Natasha Bazika

Australia is a long way from everywhere, but that doesn’t mean you always need to spend 14 hours on a plane to get overseas. Depending on where you live, you can swap the long-haul flight to Europe for an international escape in under four hours, and in one case, just 80 minutes! Here are some of the quickest international getaways from Australia. Dili, Timor-Leste – from the Top End Flight time: 1 hour 20 minutes from Darwin If you’re flying out of Darwin, you can be in Timor-Leste in just 80 minutes. Dili is still relatively under the radar, with good diving straight off the coast, mountain trails, Portuguese history and a cool coffee scene. It’s also closer to Darwin than Alice Springs, which gives you some idea of just how near it is. Intrepid Travel recently named Timor-Leste one of the least visited destinations in Southeast Asia on its 2027 Not Hot List, making it a good time to go and discover something different. Photograph: Supplied | Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Tourism and EnvironmentDili, Timor-Leste Denpasar, Bali – from the West Coast Flight time: 3 hours 40 minutes from Perth For Perth, Bali is practically the overseas neighbour. The flight takes under four hours, which is less time than you might spend driving south on a busy long weekend. Once you land, you’ve got the beaches and beach clubs of Uluwatu, the markets and restaurants of Ubud, or the easy option of finding a good nasi goreng and calling it a day. Photograph: Mahmud Ahsan via UnsplashTemple i

If you’ve ever looked at a map of Western Australia and thought, “I could drive that,” Karijini National Park is one of the places you were probably thinking about. The journey from Perth takes around 15 hours (with no stops) and covers roughly 1,500 kilometres, taking you into the breathtaking Pilbara region. Though if you’re short on time and a playlist, you can fly from Perth to Paraburdoo in about two hours, then hire a car and explore the region on four wheels.  Among its many attractions is Knox Gorge. The dramatic red chasm meets Wittenoom Gorge and is simply a spectacular landscape to see. Until a recent $2.1 million upgrade, getting to its lookout meant tackling some pretty rough terrain. Now travellers can get to the good bits without needing to scale a mountain. But if you want to, by all means. Photograph: Supplied | DBCANew accessible path and raised boardwalk leading to the Knox Gorge Lookout The upgrade, carried out with local Aboriginal business MIB Projects, includes a new accessible path and raised steel boardwalk leading to Knox Gorge Lookout. Wheelchair users can roll right up to the edge of the billion-year-old chasm. The car park has also had a serious upgrade. During the dry season, from April to October, finding a spot could be a bit of a battle. There are now 73 car bays and 12 long-vehicle bays for caravans, with the expanded car park also set to service the upcoming Red Gorge hike-and-cycle trail, due to start construction in 2027. There are new t

“See this?” Carleeta says, clutching a handful of coastal wattle. “Watch.” She rubs it between her palms, adds a splash of water, and it starts to foam. Actual foam. Like, the kind you’d pay $50 for at Aēsop. It’s frothy and soft, clinging to her hands while the five of us just stare, slightly baffled that we now know how to wash our hands on a beach without sanitiser. “There’s a lot we learn from Country,” she says. I’m on day two of the four-day wukalina Walk along Tasmania’s north-east coast, guided by Carleeta Rose Helen Thomas, a proud pakana woman of North East lutruwita/Tasmania. In less than 48 hours, she’s already shown us how to pack a wound with ‘old man’s beard,’ a fluffy, stringy climbing plant, and brewed tea from one of her favourite native shrubs, kunzea. It’s anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and a natural insect repellent.  Photograph: Natasha Bazika The walk begins with a three-hour drive from Launceston to Mt William National Park and a climb up wukalina Summit. It’s not Everest, thankfully, but enough uphill to make me regret eating the chocolate brownie in my packed lunch. Wukalina means ‘woman’s breast’. “It’s considered a place of nurturing,” Carleeta tells us when we reach the top. At the summit, we sip kunzea tea while the wind tries to steal our hats. She mentions that this spot was a smoke signalling site. “Our old fellas would light fires to communicate or warn the women when sealers were coming.” The women she’s talking about could hold their b