For many South Australians, and travellers globally, 2020 has brought about an enormous amount of change, and getaway plans are no exception. The silver lining? We’re holidaying here, instead. We’re making the most of our own backyards, and boy ours is beautiful.

Whether you stay local or head to one of our neighbouring states, there are plenty of ways to get away without a 12-hour flight, a 2-hour layover and one too many safety demonstrations.

But don’t take our word for it. Take the word of these travellers.

Nikki Govan
Owner, Star of Greece

SWAPPED – Phuket for South Australia by car

What were your 2020 travel plans?

We had a big group of family and friends flying to Phuket to stay at this divine resort for my 50th birthday.

What did you do instead?

I went on a number of mini breaks, getting out and about around the state. I went on a Kangaroo Island trip with some girlfriends, travelled to Innes National Park with another group of friends, and [the] Barossa with my husband and two other couples – no kids! We also decided to do a weekend in Robe with a couple of girlfriends and my daughter and her friend.

What were the highlights of your scenic swap?

Each trip has been incredibly different depending on who we’ve gone with – family, friends or kids – but all trips share something in common – great food and wine. The girls’ trip to KI was good for the soul, with lots of walks and relaxation.

Our weekend in the Barossa included a visit to Two Hands and Seppeltsfield, with stunning lunches at Fino and Vintners [Bar & Grill].

Robe is a great place to go with the family, and Innes [National Park] was different again. We had four families staying in the cottages that have been converted for short term stays – they’re a great alternative to camping. We [enjoyed] cook-ups, campfires, marshmallows and board games.

What do you love about being based in South Australia?

Living here is about as good as it gets, especially down here in McLaren Vale. You can visit so many of our regions within just a couple of hours, by road or plane.

How do you think ongoing travel restrictions will affect us moving forward?

Since reopening for tourism, some regions have seen unprecedented local travel, and while the borders will eventually reopen, I think we will continue to see South Australians holidaying at home and supporting their own communities.

Most businesses in SA are small-to-medium sized and many run by families, so spending a weekend away not only gives people an important break, but you can also take comfort in knowing you are supporting local jobs.

Ann and Leo
Retired

SWAPPED – Europe for SA in a caravan

What were your 2020 travel plans?

Ann: We had planned to go to the Netherlands as Leo has family there, and we were looking at doing the Baltics.

Leo: There were a few places we still wanted to go. Ann still has relatives in Ireland and we’d have liked to go back.

What did you do instead?

Ann: It was on the bucket list to buy a caravan, so we bought one sooner than we’d planned, and it’s got all the bells and whistles to make it a bit luxurious.

Leo: We’ve always liked travelling independently and going off the beaten track. There’s certainly lots of Australia to see which we’re really excited about.

So far we’ve driven from Renmark through Karoonda, and we’ve just done the Yorke Peninsula as well. We stayed in Port Vincent, Marion Bay, Innes National Park and Ardrossan on the way back.

What were the highlights of your scenic swap?

Leo: One of the highlights for me, getting the caravan means we can now see a lot of places that aren’t so conventional. There [are] a lot more isolated places that don’t necessarily have cabins, and you can just stay in your van.

Ann: They have a silo display in Karoonda which was really good, and staying there was purely coincidental. We’ve now seen most of the silo art in SA. On our Yorke Peninsula trip, we went bush camping at Pondalowie Bay. It was stunning.

The [Innes] National Park is brilliantly set up, especially the Walk the Yorke track. I think Yorke Peninsula is very underrated – there’s so much to see and do.

How do you think ongoing travel restrictions will affect us moving forward?

Leo: It’s a nice option to go overseas, but it’s also very nice to explore here. We often don’t look enough around the state we are in, and we will now. The idea of just sitting by a gumtree is appealing to me, in places like the Flinders. Absolutely wonderful.

Ann: It’s amazing [to find out] where people haven’t been. I think if it gets people out and visiting their own country, that can only help the economy.

What do you love about being based in South Australia?

Leo: There’s lots of variety, and it’s all not too far away. There are just so many things to see down here.

Any future travel plans?

Ann: We know the Flinders pretty well but there are still places we haven’t been to. We look forward to going back with the caravan and going further north, and up to Arkaroola.

Leo: One of the things on our bucket list is to see the whales in Ceduna. We’d also like to go up to the Top End, and we haven’t done northern WA or the north of Queensland… there are some great spots in Victoria and we have only done Tassie briefly, so there’s still lots of Australia to see yet!

Chelsea Hopper
Marketing, Accor Hotels

SWAPPED – Europe for The Northern Territory by 4WD

What were your 2020 travel plans?

My partner and I were planning a three or four-week trip to Europe – Poland, Croatia, Italy and Dubai on the way home. We thought 2020 was our year of travel as my partner hadn’t been to Europe before, but you just have to re-evaluate and make the most of it.

What did you do instead?

We used our annual leave to go on a 4WD camping trip with some friends, completely off track. We went all the way up to Alice Springs and Uluru, through the Simpson Desert and back. It was definitely on the bucket list, and we only planned for it in about four or five days. We travelled 5700km in nine days.

What were the highlights of your scenic swap?

What I was so in awe about – as a city girl in the centre of the red dirt – was just how amazing it is up there. We were in a swag for 10 days and there were parts of the
trip with no showers, outdoor cooking and you’re in the middle of the desert with no souls around. You can completely disconnect.

On a typical Euro-trip, it’s very busy and you’re on social media all the time, but this trip forced us to slow down. It was breathtaking and humbling. Another highlight was Mt Dare, with a population of four. We went to the local pub, met the owners and spent hours there. It was amazing.

How do you think ongoing travel restrictions will affect us moving forward?

We didn’t think we would do this trip until we were retired. I think it’s good for our demographic – we’re very quick to leave Australia but I think we’ve been missing out all along. I hope people will think more about travelling here.

People’s whole livelihoods here depend on us travelling locally, and our trip changed my perspective of the domino effect your travel truly has.

Any words of wisdom?

It’s only natural to think about where you would have been before COVID-19, but you can sit back and complain or you can put yourself out there and explore something different, making memories as you go.