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Amazing Accommodation in Australia: Unforgettable Stays and Highlights

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Pebbly Beach Escape NSW

Travel is all about seeing and exploring new places. Having said that, staying in amazing accomodation can absolutely elevate a holiday to another level.

Since living on this side of the world we have stayed in some amazing accommodation around Australia and I wanted to share a list of places that have made a trip extra special and even become one of the best memories or experience from a trip.

1. Daintree Eco Lodge, Queensland

The Daintree is amazing on all levels, and I don’t believe a trip to this area of Australia can go wrong. Daintree Eco lodge was a very special experience with the cutest lodges scattered around, luxury finishes inside the lodge, bathtub overlooking the forest (only in some rooms), and a restaurant and bar on site serving delicious dinner and a fabulous breakfast. We only had one night at this place, as part of a two week road trip around Queensland, but the memories of how special it is will last forever.

Highlights

  • Breakfast at Daintree Eco Lodge beautiful restaurant Julaymba in the rainforest
  • Daintree Discovery Centre to learn about the Daintree
  • Daintree Ice Cream Company for the most exotic rainforest flavours
  • Cape Tribulation & Port Douglas
  • Mossman Gorge for a short walk and beautiful gorge you can swim in
  • Day trip to outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef

2. Pebbly Beach Escape (near Bateman’s Bay), NSW

During a road trip between Narooma and Sydney, we stopped at Pebbly Beach Escape for 2 nights. This place is truly beautiful and the self catered beach hut accomodation is amazing. The owner told us this accomodation fortunately narrowly escaped the bush fires in early 2020. When we visited in late 2020 we could see the magical regeneration of the burnt trees in the surroundings.

You should be able to easily find the resident kangaroos on the property grounds and take lots of fun photos with them! Each house/cabin has its own balcony and fire pit near by. We stayed in Mara which has beautiful sea views and good privacy, I would definitely recommend this one for a couple.

Highlights

  • Pebbly beach to sunbathe, paddle board
  • Short trip to Bateban’s bay
  • Chill out in your beach hut and enjoy the surroundings
  • Take a snap with the local kangaroos

3. Reef View Hotel

Everywhere on Hamilton island feels like an absolute paradise. Turning up to the balcony view in one of the Coral Sea Viewย rooms on Reef View hotel was one of those WOW moments. The expansive view of the reef and mountains is insane! The fact that Cockatoos visit the balconies makes this place have the perfect view of Hamilton Island!

Highlights

  • Day trip to Whitsundays island
  • Snorkelling or paddle-boarding in the reef just off the island
  • Sunset drinks at One Tree Hill
  • Fish and Chips on the harbour at Popeyes
  • Mini golf on Hamilton
  • Hiking on Hamilton e.g. Passage Peak and South East Head.

4. The Anchorage, Port Stephens, NSW

The Anchorage doesn’t feel well known and that is really surprising considering it is probably one of the best hotels in NSW.

Think boathouse meets luxury Hampton and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect. With two pools (one adult only infinity pool), two restaurants, a classic upscale bar, a beautiful sand beach nearby and a marine boardwalk, you really don’t need to leave this place.

When the days start with a fantastic breakfast served with mimosas then there can never be a bad day!

Highlights

  • Eating, drinking, chilling and sleeping at the Anchorage
  • Exploring the surrounding white sand beaches surrounding the hotel
  • Mimosa breakfast with a view

5. Chi Medicinal farm, Great Ocean Road, Victoria

Sometimes it’s about finding the random unknowns gems. During a 4 day road trip of the Great Ocean Road and Grampians, we stayed at Chi Medicinal Farm for one night in between Lorne and Warrnambool.

The view, the hosts, the relaxed atmosphere, the comfy bed and the food are all reasons to stay here!

Highlights

  • Great Ocean Road Drive
  • Breakfast and dinner both served at the accomodation
  • Castle Cove lookout and beach
  • Great Otway national park
  • The rolling green hills and wildlife

6. Cradle Mountain Lodge, Tasmania

This is a gem of an accomodation in a gem of a location. Cradle Mountain is an iconic, rugged and wild National Park with tonnes of walks that will keep you going for weeks. It is only a 2 hour windy drive mostly amongst a beautiful forest from Launceston.

