hop cope with the heat in the flies? And because typically, like when we went up, we went up with kids, we were just uh on our own and we were doing a bit of hiking, but my God, those flies, I mean, you know, you don't want to be, you can't even, you can't even, you can't whip out some food and just expect that a fly won't join you when you um the piece of food when you go to devour it. So um how did they go?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, you know, that's what they'd say, you know, the Aussie wave.
SPEAKER_04:It's like just and I'm and you can't see it because this is a podcast, but I am waving my hand across my face for the flies. Um I saw a I saw a guy with a fly net, you know, thrown over his hat, and then I saw another one, and then I saw another one, and then I thought, oh my gosh, whoever's making these fly nets that you just pop out of the top of your head is making an absolute fortune because everybody has them on. I I didn't because um I'm vain and also also I was like, oh seriously, just spritz on, you know, the odo, oh do, oh guard, and you'll be fine.
SPEAKER_00:Um and and I did we had a until the flies, until the flies literally get up your nose like they did for me. And so I was I wore one of those fly nets because I was like, there ain't no flies going up into my cruises.
SPEAKER_01:Oh flies on Kirstie.
SPEAKER_04:Um so we so look, we were there uh only a couple of weeks ago. So in late September, what was really interesting was the week before it had been really hot, so it was hitting up to 35. Our week, we were freezing one night. So it was it was sitting around the 25s, and then the week after it was going back up to the 36s. So I think the fly thing, you know, generally when there's water out, then you're gonna see an influx of flies. And and yeah, there were a couple of flies there, but that's all part of the experience, right? You know, they're all creatures of this earth. So the yeah, they I mean the kids all dealt with it, they had to deal with it. Um, and they're little toughies as well. So we um, you know, like I think everybody really focuses on Uluru and to a lesser extent Katajuda, but there's so many more adventures along the way, and we just hauled them into all of them. You know, there's walks, there's art experiences, there's cultural chats. Um, in the Chortham West MacDonald Rangers. This is a long, I I just found them, I hadn't spent a lot of time there before, and I found them absolutely fascinating and incredibly beautiful. If you had ever seen Albert Namajura's paintings, um who was the one of those um great artists, you know, one of the best known indigenous artists who was painting in a Western style, he absolutely captured the colours, uh the just those dreamy, soft uh pinks and blues of the of the West Max. And it's a long low mountain range that's broken into segments. So if you think of like a caterpillar that's got sort of um you know as a land formation. And and and and the caterpillar actually features in the creation stories amongst the people here. So you'll find the mountain ranges broken into these water-filled gorges. Um, probably the most famous one is Simpson Gorge, just outside Alice, um, which is absolutely spectacular and it set the tone for those to come. So, in in those, you can swim in most of the waters. Some of them are designated um cultural sites that you can't swim in. But I was on a swim mission, so I jumped in at Ellery Big Creek Big Hole. I jumped in at Ormiston Gorge, where we can't. You can swim at Glen Helen and Red Bank Gorge. So you can do a swim drive, swim drive back around um around the uh, particularly through the West Mox. And the water is, you know, it's clear, it's it's clean, it's you know, some of it's coming up from aquifers, and when you come out of it, you just feel completely invigorated. There was a there was a moment where we ran into an LGPTI tour company and they did have um uh grown men in budgie smugglers jumping on um pink uniforms.
SPEAKER_05:Which is like, okay. And some guy who is doing a Priscilla version, a Priscilla version of the Red Center Way.
SPEAKER_04:Um, because Gisella Queen of the Desert was filmed uh actually on King's parts of it were filmed on King's Canyon, on a lot of it through other springs as well. So it was a bit of a shock to go down for a swim in almost in expecting this spiritual experience. And there was a guy in full drag standing there with a pink unicorn with his arms out.
SPEAKER_05:I was like, okay, everybody has a completely different take on this one. That's yours.
SPEAKER_00:I'd love to see the socials on that one. Um, so yeah, so moving on. What so where did you go next?
