Hot Air Balloons, Thermal Baths, Private Outback Journeys: When Every Return To Australia Reveals A More Beautiful Sense Of Place
For Maria Kong, every trip back is richer and more meaningful, and Australia always has a surprise waiting, from crossing the outback on The Ghan to sipping tawny straight from the barrel in the Barossa.
By Harper's BAZAAR Singapore - published
As the first light broke over Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Maria Kong found herself suspended adrift in a hot air balloon, the sweeping landscape slowly unfurling beneath her.
“There was something quietly magical about that moment, the stillness of the early morning, and the soft morning glow as the balloon gently lifted. Floating above the vineyards shortly after, with the landscape unfolding beneath us, felt serene,” she recalls of her 2024 family trip to Victoria, Australia.
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“It was one of my most unforgettable experiences in Australia,” she says.
For Maria, marketing director of a home-grown projection mapping company, what made the ballooning trip even more memorable was how it began.
“The experience wasn’t passive as we were invited to be part of the process. We helped roll out the balloon across the open field and watched it slowly come to life as it was filled with hot air,” Maria recalls.
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Photos: Tourism Australia, Pexels, Courtesy of Natalya Molok, Jassmin Peter and Brian Low
Travelling with her husband, three children, and close friends, Maria’s 2024 vacation took them from Sydney to regional Victoria where they embarked on a self-drive trip through the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and the iconic Great Ocean Road.
On the Mornington Peninsula, a private horseback ride carried the group along a coastal view trail, across rolling hills, and under the open skies. This was followed by an afternoon spent soaking in the open-air, mineral-rich pools of the Peninsula Hot Springs.
“Coming from a fast-paced city, I love how quiet and unhurried everything felt, whether it was the soft rustling of leaves in the vineyards or the sound of waves along the coast. It’s a rare kind of luxury today, and something we don’t realise we need until we experience it,” Maria shares.
Maria Kong (second from left) with her children at the open-air, mineral-rich pools of the Peninsula Hot Springs in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
It is these kinds of experiences that encapsulate Australia’s special brand of luxury—immersive, participatory and deeply rooted in place.
For Maria, this definition of luxury also carries personal resonance.
“I’ve had a long relationship with Australia, having studied in Melbourne during my university years,” she explains. “I’ve returned several times, and each visit feels both nostalgic and new. What draws me back is that sense of familiarity, of revisiting a place that shaped my younger years, while now creating new memories with my family.”
For travellers inspired to trace Maria’s footsteps or create their own memories, these are the experiences defining Australia’s luxury travel today.
From Pristine Reefs To Serene Hot Springs: Nature With A Special Touch
A helicopter flight over the Great Barrier Reef reveals the perfectly formed Heart Reef (right).
Few experiences feel as quietly surreal as seeing the Heart Reef from above, a perfectly shaped natural coral formation revealed only by a helicopter ride. Departing from Hamilton Island, Queensland, the Journey to the Heart flight traces the near-perfect 7km arc of Whitehaven Beach to the shifting blues of the Great Barrier Reef, before arriving at its most recognisable icon.
Along Tasmania’s northeast coast, the Bay of Fires feels almost elemental. It’s a stretch of white sand, clear water and granite boulders streaked with vivid orange lichen. Arrive by helicopter or with a private guide who knows the quieter coves, then claim your own stretch of shoreline for the afternoon. Swim or snorkel in the water, wander along the rocks as the tide shifts, or settle into a beach picnic with a Tasmanian tipple in hand to enjoy the landscape. Beyond the coastline, the experience extends inland, to places like dairy farms, or further afield into Tasmania’s wine regions.
At Western Australia’s Ningaloo Reef, clear waters set the stage for close encounters with marine life, from reef fish to migrating humpback whales.
For a truly remote escape, Ningaloo Reef offers a rarer kind of access. Stretching over 300km and recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site, it’s one of the few places where the reef begins just metres from shore. The experience here is deeply personal. With a dedicated guide, you can slip straight into its waters for close encounters with marine life such as humpback whales, and most notably, swim alongside whale sharks between March and July.
Part of the Great Victorian Bathing Trail, Alba Thermal Springs & Spa invites travellers to unwind in mineral-rich thermal pools surrounded by nature.