Cradle Mountain Lodge is the perfect place to stay, it provides a luxury wooden ski lodge vibe in this incredible National Park.

Highlights

  • Sip mulled wine next to the fireplace at the Tavern Bar & Bistroย 
  • Endless amounts of walks to choose from in Cradle Mountain National Park
  • Treat yourself to an hour relaxation at a large outdoor hot tub with views of the forest and river at The Spa Sanctuary

7. Bells at Killcare, Killcare Heights, NSW

Just an hour-or-so drive from Sydney, Bells at Killcare is a beautiful boutique hotel with The Wild Flower restaurant on site.

For a relaxing cocktails-by-the pool summer break, or a fireplace and walking winter break, this place is year long round luxury.

Highlights

  • Order in room champagne and enjoy the gas fire in winter
  • Walk one of the many walks of Bouddi National Park and be picked up by the concierge as part of the service
  • Dinner and dessert at the locals favourite restaurant The Wild Flower
  • For an unwinding weekend, book into Bells Day Spa

8. Stikes 2 Mudgee, NSW

A modern, clean, stunning, self contained apartment in the best wine region in Australia (in my opinion!). Strikes 2 is the perfect place to ‘get away from it all’, with breathtaking views, the beautiful apartment has a fireplace, a modern bathroom with heated floors and a BBQ on the balcony.

Mudgee is a perfect area to stay in, with endless amounts to do, mainly involving wine and food :).

Highlights

  • Waking up to amazing view, and cooking breakfast on the BBQ outside.
  • Drinking wine next to the fireplace
  • Exploring Mudgee wineries. See Mudgee restaurants and wineries.

9. Tingirana Noosa, Queensland

Noosa is everything one could dream for, for a summers holiday, and staying at Tingirana Noosa is the icing on the cake for a beautiful stay. Situated in the middle of Hastings Street, on the beach, you can’t be any closer to all of the restaurants. Add an infinity pool and beautifully designed studios, need I say anything more?

Highlights

  • Laze around the Infinity pool and jacuzzi at Tingirana Noosa
  • Day tour to Fraser island
  • National Park walk straight from Noosa main beach (Koalas can be spotted here)
  • Lazy brunches and people watching on Hasting street cafes

10. Domescapes, Tamar Valley, Tasmania

We did a campervan trip around Tasmania, and it was epic. We had been researching the trip when we stumbled across Domescapes. This place looked so unique we knew we had to stay there and forfeit a night in the Campervan. A bubble tent on a working vineyard with an outdoor bath, this is what dreams are made of!

On the property are 3 bubble tents, we stayed in the Amarone tent which is the furthest away and felt very private. The hosts of Domescapes are The Swinging Gate vineyard, and as part of the stay you can go wine tasting at the cellar door, only a short walk from the tent!

Highlights

  • Wine tasting at the cellar door and choose your own bottle of wine, included in the stay!
  • Eating and drinking on Dome deck
  • Having an outdoor private bath amongst the vineyard!

What is your favourite accomodation you have stayed in? Leave your answer in the comments below!

miricaptures

Visit Lord Howe, the most beautiful island in Australia

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Ever since moving to Sydney I had known about Lord Howe. It seemed like an exotic paradise island that was extremely expensive to get to. Keep reading to know how to visit Lord Howe without spending thousands of dollars.

Pristine, stunning, tropical, this postcard perfect island is a pacific island dream. Being only a 2 hour flight from Sydney, it is a must see if you live here.

Lord Howe Island is perfect for those who love the outdoors, walking and hiking, snorkelling and seeing a world that humans haven’t taken over yet.

Lord Howe Island only allows 400 visitors on the island at a time, meaning that it will never feel crowded, and you will always be able to find some spots all to yourself.

