Natasha Bazika

A day out doesn't have to cost a small fortune. In fact, you can get out of the city, explore somewhere new and still have change from $70, according to new research into Australia's cheapest day-trip destinations. Car subscription company Rollin’ compared estimated costs for two adults, including fuel, food, attraction entry and national park fees. All ten destinations in its ranking came in under $100, with one costing just $66.04 for the day. That bargain goes to Williamstown in South Australia, an easy drive from Adelaide with a couple of good excuses to keep exploring. The Whispering Wall is one of those roadside oddities you have to stop for. The curious acoustic trick lets you hear someone speaking from the other end of the curved reservoir wall. You're also within reach of the Barossa Valley, should you fancy a vineyard detour. Photograph: South Australian Tourism CommissionLinfield Road Wines, Williamstown Next up is the Perth Hills, around Kalamunda, where a day out is estimated to cost $72.15 for two. The short drive from Perth helps keep the petrol bill down to just $8.68 for the return trip, leaving more of your budget for a wander through the village’s shops and galleries or weekend farmers market. Victoria's Warburton takes third place at $72.23 for two passengers. It's a good option if you'd rather skip city traffic for towering trees and forest trails, without having to budget for an overnight stay. If you prefer a coastal escape, Bribie Island in Queenslan

Turns out, Australians can give the Italians a run for their money when it comes to gelato. Two local makers are heading to Sicily to prove it at one of the world's biggest gelato festivals. Brisbane's Alia Gelato and Melbourne's Oh My Gelato are among 60 artisans selected from more than 400 applicants worldwide for the Sherbeth Festival (International Artisan Gelato Festival) in Palermo, running from November 13 to 16. The festival brings together gelato makers from around the world, with the public able to try their creations. Alia is embracing its Australian roots with a wattleseed and macadamia gelato swirled with Davidson plum. Meanwhile, its actual competition flavour is being kept secret until the festival – but the team has confirmed native Australian ingredients will feature. The Brisbane gelateria only opened in March 2026, so an international competition appearance is a pretty quick leap from newcomer to contender. Founder Alessia Anibaldi previously worked as a United Nations humanitarian before learning the art of gelato-making in Sicily. Now she's heading back with ingredients that are a long way from the traditional Italian repertoire. “I started learning to make gelato in Sicily and brought that craft home to Brisbane,” Anibaldi says. “Now I get to carry a little of Australia back to Sicily.” Photograph: Supplied | Alia GelatoFounder Alessia Anibaldi Anibaldi believes Alia and Oh My Gelato could be the first Aussie gelaterias to participate in Sherbeth Festi

Dry January isn't the only time people are thinking about drinking less or avoiding it entirely. For some, it's cutting out midweek drinks; for others, it's reaching for a non-alcoholic option at the pub. A new study by health insurance comparison service iSelect has looked at Google searches between December 2024 and November 2025 to find out where interest in healthier drinking is gaining momentum. It's part of the sober-curious movement, which has brought low- and no-alcohol options further into the mainstream. But which Aussie states are leading the charge? Australian Capital Territory  The ACT takes the top spot, with a Healthy Drinking Score of 73.5, putting it almost 15 points ahead of South Australia in second place. The ACT recorded 1,040 alcohol-health-awareness searches per 100,000 people, the highest figure among the Australian jurisdictions listed in the report.  South Australia South Australia has one of the clearest downward trends in alcohol-consumption searches among the top-ranked states. Those searches fell by an average of 2.27 per cent a month between December 2024 and November 2025. That's a steeper decline than in the ACT, NSW or Queensland. New South Wales NSW lands in third place with a score of 56.7. Searches about alcohol's health effects are rising slightly, while searches related to alcohol consumption are heading in the other direction, falling by 1.77 per cent a month. We're not necessarily ditching the pub or the wine rack, but the numbers poin

