Ayers Rock Resort at Ulura has a spectacular line-up of events organised for the rest of this year and into 2018.
Right now — and every night until March 31 — there’s Bill Munro’s internationally renowned solar-powered Field of Light Uluru, which illuminates a remote desert area within sight of the huge, majestic ‘Rock’.
Looking forward to next year, there’s Uluru Feastival (yes, that spelling is okay) from March 9-10, a quarterly culinary celebration of Australia’s native flavours as part of Ayers Rock Resort’s Bush Tucker Journeys.
This gastronomic weekend showcases Indigenous food and culture and includes open-air fine dining and traditional bush-tucker tastings led by Indigenous celebrity chef Mark Olive.
The Tjungu Festival, from April 25-29, celebrates the best of Australian Indigenous culture, with the name meaning ‘together’ in the local Anangu language.
Highlights next year will include a welcome to country, markets showcasing Indigenous art and bush tucker, an Indigenous fashion parade, Indigenous musicians and bands and the ‘Tastes of Tjungu’, an outdoor desert dining experience hosted by a celebrity chef.
Phone 1300 134 044 or visit www.ayersrockresort.com.au
Here’s one for dedicated cycling fans —a chance to join three-time Tour de France green-jersey winner Robbie McEwen and renowned cycling commentator Matthew Keenan to ride two Blackwood River Valley stages of the Tour of Margaret River on November 11 and 12.
You will be riding an hour ahead of the tour peloton, with the aim of making it to the finish line before the fastest riders catch you.
At the end of each ride you’ll be in prime position to hear Robbie’s and Matt’s commentary and watch the finish of the stage.
The Saturday ride is from Nannup to Greenbushes via the majestic Maranup Ford Road and Kandalee Hill, finishing along the main street of the historic mill-and-mining town.
Sunday’s ride is from Nannup to Balingup via Kirup and the exhilarating Grimade Road.
The cost is $220 per person, with participation limited to 60.
Park Trek Walking Holidays has entered a partnership with Conservation Volunteers Australia to offer a range of eco-inspired walking tours that support conservation efforts across the country.
Funds from the tours will help reintroduce some of Australia’s most vulnerable wildlife back into their original habitats, including the western quoll, malleefowl and western barred bandicoot.
The trips contain a combination of guided walks, wildlife viewing and exploration of our national parks and private conservation reserves.
The six-day Eco Beach Sea Turtle Experience in Broome includes recording data on nesting activities of these gorgeous animals and is priced from $1380 per person twin-share, including accommodation at Eco Beach Resort.
Visit www.parktrek.com.au
Scenic’s new 2018-19 Australia program features 14 itineraries across Western Australia and the Northern Territory, Tasmania, South Australia and Norfolk Island, with savings of up to $1350 per couple for bookings made before February 28.
Save, for instance, up to $600 per couple on the 19-day ‘Top End and Kimberley Snapshot Cruise’.
The fully escorted journeys include sightseeing through Scenic’s Freechoice program and once-in-a-lifetime experiences such as a visit to the Yiyili Aboriginal Community School in the heart of The Kimberley.
Phone 138 128 or visit www.scenic.com.au
To wander around Leura’s Everglades Historic House & Gardens in the NSW Blue Mountains and wonder at the vision of its early owners and Danish landscape gardener Paul Sorenson is one of the great ways to spend an enthralling afternoon.
On November 11, the property will hold a luminous twilight soiree to launch its White Exhibition, which will run until December 11.
Featuring work by three Blue Mountains artists, the exhibition is based on the White book by Japanese designer and curator Kenya Hara, who designed the opening and closing ceremony programs of the Nagano Winter Olympic Games 1998.
Tickets to the opening soiree are $55 per person, phone 0467 332 591 or visit www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/everglades-house-gardens — and please dress in white.
Everglades, located at 37 Everglades Ave, Leura, is open daily. Entry is $13 adults, $8 concessions, $4 children.