Finding cheap flights to Lord Howe Island

By far the best way to find cheap flights to Lord Howe Island is to use Qantas Classic Flight Rewards. These would normally need to be booked far in advance, they are like gold dust! However, if you keep searching you should be able to find them, and it is worth it!

At the time of writing the cost of classic reward flight to Lord Howe island from Sydney is 16,000 points and $172 (AUD) per person. Compare this to the normal cost where the return ticket is over $1000 (AUD), it is a huge saving!

The Qantas Link plane is a 32 passenger plane, on the way there we were only 2 of 6 people on the whole flight!

We had heard that sometimes the flights don’t leave if the wind is too high. That does happen a lot, but if you see it is windy on the day you are meant to fly, it doesn’t mean the flight won’t leave as it depends of the wind direction. They day we flew from Sydney to Lord Howe Island, the wind was 40 km/h, and the flight still left on time.

Suggested four day itinerary

We visited Lord Howe Island in mid-May. Some say that this is a cold time to visit, and yes we needed coats in the evening, but during the day it was perfect temperature to hike in shorts, sunbathe and swim in wet suits.

  • Day1 – arrive in morning, get bearings of the island. In afternoon go to Neds beach for sunbathe, swim, snorkel with turtles and feed the fish.
  • Day2 – choose a day hike e.g. Mount Eliza.
  • Day3 – quality chilled day with beach, BBQ and beers
  • Day4 – if flight is late in the day do a hike on the other side of the island.

Choosing a hike

The island is split up into the Southern, Northern and Central section. Mount Gower is at the Southern Section, and so if you do any hike on the Northern section, you will get the great views of Mount Gower. Lord Howe island website has a great map that is very useful.

Hikes on the Southern Section

Mount Gower trek can only be done with a guide and only runs twice a week (at time of writing), therefore you need to be there on a day where it runs and you’ll need to book ahead. We didn’t do this trek as we weren’t there on a day that it ran. It is considered one of the best day treks in Australia, in my opinion it should be done if you have a whole week on Lord Howe. If you only have half a week then this trek may wipe you out for the whole time!!

Other good options on the Southern Section include King Beach to little island (very flat), Mutton bird point lookout and Goat House Cave.

Northern Section day long trek

The treks on the Northern Section provide stunning views of Mount Gower the ‘famous’ view of Lord Howe. We spent a day including most treks on the Northern Section and it was the perfect whole day trek. This will take between 4-6 hours in total. The views were absolutely epic! To follow this route:

  • Start at the ‘CBD’ or your accomodation if close by
  • Walk down Lagoon Road to Old Settlement beach
  • Follow the memorial track and Max Nicholls track (this one is quite steep!) to North Beach (beautiful beach with incredible views)
  • Visit the old Gulch
  • Follow the track up to the top of Mount Eliza
  • Come back up Max Nicholls track onto Kims Lookout
  • Follow the track to Malabar hill
  • Carry on down the Malabar Ridge to Neds beach (part of this track goes down a grass hill)
  • Arrive at Ned’s beach and have a chill or continue to CBD or back to accomodation

Accomodation

There are many options available on Lord Howe Island, but it really does get booked up quickly (especially during Covid while no one can travel abroad for holidays!). Accomodation varies from very expensive hotels with their own restaurants (e.g. Capella Lodge, Arajilla Retreat) to mid range hotels (Pinetrees, great reputation but closes in May until spring), to all of the apartments and villas.

We stayed at Ebbtide apartments, and while quite basic, it had a bedroom, lounge, kitchen and deck, it was exactly what we needed as a base. The location was perfect (secret passage to Ned’s beach) a 10 min walk from CBD or 3 min cycle. The owner was lovely and so fun to talk to, she picked us up from the airport and gave us a quick island tour, she also gave us a lift to restaurants for dinner in evenings and back to airport at end of the stay.

The facilities at Ebbtide included snorkel and wetsuit hire, perfect for Ned’s beach! Also the garden was so beautiful and tropical.

Getting around

Normally all of the accomodations on the island will guarantee to pick you up and drop you back off at the airport.