The Great Victorian Bathing Trail reframes Victoria’s southern coastline as a wellness space. Stretching over 900km, it connects hot springs, mineral baths and sea pools into a loosely structured route. Rather than a fixed itinerary, the trail invites a slower, more layered approach—combining geothermal bathing with coastal walks, yoga and mindfulness sessions, and detours through local food and wine regions. One day might begin in Alba Thermal Springs & Spa’s mineral-rich hot springs, the next in a Hepburn Bathhouse coastal bath carved into the shoreline. Taken slowly, the trail becomes less about completing a route and more about moving between moments of pause.
Designer Boutiques, Private Tastings And After-Hours Art
A day on Brisbane’s James Street moves easily between boutique browsing and café-hopping.
In Brisbane, James Street is a polished precinct of low-slung buildings that feel more Palm Springs than inner city. Boutiques, cafés and design-led spaces sit side by side, with global names like Le Labo and Nudie Jeans alongside home-grown heroes such as Aesop, Zimmermann and Scanlan Theodore. After a morning of shopping, break for lunch at Gerard’s Bistro, where modern Middle Eastern plates and wood-fired flavours meet. Then book a private styling appointment at multi-brand maven Camargue for a more personal take on retail.
At Seppeltsfield in the Barossa, a century-old tawny is drawn straight from the barrel—a rare moment within its historic cellar.
In Barossa Valley, just over an hour from Adelaide, luxury is less about spectacle and more about access: private tastings at cult wine producers like Sami-Odi and Henschke, and the chance to pick up exquisite bottles. The ultimate delight lies at Seppeltsfield, Australia’s iconic wine estate. Its Centennial Collection experience offers a rare pour: a century-old tawny drawn straight from the barrel inside a 150-year-old cellar. Guests can also purchase a 100ml bottle, individually numbered, authenticated and presented in a black wooden gift box.
And if you’ve ever wished to have a museum all to yourself, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra offers an after-hours experience that transforms the Gallery into your own private salon. Led by curators, the tours offer a deeper read of the works, from personal anecdotes to the cultural context behind major collections, including Indigenous Australian art and pieces by Jackson Pollock. It’s a way of seeing the gallery that feels informed, considered and quietly revealing.
From Outback Lodges To Luxury Trains: Australia’s Cosy Wonders
The tented suites of Longitude 131° in the Northern Territory are the only accommodation where you can enjoy a full view of Uluru from your bed.
After a day of discoveries and curated experiences, the next layer of luxury lies in where you choose to stay. Set on the outskirts of Uluru, Longitude 131° in the Northern Territory offers a direct, uninterrupted view of one of Australia’s most significant landscapes. The tented suites offer fully unobstructed views of the monolith, so it’s the first thing you see at dawn, shifting in colour as the light changes.
Experiences here are quietly immersive. A personalised programme of guided outings introduces the region’s geological history and Indigenous culture, grounding the stay in its rich setting. At its in-house Spa Kinara, designed to echo a traditional Aboriginal wiltja (hut), treatments such as massages, wraps and scrubs draw on native botanicals—Australian yellow clay, Kakadu plum, desert lime and scented emu bush—long used in bush medicine.
Housed within a restored 1912 sandstone building in Sydney’s historic core, Capella Sydney reworks the former Department of Education into a refined, design-led hotel. Heritage details remain, but are balanced with a more contemporary, residential feel. That approach carries through to the 192 rooms and suites, where curated artworks, restrained palettes and modern in-room technology create a polished, self-contained retreat. Below ground, the Auriga spa makes the most of the building’s past, with treatments set within the original vaults, offering a distinctive sense of privacy. Here you can find everything from a heated indoor pool, state-of-the-art gym and a dedicated yoga platform.
The Ghan Expedition is a four-day journey from Darwin to Adelaide, defined by panoramic views and a slower, more deliberate pace.
To experience the breadth of Australia in comfort, The Ghan Expedition offers an unforgettable adventure across the centre of the country via a four-day journey from Darwin to Adelaide
In Alice Springs and Uluru, days are spent out on the land. Guests can participate in guided walks through Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap, off-road e-bike rides across red earth, or scenic flights over Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. As night falls, the pace shifts to something more atmospheric—a dinner under the stars at the historic Alice Springs Telegraph Station.
On board, the rhythm is deliberate: panoramic windows, long meals and time to take in the shifting terrain. Cabins are compact but well designed as private retreats after a day out, particularly in Gold Class, where seating converts seamlessly into beds and the overall experience feels quietly all-inclusive. For those seeking more space, the Aurora Australis Suite offers a roomier setting, with separate living and sleeping areas that reframe the journey as something closer to a moving suite.
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