Next year, you could be checking into a haunted hotel, hiking for six hours to save your relationship or getting AI to deal with your work emails while you’re horizontal by the pool. All valid holiday choices, apparently. They’re among Booking.com’s travel predictions for 2027, based on research with more than 28,000 travellers across 32 countries and territories. The findings suggest we’re getting a little more particular about our holidays. We want trips that match our mood, travel companions who won’t bankrupt us and, in some cases, a hotel with a suspicious past. Here’s what the experts predict: 1. Plot Twist Trip Bali again? Not necessarily. Some of us are ready to throw our usual holiday habits out the window. Booking.com found that 73 per cent of Aussie travellers are keen to do something completely out of character on their next trip. Another 38 per cent want to surprise their friends and family with their choice. 2. Social Currency Nothing tests a friendship quite like trying to agree on a holiday budget. One person wants the five-star resort; another is still looking at hostels. Booking.com found that 48 per cent of Aussie travellers have reconsidered who they travel with because of different budgets, while 34 per cent have cut someone from the group altogether. The group chat might never recover. 3. Vibe Check (In) The question is no longer just “Where do you want to go?” but “How do you want to feel when you get there?” The study found that 78 per cent of Aussie t

Anyone who has dabbled in Australia’s east coast wellness scene has likely heard of Soak Bathhouse. With locations across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, the popular spa sanctuaries have become a godsend for those seeking a bit of RnR. Now, the team behind Soak are taking things a step further in the Gold Coast hinterland, launching retreats involving breathwork, fire ceremonies and some serious soul-searching. Niki and Alexis Dean, the couple behind Soak Bathhouse, have just bought EcoView Retreat – one of Australia’s most spectacular wellness destinations in the Tallebudgera Valley. About 25 minutes from Gold Coast Airport, the property has 15 eco cabins sleeping up to 30 guests, a panoramic pool overlooking the hinterland and Gold Coast skyline, infrared saunas, indoor and outdoor gyms, a yoga pavilion and private bushwalking trails. There's also an oversized fire pit for evenings spent around the flames. Photograph: SuppliedEcoView Retreat But this isn't just a case of sunrise yoga followed by a smoothie. The Deans are planning six signature retreats, called Trip, Joy, Quest, Dream, Rise and Love – each with its own focus. First up is Trip – Go Beyond Wellness Retreat, which brings together holotropic breathwork, meditation, music, movement, guided shamanic journeying and fire ceremonies. The idea is to explore consciousness and personal growth without drugs. It's certainly a more involved approach to switching off than putting your phone on silent and booking

The whole point of escaping the city is to see something other than streetlights at night. Ideally, that means a sky full of stars, not three lonely dots and a plane. If you’re keen to camp under truly dark skies, Hipcamp – the world’s #1 app for discovering and booking campsites – has updated its map with new NASA satellite data, making it easier to find spots with less artificial light and a better view of the night sky. The new feature is free to use; simply open Hipcamp’s search map and select 'Layers' → 'Night sky'. You can browse more than 500,000 campsites worldwide, filtering by budget, camping style and facilities.  Photograph: Supplied | HipcampDark sky map So how does it work? Well, the map uses NASA’s latest 2026 Black Marble satellite imagery that accounts for moonlight and atmospheric effects to show how much artificial light is around after dark. All you have to do is pick a site in the dark spots. “We’re using satellites looking down at Earth to help more people look up,” says Alyssa Ravasio, Hipcamp’s founder and CEO. “A night under the Milky Way can change how you feel about a place. We want to make it easier to find those skies and give more people a reason to care about keeping them dark.” There’s some research to back up the appeal of getting away for a few nights, too. In the Caravan Industry Association of Australia’s Real Richness 2026 study, nine in ten campers said camping helped relieve stress. Australians took 17.3 million caravan and camping tri

