The Barista World Championships are coming to Melbourne, says Chris Lawrence, and in this coffee-obsessed city, it's easy to see why

Samoans are a tough bunch. So how will Adrian Phillips fare on a visit to the islands?

A couple of hours' drive from Melbourne, this smart rental is quite at home in desirable Daylesford, says James Litston

As Australia's sportiest city gets set for the Grand Prix, James Litston finds culture and shops galore

If the "wide brown land" of Australia is a Hob Nob then the Great Ocean Road is where it has been dunked into the roiling tea cup of the Southern Ocean. The road – perennial candidate for the title of World's Most Scenic Drive – runs westward for 242km along the crumbling coast of south-west Victoria from the town of Torquay, just west of Melbourne; keep on going around the coast and you hit Adelaide, 800km later.

It’s Australia Day, the perfect time to celebrate the natural wonders and fascinating culture of the Northern Territory’s remote Outback, says Lonely Planet’s Ethan Gelber

We left the ancient rainforest of north Queensland's coast behind us, a ribbon of white sand all that separates those mountain-jungles from the turquoise depths of the Coral Sea. Our 10-seater Cessna spluttered over saltwater crocs basking on the Cairns mudflats, and, as the pilot headed north towards the tip of the Great Barrier Reef, we danced about in the hot currents.

I remember sitting in Melbourne airport cursing myself. It was 6am and it had just occurred to my jetlagged brain that I might not even recognise the uncle who was coming to collect us. I had, I thought, quit a job on a national newspaper that many people would kill for, in the middle of a recession, and uprooted my boyfriend so that we could fly around the world to meet a family I knew next-to-nothing about.

Lisa Young gets a close-up of film locations from The Hobbit Middle

For Lara Dunn, a Caribbean holiday was the chance to see her father for the first time in 30 years – and to revisit an island that was the scene of vivid childhood memories

A gourmet tour is a revelation for Mark C O'Flaherty as he tucks into Maori potatoes, fresh seafood, and faultless 'flat whites'

A road trip is one of the cheapest and most liberating ways to explore the dramatic landscapes and cultural highlights of this vast nation

In 1908, it was called the finest walk in the world. It's still the country's most popular hike

Chocó department, on Colombia’s Pacific coast, is one of the wettest places on Earth. It rains all the time. The small group that I was with was visiting a community tourism project, Mano Cambiada, based in the town of Nuquí. The warning that, on the boat journey to Mano Cambiada’s lodge, we might get wet was an understatement. A little short of two hours in, in our small boat on the open sea, we were drenched to the skin.

From Surfers Paradise to a koala sanctuary and the world’s largest sand island, Tom Peck is captivated by Queensland