SPEAKER_04:Um, from the Westmax. Um, this is a really interesting part because the road is only sealed, partly sealed, on the drive to King's Canyon. So the unsealed part is called a Marini Loop. It's 160 kilometres. It's a full three-hour drive with stops to photograph wild donkeys and brumbies on the road. This is um, this is Aboriginal land, and you do need a permit to drive it. I mean, the permit is five bucks. You get it from the tourist center in Alice Springs. So it's not like as soon as you start saying road permits, people go, oh my god, that's too difficult. And it's got admin. And you know, I hate admin, you hate admin, the world hates admin. It was very easy, admin. And that money goes back to the communities. Basically, you know, you're having permission to cross to cross their lands. Um, but it was a great drive, you know. I'm in there in my four-wheel drive warrior, and um, it had rained the week before. The council had graded it, run graders over it, and and locals um were telling me at Orveston they just made it 10 times worse. So it was like if you had any loose teeth, it would have been gone by the end of the three hours. It was good. Rugged.
SPEAKER_05:Can I say for the ladies out there, sports bro territory, it was just so rough.
SPEAKER_00:But they call it road road message.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my gosh, maybe that's all I've got to sell back at the moment because I was just dumping my way over these. Yeah, that could be the one.
SPEAKER_04:Um, there's some fabulous lookouts along the way on particularly, I mean, on you can't stop on the Marini drive, on the Marini loop. Um, just you know, you can stop for a quick refreshment and stuff, but you can't camp along there. But on the sealed roads of the Westmax, there are plenty of camping spots and panoramas where you can also camp the night. Um and you just drive up and you just have that quiet time and you you might just see a flood of uh of budrigars swooping past, breaching, or zebra finches, or you might find um, you know, you might find lizards, and we had our eyes out for um for little wallabies, um uh rock wallabies and you know, when you when you I think this is the thing when you're when you're in uh country, you have to uh take that time to just be quiet and to listen to the country. And that's when you start hearing and seeing the things that otherwise you're just driving past at a rate of knots. So um, you know, there's plenty of spots to stop. If you are not self-sufficient, um, I mean you've always got to have your own drinking water and plenty of petrol. But there's bathrooms, there's toilets and picnic tables with those fabulous views until you get to King's Canyon. And the hero activity here, which I think you've done, is the rim walk. Um, and also an uh on the top of King's Canyon and also the much shorter two-kilometer river walk, which was really lovely, especially for birdwatchers. So I've done the rim walk a couple of times. It is definitely best as early as you can go in the morning before the temperatures start to rise. And um, the week after we were there, so the first week of October, was when the temperatures are starting to hit 36, and they actually close access to the walk. The rangers close access to the walk by 11 a.m. So you can't start the walk after that. And they say it's three to four hours, but I mean, if you're a if you're a fast walker and even allowing time for stops and photos and stuff, it yeah, I four hours is going to be a stretch. The first time I did it, uh but but the thing is it, you know, it's um on those hot days with these fabulous rock formations such as the Lost City and the Cliff Walls, they just become these massive heat radiators and it's very exposed. And I have to say, the first time I did it, um, and I was staying at the King's Canyon Resort, the Discovery Parks Resort, a bloke on on the walk actually did have a heart attack because he'd overestimated his score. I know, he'd overestimated his abilities. People were saying, Oh, it's easy, you can do it, and stuff like that. He wasn't prepared, um, and he wasn't well enough to do it. And yeah, and but this time um there were I saw rangers, and I had a chat to a ranger as well while I was there, and there were ranger stations all the way through with defibrillators and um and emergency water in those spots because and I and I think this is important because the Red Center is becoming more accessible um and people are choosing to do it, but also underestimating the land. And I think that is a really important lesson about it, is that you just Yeah, of course. You don't you don't underestimate the environment.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's right. So um what would your advice be to people about where to eat and what to do? I mean, obviously you're self-catering a lot, but what what um what it what's your advice about some cool places to stop in to eat along the way?
SPEAKER_04:Well, I've got to say we did self-cater a lot because we had um two teenage boys that were hoovering for Australia. Holy cracky! I mean, I have a I have a little girl, you know, and she just kind of picks around the edges, but the boys were just like I I was actually in a state of shock. So Kirsty, hats off to you. No wonder you have got um gold or silver status through shopping at Kohl's because oh my god.
SPEAKER_05:So yeah, we always had food in the back. Um food set is almost a parody here. Um, you know, we I mean we ate camel burgers at the Discovery Resort at King's Canyon. Well, it's like giant big things.
