Outback beauty: Gawler Ranges, South Australia
If you’d like your family to have an authentic outback experience but don’t fancy doing it rough, a tour with Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safaris is the glamorous solution. Much of the tour is focused on wildlife watching, African-style. Expect to see more kangaroos and emus than you can count, as well as a wombat or two. You’ll stay in a safari tent at Kangaluna Camp, which also emulates the African model, but with a quirky Australian twist: beds are crafted from gnarled trunks of local mallee and side tables from odd bits of salvaged metal. Each has two bedrooms, so they’re great for families. You’ll have your own ensuite, too, and nothing beats a hot shower after a day in the dust.
Kangaluna Camp is located 560km by road north-west of Adelaide. Four-day tours cost $1960 per person, twin share; half price for children under 10 and 75 per cent for ages 10-14. Tours include transport to and from Port Lincoln or Wudinna, all meals, drinks and accommodation. Call 1800 243 343 or go to www.gawlerrangessafaris.com.

The ultimate date: Blue Mountains Private Safaris, NSW
The operators of Blue Mountain Private Safaris have taken the concept of camping to a whole new level with the Heli-Swag jaunt. It’s not a cheap bush break by any stretch of the imagination but it is certainly worthy of any special occasion. You’ll be whisked off by helicopter from Bankstown airport in Sydney’s western suburbs to a remote location in the Blue Mountains. From there you’ll be taken on a range of private four-wheel drive expeditions, bushwalks and kayaking trips on the Wollondilly River, then wined and dined on the riverbank, perhaps with a traditional camp-oven roast or barbecue seafood banquet. As for accommodation, it’s utterly romantic. Forgoing fancy safari tents and swish canvas cabins, it’s back to basics in a swag under the stars. But a stiff, scratchy bed-roll this most definitely is not. Instead, you sleep on a specially constructed deck, beneath 500-thread-count cotton sheets and soft quilt, under a canopy of stars. Forget five stars – this is literally million-star accommodation.
Two-day, one-night Heli-Swag safari expeditions are priced from $1900 per person, twin share. The cost includes all tours, meals and drinks, as well as helicopter flights.Call 1300 790 561 or go to www.bluemountainsprivatesafaris.com.

Mountain high: Cradle Mountain Chateau, Tasmania
If you are adamantly averse to camping yet still want to spend time exploring a World Heritage wilderness area, Cradle Mountain Chateau is just the ticket. Just minutes away from Dove Lake, this 60-room, hotel-style establishment offers a range of activities, from canoeing trips and guided half-day rambles around the lake to challenging full-day climbs to the mountain summit. If the weather is looking bleak,you can still immerse yourself in stunning landscapes by heading next door to the Wilderness Gallery, one of the largest privately owned photographic galleries in the country. Entry is free for Chateau guests. Another tempting rain-or-shine option is to spend the afternoon flat out at the Chateau’s Calm Day Spa, being pampered with hot stones, mineral mudand luscious organic products. It makes for a back-to-nature experience of an entirely different kind.
Cradle Mountain Chateau is 144km southwest of Launceston. Deluxe rooms start at $168 per couple per night, plus $35 per child. Call 1800 420 155 or go to www.puretasmania.com.au.

Cultural encounters: Kooljaman at Cape Leveque, Western Australia
Kooljaman at Cape Leveque is about as remote as it gets – more than 200km north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula, accessed either by air from Broome or by four-wheel drive on a badly corrugated road. But it’s not just the remoteness, or even the breathtaking scenery, that makes this place worth the long haul to get here. A stay at Kooljaman, owned by local Aboriginal communities, is all about getting to know and understand the indigenous culture and community of the area. Activities include cultural tours led by local guides, as well as whale-watching in season (mid-July to October), fishing, snorkelling, mud-crabbing, reef walks and scenic boat tours. The tents, which have a queen-size bed and two singles, are built on raised timber decking, high on a hillside to take advantage of the panoramic ocean views. Each has its own large balcony with barbecue, private bathroom, fridge/freezer and cooking equipment. If you want to eat out, head to Dinkas Restaurant on the beach. (Note that there’s no alcohol for sale at Kooljaman, although you can bring your own.)
Accommodation in a Safari Tent is $250 per couple per night, twin share, plus $10 for children aged three to 16. Call (08) 9192 4970 or go to www.kooljaman.com.au.                   

Camp by a billabong: Minjungari Safari Camp, Northern Territory
Litchfield National Park is the Top End in miniature. Here you’ll find wetlands and waterfalls, gigantic termite mounds, fantastic sandstone formations, rough ’n’ ready four-wheel driving and an abundance of that Top End rarity, crocodile-free swimming holes. Favoured spots include Buley Rockhole, a chain of spa-like pools linked by waterfalls, and Wangi Falls, the most popular swimming area in the park. Minjungari Safari Camp is tucked into a remote corner of the park, with views to a beautiful billabong. Facilities include a dining shelter where three-course dinners are served, permanent tents with single beds, solar showers and clean, spider-free composting toilets. You can stay here as part of an Odyssey Tours & Safari trip, which will introduce you to sights most Top End visitors don’t get to see.
Litchfield National Park is about 150km southwest of Darwin. A two-day Litchfield’s Hidden Secrets tour from Darwin, with overnight stay at Minjungari Safari Camp, costs $793 per person, twin share, or $632 for children aged five to 12, including meals and accommodation. Call 1800 891 190 or go to www.odysaf.com.au. 

Waves of contentment: Cape Conran Wilderness Retreats, Victoria
Camping by the beach has become a far more tempting proposition with the installation of five Wilderness Retreat cabins at Cape Conran Coastal Park in Victoria’s East Gippsland region. These tent-like canvas cabins boast queen-size beds with crisp white sheets and fluffy quilts, plus a trundle and roll-out futon for children, on a wooden floor raised above the reach of creepy crawlies. Other mod cons include a fridge for well-chilled evening drinks and a private deck on which to enjoy them. Stretched out in a row, the cabins are a two-minute stroll from the sand. (For maximum privacy, ask for cabin number five.) There’s a shower block nearby, as well as a communal kitchen and gas barbecue. You can walk along this windswept coast for hours, but swim with care: the beach is unpatrolled.
Cape Conran is approximately 350km east of Melbourne. Accommodation in a Wilderness Retreat cabin is $150 per couple per night, plus $18 per child. BYO food and drinking water, although continental breakfasts can be arranged.Call (03) 5154 8438 or go to www.conran.net.au.

Call of the wild: Jabiru Safari Lodge, Far North Queensland
You don’t have to be a birdwatcher to fall in love with Jabiru Safari Lodge, but if you are, you may never want to leave. The lodge sits at the heart of a 2000-hectare conservation reserve in the Cairns highlands, overlooking lily-covered lagoons that are magnets for birds and other wildlife. The safari-style tents have ensuite facilities and queen-size or twin beds. Each has a verandah with a table setting where you can sit and watch as the sun sets over Clancy’s Lagoon. Gourmet dinner packs are available for you to cook on the gas barbecue. You can paddle a canoe or take a guided boat trip around the lagoon, follow walking trails or sit at the cafe and count how many different birds you can spot – more than 200 species have been recorded here. In fact, the most special thing about staying here is waking up to birdsong.
Jabiru Safari Lodge is 80km west of Cairns. Bed-and-breakfast packages start at $85 per person per night, twin share, and $45 for children aged four to 14.Call 1800 788 755 or go to www.jabirusafarilodge.com.au

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