In the evening some accomodations (like Ebbtide) will give you a lift to one of the restaurants on the island providing you have written your name on the board during the day and the time suits you.

Normally the restaurants will give you a lift back to your accomodation after you have finished. They will come around near the end of the night to check who needs a lift.

During the day you will need to make your own way around the island, this can be by walking or cycling. There is a bike hire shop just 5 minutes from the centre (locals call it the CBD). The CBD has a restaurant, a bar, a post office, a couple of clothes shops, a small super market and a butchers. Beware the opening times of each one!

Food and drink

Here are some great places to eat and drink on Lord Howe:

  • The Anchorage restaurant – Right in the middle of the CBD, The Anchorage restaurant is probably the most popular restaurant on Lord Howe Island. We had most breakfasts, some lunches and 2 dinners here, and we were only on Lord Howe for 4 days! The food is very good and it makes for a lovely evening to have sunset drinks at the cocktail bar and then walk over the road to The Anchorage.
  • The Crooked Bar – again in the middle of the CBD, The Crooked Bar is a great cocktail bar that allows you to sit on the deck and watch the sunset whilst drinking a delicious cocktail or Lord Howe Island Beer!
  • Lord Howe Island Golf Club – it is worth at least one meal here to get the absolutely epic views of the sunset whilst having a drink, and trying the delicious fish and chips!
  • BBQ – Of course most accomodations on the island have BBQ facilities, and if they don’t then you can use one of the many free BBQ spots on the island with epic views! Just make sure to go to the butchers and shop during opening hours (they close for a few hours at lunch etc). I hear the Kingfisher is great on the Barbie!

Overall

Overall Lord Howe Island makes for an absolutely epic and memorable holiday! The mountain views the water are comparable to photos of Bora Bora (without the overwater bungalows of course), and this is one of the few places left on Earth that is virtually untouched.

โ€œโ€ฆso extraordinary it is almost unbelievable… few islands, surely, can be so accessible, so remarkable, yet so unspoilt.โ€ David Attenborough

Red Centre

Driving the Red Centre Way

Exploring Uluru and driving the Red Centre Way

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It was about time we saw the red Australian desert of the Red Centre and we loved every minute! Carry on reading for our perfect itinerary exploring Uluru driving the Red Centre Way from Alice Springs to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia.

Time of year

We visited the Red Centre early April, during Easter period (so that we only had to take 2 annual leave days). The temperature was still very hot during the day, and warm in the evenings. The flies were out during the day but as long as you buy a fly net (they sell them everywhere in the Ayers Rock Resort local shops), then it is better. I would recommend this time of year (autumn), or more into winter period.

Itinerary

  • Day1 – Fly into Alice Springs
  • Day2 – Drive Alice Springs to Uluru
  • Day3 – Uluru
  • Day4 – Uluru
  • Day5 – Fly home from Uluru

Day 1 – Driving the Red Centre way around Alice Springs

We flew into Alice Springs on the morning Qantas flight from Sydney. Arriving at the airport at around 11:30am we then picked up the car from from the airport. We used Avis for the car hire and we had absolutely no issues. We hired a 2wd car to drive the red centre way and there wasn’t any places that we wanted to go that we couldn’t, so I don’t think a 4wd is a necessity.

After picking up the car we wasted no time. Grabbed some picnic food from the local IGA and drove straight to the West MacDonald Ranges. There are tonnes to see here but we choose two places. These were:

Ellery Creek Big Hole

Our first stop was the famous Ellery Creek Big Hole (Ellery Creek is a Billabong)! This is about an hours drive from Alice Springs airport, but the roads are so easy to drive. So empty and smooth, a very stress free drive and gives you a good taste of driving the Red Centre Way. There is about 5km from the main road to the Ellery Creek Big Hole car park. It is not on a dirt track, but it is still smooth enough for 2WD (we had 2WD and just drove slower down this part).

