Key facts
- Swoop across Sydney in a seaplane, or dive and roll like an old-time fighter pilot.
- Take a dawn ride in a hot air balloon while spotting mobs of kangaroos below.
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There are many ways to explore Australia, but one of the most dramatic is by air. Whether it’s in a seaplane, a hot air balloon, a light aircraft, or a helicopter, seeing Australia from the sky gives visitors a new perspective on this amazing continent.
One of the most dramatic ways to see Sydney is from a seaplane. Both Sydney Seaplanes and Sydney By Seaplane offer scenic flights across Sydney Harbour and further afield. Imagine buzzing over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House before tracking along the coastline’s magnificent beaches.
Seaplane tours can combine with a whale-watching cruise, and also with a gourmet lunch at some of Sydney’s iconic waterside restaurants. These include Jonah’s Restaurant, located next to Sydney’s Palm Beach; Cottage Point Inn on the water’s edge in the heart of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park; and Berowra Waters Inn set in bushland beside the beautiful Hawkesbury River.
You can also hover above Sydney Harbour and the city’s golden beaches on a helicopter tour. You can also combine your Sydney sightseeing by zipping away to the Hunter Valley, The Blue Mountains, the Central Coast, or the Southern Highlands. A sunset helicopter tour over Sydney is another option.
If you want something a little different you can experience the thrill of an aerobatics flight over Sydney in a bi-plane with Red Baron Adventures. Red Baron also offers scenic flights over the harbour and ocean beaches, and trips up to the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains.
Scenic trips by light plane are also popular with visitors to Australia. You can go for scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef for example, over Uluru in the Red Centre, or across the South Australian Outback to see the vast expanse of Lake Eyre. You can also discover Western Australia’s rugged Kimberley region by air.
Seaplanes also fly across Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay, and across the strange orange rock formations of the Bungle Bungles in Western Australia. Touch down on water too while exploring the Great Barrier Reef, the Gold Coast, or the tropical Whitsunday Islands in Queensland. Or take a seaplane along the totally wild Gordon and Franklin rivers in Tasmania and see some of Australia’s amazing World Heritage rainforest.
If luxury takes top priority then splash out on a multi-day plane trips across Australia with Bill Peach Journeys. You can stay in luxury lodges, visit remote areas, experience local Aboriginal culture, drop in on tropical islands, and view some of Australia’s remarkable wildlife.
Want more? Well, you can fly across the city of Melbourne in an old-fashioned Tiger Moth, and soar high above its streets and churches in a hot air balloon.
Travelling by hot air balloon is about the most peaceful way you can travel. Float with the breeze in a hot air balloon in Tasmania, or across the Outback from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Drift over the picturesque Avon Valley near Perth, or over mobs of kangaroos in the red dirt country of central New South Wales.
Hot air balloon trips also operate along the might Murray River in South Australia, over Canberra, and above Brisbane, Cairns, the Atherton Tablelands, and the Gold Coast in Queensland.
There are flights across wineries too, in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, South Australia’s Barossa valley, and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. Taking to the air just after dawn, followed by a champagne breakfast – what a wonderful start to a day.
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