SPEAKER_04:And I was, I thought, yeah, like enormous big because there's wild camels everywhere. You know, camels, as everybody knows, the GAN is named after the allegedly Afghan um cameliers who, you know, when they were building the the train through central Australia, um, I think most of them were for Belichestan anyway, but um, yeah, so giant camel burgers and then there's bushtucker experiences. So you kind of go in and eat the witchety grubs at Carraq, which is a um which is a bush tucker experience run by um local people in near Kings Creek station. We did a bushtucker high tea at Ezrack Resort. Had to scrub up a little bit for that one, um, because yeah, we're looking pretty skanky at that point. So I just wanted to dust off a bit and then go into Ezrack Resort in the into the one of the fanciest of the um hotels there. And that's where you tried scones with Rosella Jam and all sorts of bush ingredients and the little pet eat bores. And interestingly, they had a vegan version for my travel companion and photographer J, which was actually really impressive. And I thought, um I actually thought that vegetarians, celiacs, vegans, pretty much everybody was catered for at the the bigger stations, um, at at the at most of the food stocks, you could get something that that um that would suit most people. I um I did notice actually, there wasn't there was a point driving back up to Alice Springs where the roadhouses there had big signs and clearly had quite a few um southerners there with barista coffee available.
SPEAKER_05:And I was like, Yes, I am in there. I am driving in and I am having a big fat flat white thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_00:So um I'm sure I don't I don't know how my um and shy latte would go, but um but anyway. Actually, you would be surprised. Um powder may powder, maybe not the tea leaf.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, possibly. I don't know, because I'm not a chai c uh childate connoisseur like you, but I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at the accessibility of of the food around there. But you've always got to have that bag in the back because you never know what's gonna happen, right?
SPEAKER_00:So true. And funny when you said about cleaning up and cleaning yourselves up from the red dirt, it made me think about I remember when I was in Broom and they were saying, you know, that it all it always stays with you, quite literally, because it's in your clothing and your like sometimes uh like my shoes, I think were never the same after um, yeah, after that we did. So what do you think this um type of holiday, who's it sort of best suited to? And do you do you think it was a good place to have to take teens?
SPEAKER_04:Um, I think that the Red Centre has something for everyone. I mean, you can camp and hike like we did. You can also do it in luxury with those helicopter rides over Uluru and Kings Canyon and um, you know, stays at the longitude or those luxury lamping tents at King's Creek station. Um so and I think that m mobility-wise, it actually caters for a lot of people as well. You know, if you are um not entirely mobile, the first time I went to King's Creeks, uh to Kings Canyon, I was with my mum, who was really ill at the time. And we drove there from Uluru, and um and she was so looked after, you know, um they had wheelchairs around if she was feeling unwell. I did the ream hike, she did the helicopter. So I think for all ages and stages, uh, you know, it's especially if you're active. I mean, you know, riding around Uluru on bikes and stuff like that was brilliant for the kids. You can segue around them. But then um, yeah, I I think whatever you do, I think what everybody needs to do, no matter your time frame or your price point, you do, as I said earlier, you need you need to slow down and experience this, the culture there, because it's something that nowhere else in the world can replicate. And and you can do that easily with a visit to the gallery of central Australia at Ezrock Resort, or you can visit an artist community near Alice Springs. Um, we took a guided walk. At Stanley Chasm in the Westmax. Or, you know, you can do those walks around Uluru, stopping to read the information and just to listen and admire. I mean, we took an amazing pre-dawn sunrise journey, which is a two-hour storytelling experience and art and light installation just outside Airs Rock Resort. And while you're there, you have your breakfast and you are watching as the sun is rising, like as as first light appears over Uluru, um, this these voices of these artists are telling the story uh about the land and about why they uh welcome people to the country. And you're hearing them speaking as you watch the sun rise over Uluru. And it's just magical because uh coming back to the start, it puts that that handback, that Ularu handback into context because I mean our country is tied to one of the world's oldest living cultures, and Indigenous Australians really should not have to beg uh for respect or appreciation for their existence. And if you can take that respect and appreciation away with you from Central Australia, then you have more than just a holiday, but a holiday with with genuine meaning.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, amazing. And we'll put a link in the show notes too of the places that Belle's talking about so you know how to book them and how to do them. And if you want to see more about Belle's um experiences in Central Australia, you can also jump onto her socials, Globa underscore salsa on Instagram or her website, globalselsa.com.
SPEAKER_03:You're listening to the World Awaits. Subscribe through our website at theworldawaits.au.