Chess, cocktails, live music and soft serve. Sundays in Canberra are about to get a major upgrade! A new interactive art experience called Clubb Chess is taking over the city for three Sundays in November (as part of the 2026 Craft + Design Festival), and you don’t need to know your rook from your bishop to get involved. Hosted by the legends at Such and Such – one of our favourite Canberra restaurant and wine bars – Clubb Chess puts a twist on the usual gallery rules. Step inside this interactive exhibition to discover custom chess sets, card games and board games reimagined by eight contemporary artists, including Jaquie Meng, Mark Brook, Shaun Hayes, Harry Townsend, Hands on Studio, Olivia Kidson, April Phillips and Nathan Nhan. The overarching idea is art you can actually touch, play with and, if all goes to plan, use to absolutely destroy your friends. Pre-booking a session online is recommended, but you can also join the waitlist on the day.  Photograph: Cassie AbrahamOlivia Kidson   Outside, Legislative Plaza is joining the party with more games, music and room to hang around. You can scan one of the QR codes and play your mates or other randoms on chess.com. Or if you don’t want to spend an entire Sunday thinking about chess, simply soak up the vibes and live tunes. Trust FM will handle the daytime sessions, while live bands will keep the party going until 8.30pm, including Tee Vee Repairman and The King Hits on launch night. As for food and drinks, Indigenous-own

For anyone who’s watched Australian house prices climb and concluded that home ownership is a pipe dream, there may be some good news. You can still buy a house for less than $300,000. You might just have to rethink your postcode. New data from realestate.com.au has identified 26 Australian suburbs with some of the country’s lowest median house prices, against a national median of $974,000. The research shows Queensland has the most suburbs boasting median house prices under $300,000, with 11 outback locations on the list. New South Wales follows with 7, while South Australia features four times, including Coober Pedy with the lowest median house price of $68,750. Cheaper doesn’t necessarily mean a property market going backwards either. Many suburbs in the under-$300,000 group recorded annual price growth to September. In regional NSW, median house prices in Coonamble rose 13.1 per cent to $198,000, while Whyalla Stuart in South Australia saw a 46.3 per cent price increase to $300,000. Of course, a cheaper house can mean fewer local jobs or a longer drive to essential services, and moving somewhere purely because you can afford a house is a fairly big life decision. Still, with prices like these, it might be time to expand the search radius. The Australian suburbs where a house still costs less than $300,000: Coober Pedy, SA – $68k Coonamble, NSW – $198k Rosebery, TAS – $202k Bourke, NSW – $205k Tara, QLD – $205k Queenstown, TAS – $220k Nyngan, NSW – $225k Charleville, QLD

Planning a multi-day hike can involve an annoying amount of map-juggling. AllTrails is hoping to fix that with new backpacking functionality that lets hikers combine multiple trail sections into a single route. The new tool is designed for overnight and multi-day hikes, making it easier to map out longer adventures without having to stitch together separate trails yourself.  To mark the launch, AllTrails has revealed its top backpacking routes in Australia, based on navigation data from its users. From alpine adventures and volcanic landscapes to coastal hiking, here are the top ten to bookmark for your next big walk. Photograph: Supplied | AllTrailsSnowies Alpine Walk: Main Range Walk 1. Snowies Alpine Walk: Main Range Walk, NSW Go deep into Kosciuszko’s high country with this 23-kilometre loop walk. Starting at Charlotte Pass, the trail crosses treeless alpine country, passing glacial lakes and enormous granite boulders before climbing towards Mount Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest point. Conditions can change quickly at this altitude, even in summer, so come prepared for the weather. Photograph: Supplied | AllTrailsMount Feathertop via The Razorback 2. Mount Feathertop via The Razorback, VIC This is one of the shorter ways to get yourself onto Victoria’s second-highest mountain. The 9.2km trail follows the Razorback towards Mount Feathertop’s 1,922m summit, passing snow grass, snow gums, and low shrubs before hitting exposed rocky country. There’s a 608m elevation gain,