Once you get there the creek is just a very short walk to the car park. It is just as stunning as all of the photos. It is definitely worth spending a bit of time here and going for a refreshing dip! We also had some lovely chats with other travellers, a lot of people were on long Campervan trips, and they had the most interesting stories!

Simpsons Gap

We left Ellery Big Hole and started to driving back on the Red Centre roads towards Alice Springs. On the way back we saw a sign for Simpsons Gap and without knowing much about this one, we decided to make the turning. Boy, we are glad we did, this place is so stunning. I actually am so surprised that there is somewhere this beautiful so close to Alice Springs.
Simpsons Gap is an amazing red rock gorge, with beautiful water hole that reflects the surrounding rocks. We got here at late afternoon and the sun was quite low. This made the area look such an amazing orange-red colour. Wow!

Evening

We were staying one night at the Hilton Doubletree Alice Springs. This was a nice hotel in a good location. Don’t expect any super luxury hotels in Alice Springs. Personally I think the place is about the surrounding areas not the accomodation.
For dinner we asked the hotel reception staff where to go, they recommended the hotel restaurant as its the best in the city. Obviously we thought they were bluffing until we looked it up and Tripadvisor and yep the Hilton has the best rated restaurant in Alice Springs! It is called Hanuman Alice Springs, and yes the food was great! It is a mixture of Indian and Thai, so if you like both of those then this restaurant is for you!
The hotel bar is also nice and we stayed there for a few drinks before night time!

Day 2 – Driving the Red Centre Way Alice to Uluru

For brunch we decided to check out the Bean Tree Cafe which is located in the Olive Pink Botanic Garden. We walked from the Hilton Doubletree and it took about 15 minutes, mostly pavement and then into the garden botanical which was really nice to see. The food there is great, and I highly recommend to come here for breakfast.
Unfortunately we had to then leave Alice Springs to drive to Uluru. I would definitely come back to Alice Springs to visit the Kangaroo Sanctuary and Alice Springs Desert Park.

Journey from Alice Springs to Uluru

The journey from Alice Springs to UluแนŸu-Kata Tjuแนฏa National Park takes around 5 hours. Honestly, there is not much going on in the journey (apart from seeing a 130km sign for the first time in Australia!), but it is almost worth driving the Red Centre way just be able to comprehend the mind-blowing emptiness of the Northern Territory Red Centre. The only signs that you see really are to Adelaide and WA Border! Seeing the red soil is really an iconic moment.
Arriving into UluแนŸu-Kata Tjuแนฏa National Park, we were first fooled by one rock that we wondered if it was Uluru which apparently many people do, but once we had arrived we saw Uluru from a distance and it was a wow moment!

Accomodation

There is a main town near Uluru which I believe is called Ayers Rock Resort. This is made up of hotels and a few cafes, restaurants, tourist shops and an IGA. We had 3 nights at Sails in the Desert, which we had booked during a 50% off boxing day sale 4 months before. Sails in the Desert is a nice, clean, modern choice of places to stay in the Ayers Rock Resort.

National Park Pass

It is advisable to buy the UluแนŸu-Kata Tjuแนฏa National Park pass before you arrive. To get to the hotel area (Red Rock) you do not need the pass, but on route to Uluru or Kata Tjuta, you will need to scan your pass at the entrance barrier, or buy one from the staff at the entrance office.
If you buy it ahead of time (just go to the website) you can download it on your phone into your wallet, and it is very easy to scan it at the barriers. We bought one 3 day pass each and the money goes the national park.

Sunset at Uluru

We then headed straight to the sunset carpark for some wow moments! I’m sure there are other great places to watch the sunset other than Sunset car park, but in a way it is a really beautiful moment to experience the sunset with a crowd of people watching it.
It almost makes it more special to know how many people had travelled so far to see this phenomenon. The changes in the colours of the rock and the sky are spectacular, and you cannot go to Uluru without watching it at sunset!

Day 3 – Driving around the Red Centre National Park

Kata Tjuta

We used this day to check out the other rock, less famous but equally stunning, Kata Tjuta. Even in early April, day time is HOT! We arrived at Kata Tjuta at midday after a leisurely brunch at the Academy Cafe in the Red Rock Resort area. Then we drove to the end of the road to get to Kata Tjuta.