SPEAKER_04:Our tip this week is about new rules about flying with Virgin Australia.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so this is interesting because from February you can now take eight kilograms on board. And um, I have to say, when I heard this, I did wonder if they're going to police this because Jet Star are um brutal as far as um, you know, making you weigh usually. You could I haven't flown jet star for a while because I go I go Virgin now because I want the points. But um Jet Star were always and also Jet Star let me down too many times, but they they were brutal with weighing your your luggage. So I just wonder um how they're gonna manage this because even flying recently when I went to I flew to Tahiti, oh my god, the but the luggage that people are taking, um, you know, giant suitcases and trying to shove them in overhead lockers, but anyway.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I know. I mean, I think that's the prime source of um flight rage in the US is is is um the competition for locker space. Um, but so eight kilos on board, and it's even more if you're traveling in Economy X or business, because they, along with other loyalty program members, can carry two bags up to 14 kilos plus one small item. And I always debate how small is that small item.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, exactly. Um and also I do love this one. So eligible economy flyers can also now, this will be me, can also now submit a bid on Virgin on the Virgin Australia app to reserve an empty seat beside you. So my god, I love this. So it's on select flights, and um the bids start from only 30 bucks. I'm doing this one. It's called Neighborhood, Neighbor Free Seating Service, and it's available now on, yeah, just like I said, some Select Virgin Umestic and Short Hall International, and they're gonna have a wider rollout after the trial period.
SPEAKER_04:Do you reckon that they'll ever have any spare seats on Sydney Melbourne? I mean, it is one of the world's top three busiest flat boots in the world. It's just insane.
SPEAKER_00:It'll cost you. It'll cost a certain you certainly won't get it for 30 bucks.
SPEAKER_04:That's I know when you were saying I was like 30 bucks. I mean, the last time I got offered an upgrade for a domestic, they said, begin your bid at$330 and you'll have a good chance of getting that upgrade. I was like, there you go. I've been so lucky, I've been so lucky.
SPEAKER_00:I've had so many upgrades around the 100. But yeah, I I hear you. I mean, I yeah, I doubt very much you'll be getting it for 30 bucks.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, you're a mongrel, you have been so lucky. So um, look, I'm I'm actually more excited. I am more excited about the other recent development with um Virgin Australia, which is they now let you fly with a small dog or a cat. Bookings are now open for flights between Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne and the Gold Coast. Obviously, Melbourne love their dogs. Um, so you can travel with those pets on this trail now until the 30th of January in 2026. Um and Tiny Little Dog is incremental because um my friend Julietta Jameson, uh, who lights also for the Sydney Morning Herald, actually did the flights um there. And she's in the same boat as me because um the flights are great, but your your pay has to be under eight kilos. But that also includes the carrier, which might be a kilo or two. So really, you're looking at a six and a half to seven kilo dog. I mean, I don't want to be doggus or anything like that, but thick skilled dog. I mean, my mine are 26 and 33 on a good day because he's he ate all the pies.
SPEAKER_00:So my dogs are absolutely Well, I mean, you think your dog ate all the pies, but um Kyla is actually 42 kilos, so she trumps your um fluff fluffy things that um your dogs are a fur. So that's probably where half of their weight goes. Kyla's got no excuse, she's just pure fat. Um, so I do I look, I do hope it's extended one day to bigger dogs, but um, do I want to be on that flight with a heap of howling dogs and whining cats? No. I mean, you know, screaming babies is is bad enough, but uh to have uh an entire flight full of whining animals, I I really, I really don't know. But um, I don't know.
SPEAKER_04:Anyway, we will put a shark did have a screaming baby behind me on my flight down to Tassie the other the other day, and there was no coaxing that kid into happiness. But I do think that a um uh what do you smack okay? Count them down. You just like force feed them smackos for the entire flight. Hilarious. I wonder they should be included in the fair, right? Imagine that if they included free smackos for every dog. My dogs would be on there regardless.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, true. But my with Kylo, you'd literally be having to feed her the entire packet of smackos, and she'd be vomiting in the plane before you landed. And that would be more unpleasant than the whining and the howling. And we will put a link to all the details about taking your pets on board in the show notes.
SPEAKER_04:I am so excited to tell you about next week's interview. My guest is iconic Australian musician David Bridey, who's a founding member of world music band Not Drowning Waving. David has an unbreakable link with Papua New Guinea, and we are going to talk about traveling in PG, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence from Australia.
SPEAKER_00:And we'd love it if you could follow us on socials. You'll find us at the World Awaits Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and feel free to drop us a line at hello at the worldawaits.au. Or if you're enjoying this episode, please give us a rating and review.
SPEAKER_03:That's a wrap for the World Awaits this week. Click to subscribe anywhere you listen to your favourite pods. Thanks for listening. See you next week.