A $1 million fish is swimming around the Northern Territory right now. No, seriously. Season 12 of Million Dollar Fish kicked off on October 1, sending anglers into the Top End in search of one very lucrative barramundi. The rules are simple: reel in the single red-tagged barra and you'll walk away with $1 million. Another 100 red-tagged fish are worth $10,000 apiece.  You don’t have to be a professional angler to get involved. All you have to do is register, grab your fishing gear and head to the Top End. You can fish on your own, book a charter, join a guided trip or make a few days of it at a fishing lodge.  The competition runs until March 31, 2027, giving fishers six months to cast a line in the Top End’s rivers, estuaries and waterways. There’s another incentive this season, too. Catch one of the $10,000 fish on an eligible Tourism Top End charter between December and March, and the prize doubles to $20,000. Photograph: SuppliedMillion Dollar Fish The prize money is already well into the millions. Since the competition launched in 2015, anglers have caught more than $2.4 million, including the first million-dollar barra, landed by Territory local Keegan Payne in 2024. On Friday, October 1, just 45 minutes into fishing at Hardies Lagoon, Darren Kenny landed Season 12’s first $10,000 barra – a 62cm catch with a red tag. It’s Darren’s second winning catch at the same spot and the Kenny family’s third; Darren’s Dad happened to catch the first fish of season 11 last yea

There’s something about the warmer months that makes you want to leave town for a while. Not just for a night, either. We’re talking about a proper road trip. And we have just the one…well, actually, ten. New research from car rental company Redspot has evaluated 25 of Australia’s major touring routes to find the ones with the most nature along the way. The study looked at ten measures, including ecosystem diversity, wildlife, coastline, protected land, native vegetation, elevation, water features and access to campsites. The data came from environmental and geographic records, including Geoscience Australia and the Atlas of Living Australia, giving the rankings a pretty solid data set behind them. Photograph: Destination NSWSea Cliff Bridge along the Grand Pacific Drive Taking out the top spot is the Grand Pacific Drive in NSW. The 158.8-kilometre route from Sydney towards the Shoalhaven scored 68.69 out of 100, making it the highest-ranked nature road trip in the country – and the shortest route in the study. It’s a lot of scenery for 158km. Almost 60 per cent of the route sits within 5km of the sea, while there are roughly 19 campsites and 30 named water features for every 100km. It also passes an internationally recognised wetland and features two natural heritage-listed places. In other words, pack snacks. You’re going to be stopping a lot. Queensland’s Great Tropical Drive comes in second, scoring 64.56. The 556.3km route takes you through rainforest and native vegeta

Planning a day at Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia? You can now add breakfast or lunch to the itinerary. Oculus Café x Kitchen by Mike is the new all-day eatery from Sydney chef Mike McEnearney, founder of Kitchen by Mike and the creative director at Sydney’s beloved Carriageworks Farmers Market. It’s located on the ground floor of the National Gallery, overlooking the Sculpture Garden and works including George Baldessin’s Pear – version number 2 and James Turrell’s Within without. So, technically you can peep the art while you eat. Photograph: Zac GriffithOculus Café x Kitchen by Mike Breakfast starts at 8am, with Mike’s sourdough, seasonal fruit, house-made muesli, chia pudding, sourdough pancakes, roasted mushrooms and free-range eggs. There’s also avocado and chickpea miso toast, and a selection of vegetarian and vegan options. However, the bacon butty with Pepe Saya butter and the option to add a spoonful of crunchy chilli oil has us salivating. From 11.30am, lunch switches to a canteen-style setup, with roast meats, quiches, wraps and seasonal salads – featuring produce sourced almost entirely from Canberra and regional NSW. Cakes, tarts and other house-made sweets are available all day, with Australian wines, spirits and beers to wash it all down. Photograph: Zac GriffithOculus Café x Kitchen by Mike The café was designed by Melbourne-based studio, Kerstin Thompson Architects, with furniture by Sydney designer Tom Fereday. Light floods into the space, with