I can’t explain how nice driving the Red Centre Way is, empty smooth roads with amazing views, perfect. However, be prepared as soon as you exit your car, you will be attacked with hot air and flies! A fly net is a must at this time of the year.

There were some people arriving who were heading to the Valley of the Winds walk. As much as we would have loved to do it, I have learned to feel very content with not doing everything possible.
Also at the time of the day we visited Kata Tjuta (midday), it was far too hot to enjoy the walk. We were shocked some people were attempting it!

We admired Kata Tjuta from a few different view points. I have to say even though the view from the distance is amazing, I felt that the closer the better as you really got the sense of the odd shapes and colour of this amazing monolith.

Evening at the Field of Lights

After an afternoon at the pool and a meal at Sails in the Desert, we got on the bus to see the Field of Lights.

We had pre-booked this trip, and at the time of writing it was $39 per person including transport. If you come to the Red Centre you need to come here, it is mind blowing! Making use of the pitch black darkness of the Red Centre Desert, there are more than 50,000 solar powered lights making up this magical field.
No words can describe it, no photos can properly capture it, so you need to see it for yourself.

Day 4 – Exploring Uluru – Sunrise and Sunset activities

Today was the day we watched the spectacular sunrise. So we got up early and got to the Sunrise car park 30 minutes before sunrise. You can check the time sunrise will be for you on timeanddate.com/uluru. As we were there early April for us sunrise was at around 6:50am. However, you need to get there before this time to see all of the colours changing even before the sun comes up.

Uluru Base walk

After the amazing sunrise, we drove to Mala car park and completed the Uluru base walk. This is a really good walk to be able to see Uluru up close, each angle is so different!! There is also amazing aboriginal artwork in some spots, this walk is really worth doing. Make sure to do this walk early before it gets too hot, and take plenty of water.

Time to Chill

There are four hotels in Ayers Rock Resort that have swimming pools. Staying at Sails in the Desert allows you to use Pira swimming pool which also has a bar/cafe. This is a great way to spend an afternoon if you want to get some chill time in (in between all of the activities)!

Sunset camel ride

I really didn’t know what to expect from the Sunset camel ride, but it ended up being our favourite activity whilst exploring Uluru. You get picked up from your resort accomodation and taken to the Camel farm, which is only a 5-10 min drive away. Arriving at the farm is like arriving at the set of a Wild Western film, so cool!

The camels are really well looked after here, and the guides are full of amazing facts. It is another really wow moment, being on a camel during the red sunset and Uluru in the background.

After the camel ride there are sunset drinks and homemade bread, included in the cost. This is at their super cool bar called Old Tom’s Waterhole. We actually ended up stay until about 11pm. This because we were enjoying the setting, cheap drinks and they had sausage sizzle BBQ! It really was the perfect last night in the red centre. The Ayers rock resort shuttle also comes to the camel farm as one of the stops very regularly, so this is easy to then get back to the hotels.

Day 5 – Goodbye to the Red Centre Way

After a chilled morning we flew out of the tiny yet extremely convenient airport at Uluru (called Ayers Rock airport). This airport is less than 10 minutes from Ayers Rock Resort! We dropped our car at Avis desk and no issues at all. Unfortunately, we were on the ‘wrong’ side of the plane. This meant we did not get the view of Uluru like the lucky people on the other side did! However, instead we got a spectacular view of seeing the full vast red centre way desert beneath. Flying out of Ayers Rock Airport is amazing, and much cheaper than getting a scenic flight :D.

Overall – Driving the Red Centre Way

Overall it is very worth visiting and driving the Red Centre Way. It is truly the typical Australia everyone dreams of visiting and really exceeded our expectations.

If you have extra time you can also add Kings Canyon onto this itinerary. We would have loved to do a couple of days there. Maybe this gives us an excuse to go back one day :).

See more Australia Itineraries here