Independent travel in Australia

If, like me, you're way past the point of experiencing Australia from the wrong side of a bar or whilst permanently attached to some kind of spiky fruit bush then now is the time to say 'crikey, thank the Lord I don't have to go through that again'. Independent travel in Australia is a rite of passage for many young people aged between 18 – 30 (lucky buggers) but when you've lived a bit and don't have to rely on making Aussie dollars to get around then it's about time to really discover what life Down Under is all about.

Travel in Australia should surely be relaxing, exciting and leave you with a deeper understanding of the country rather than covered in indeterminate stains from a Melbourne kitchen or with a patchwork of paper cuts thanks to delivering the good old Aussie Yellow Pages.

Hiring a car or taking the train can get you all over Australia and combining independent travel with a local tour operator's knowledge is an extremely rewarding means of learning about the wildlife, landscapes and people of Oz without having to dig out that mouldy old backpack. Sometimes, traveling with a local tour operator is the only way to experience hidden Australia where guide books are redundant and insider expertise allows you to unlock life a world away from the oh so well stomped circuit.

Here are a few tours to add to an independent itinerary and if you're looking to follow a more mature and profounder path then toss your Akubra hat into the air and whoop 'I'm coming home, Bruce!'.

Anyone can drive along the long and lonely stretches north of the Gold Coast but if you'd prefer to swap four wheels for a glass bottomed boat and your redundant GPS for a marine biologist then take a few days out of the road trip and head to the Great Barrier Reef, before it's too late. Skimming over the coastline of Queensland will leave you indebted to the majesty of Mother Nature, as well as your knowledgeable tour guide and dive instructor, as you discover the creatures and significant sites that make this area such an important aspect of Australia's natural heritage.

Traveling independently across Australia is one thing but sitting in the back of a 4WD along the Gibb River Road en-route to an overnight billabong camp on the Mount Barnett Station, is quite something else. The Kimberley deserve so much more respect than just a cursory nod and spend a few moments in the company of a Bunuba guide and you might just get to appreciate the essence of stillness as well as absorbing the magnitude of this breathtaking region of Western Australia. Navigating from one gorge to the next by way of creeks, caves, waterfalls and the Bungle Bungles is not something to be taken lightly so give up the driving gloves and let a local take the reins for at least a few hundred odd clicks.