Going beyond the Aussie farm gate

Trafalgar touring company wants to take Australian travellers deeper into the country’s culture. Through the gate. Behind the fence.

And it has created the Near Not Far, a limited series of domestic trips to do that. They have been designed and paced specifically for Australians, and are added to its 14 existing trips throughout the continent.

Trafalgar managing director Jason Wolff says: “They have been built for Australians. They have all been generated to look for things people might not have discovered themselves. We understand that Australians might want to do things a bit differently. They will probably want to travel for a shorter time than international visitors would.” The Near Not Far limited series is:

• Majestic Tasmania.
• Ultimate Wonders of the West.
• Victoria’s Natural Wonders.

Jason says: “One of the big things when you travel is to be able to get the cultural hit that you are after — to meet the people, to find the stories. One of the things we can deliver through guiding people on these journeys is that we can take them beyond the farm gate that we drive past.

“A lot of people think they already know what’s there already, so they’ll jump in a car and drive from A to B. But when you are doing that, there are so many stops along the way that are behind a fence, behind a farm gate, that you drive past and wonder what’s down there and never stop.”

And Jason adds: “In going behind that fence, you are helping a local, potentially not only affected by COVID-19 but they have potentially had a struggle for the last 12 months when you add bushfires. Your custom is going direct to someone who is really in need, and they are supporting their community as well.”

On Majestic Tasmania, while travellers can still tick off the “must-see” boxes, like visiting MONA, “what you will appreciate and enjoy is when you pull off the highway and meet some really amazing people with fantastic stories”, Jason says.

For it includes meeting Rodney Dunn and his wife, Severine Demanet, at Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School and Eatery in the Derwent Valley, which was once the site of the Willow Court Asylum in 1827.

They are supporting the paddock-to-plate product of their local area, through local sourcing — from their kitchen garden to local farmers and fishermen.

The seven-day Victoria’s Natural Wonders from Melbourne, through to the Mornington Peninsula, visits Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm, in Daylesford, which was hit by bushfires.

In the town of Creswick, visit the only remaining woollen spinning mill of its kind. Family owned Creswick Woollen Mills has been making luxurious knitwear and homewares since 1947, and created fire-retardant blankets for the Country Fire Authority and NSW Rural Fire Service.

Ultimate Wonders of the West, in WA, includes a seven-course degustation lunch with matching wines at Hay Shed Hill in Wilyabrup in the Margaret River region, as part of a seven-day trip from Perth through to Fremantle.

Travel directors and drivers, all trained in coronavirus protocols, and coaches, which can seat 40-plus people, will have only 22 people on board.

“But the important part is how the trips are structured,” says Jason. “We are not spending days and days in the coach — we are spending our time visiting these amazing people and places.

“What is also important is that we have had the opportunity to look at the places where we’re going to dinner, where we’re stopping for lunch, where we’re visiting, and ensuring that the places that we visit are also adhering to our high standards.”

• Victoria’s Natural Wonders is a seven-day trip, from $3975 per person.
• Majestic Tasmania, from $3700 per person.
• Ultimate Wonders of the West, from $3375 per person.
• They are all seven-day trips and prices do not include the air travel which may be required.
• For these, and the other 14 Trafalgar tours within Australia, contact travel agents and trafalgar.com.