Top Ten Green Holidays by Daniel Scott
Featured Hotel in Sydney
PARK8 Hotel
See all hotels in Sydney >
We all love to travel but in these environmentally-conscious days it is getting increasingly difficult to have a guilt-free holiday. By holidaying in Australia rather than overseas we are at least reducing the length of any flights we do and as a generalisation the nearer we stay to home the smaller our carbon footprint will be.
But even if we do restrict ourselves to a holiday in Australia how can we be as sure as possible to minimise the impact of our travels on the environment? After all, the word “eco” seems to be applied to just about every new accommodation or tour these days, so is it always for real?
To follow are ten suggestions for holidays that hopefully won’t cost the earth. Also included are some recommendations, based on my fifteen years of extensive travel around Australia, of places and people that are not only claiming to do the right thing, but are clearly doing so.
1: Holiday Close to Home
Don’t fly anywhere, instead delve into your local environment, preferably on foot. Your own area is often the last place you explore properly and it is amazing what you can find – ancient Aboriginal paintings close to Sydney, wildlife where you’d least expect it, a magnificent National Park right on the doorstep.
2: Take a Bicycle Tour
One of the most memorable trips I have done was an 800 kilometre cycle ride from Mount Gambier to Adelaide in South Australia, organised by Bicycle Victoria. There were nearly a thousand people on this journey, all powered only by their own legs and heavy breathing! Travelling this way gave us a fantastic feel for the landscape that we were passing through and at night we all camped, with sustenance provided for us from central marquees.
3: A Canoe or Kayaking Tour
Another of my best Australian trips was a kayaking journey along remote Northern Territory rivers with Gecko Tours. The highlight was heading down a section of the Flora River, far from civilisation, where the wildlife wasn’t afraid of us and only the gentle sound of paddling disturbed the quiet. At night we camped on sand banks by the river. Perfect. Tasmania is also made for exploration by kayak and in Queensland, Magnetic Island Sea Kayaks is another eco-accredited operator.
4: Go for a Long Walk
Australia has many superb long treks such as the Great Ocean walk and the Larapinta Trail. So long as you stick to paths doing one of these will have minimal impact. Probably the most memorable trek I have done is the 58 kilometree Jatbula Trail, running from Katherine Gorge to Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park. We only saw three other walkers in four days and the waterfalls and creeks we camped beside were unspoilt by human intervention. Another magnificent experience was doing the guided Bay Of Fires walk last year and staying in a lodge that was both luxurious and built in harmony with the environment.
5: Go Camping
It is obvious but so long as you treat the campsite with respect (ie. don’t litter and obey fire restrictions) camping is one of the greenest accommodation choices. Among my favourite campsites are Mungo National Park in the far west of New South Wales, with its anthropological history dating back 40,000 years and the eerily spiritual Windjana Gorge in the Kimberley.
6: Take a tour with an Accredited Guide
The more knowledgeable the person you travel with is about the natural environment and its geological and human history, the better chance you have of leaving a place as you found it. I have had many great experiences but among the most educational were with Wild over Walpole eco-cruises in WA, at Kakadu with Aboriginal-run Magela tours and Far Out Adventures throughout the NT.
7: Head to Eco Beach!
Try staying in environmentally-aware accommodation when you visit the beach. On Fraser Island, in spite of the mass destruction wrought to vegetation and beaches by four wheel drives, Kingfisher Bay Resort is doing the right thing. On a smaller scale I was impressed with Ningaloo Reef Retreat, near Exmouth in WA. With its handful of tents tucked into sand dunes behind the Indian Ocean, water usage restricted to 20 litres per person per day and a respectful relationship with its surroundings, this is genuinely eco-sensitive accommodation.
8: Get in Touch with the Rainforest
Spending time in the rainforest is an excellent way of understanding how important trees and plants are to the planet’s survival. Tropical North Queensland’s World Heritage listed rainforests are among the most ancient on the planet. A certifiably green, educational way of exploring them is by gliding above the canopy on the Sky Rail cableway. Better still, stay in the midst of it all at the Daintree Wilderness Lodge, which offers night tours of the rainforest.
9: Spend Time with Indigenous People
Aboriginals have lived in harmony with their environment for thousands of years and we can learn a lot from them. Among my favourite Indigenous experiences was visiting Manyallaluk near Katherine in the Northern Territory. Another was visiting some camps on the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley including Lombadina and Kooljman both of which have beautiful coastal settings behind a turquoise sea.
10: Go Eco in the Outback
Although the Outback is often harsh and arid, you can still visit it in an eco-friendly way. My recent stay at Karijini Eco Retreat in WA’s Pilbara region was thrilling, as much for what they have been able to achieve environmentally with solar panelling and channelling of grey water in such an isolated place as for the magnificent gorges nearby. Another remote camp with minimal impact on its surroundings is the aptly-named Faraway Bay on the Kimberley coast. Faraway Bay remains one of my favourite places in Australia for its simplicity and deep connectedness to its environment. Finally, also doing well are the Rawnsley Park Eco villas in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges.