Pack your sense of wonder (and a spare pair of socks), Aventure Pulsion has relaunched its multi-day trek along New Caledonia’s wild East Coast, and it’s called Côte Oubliée. Four days, two modes (guided or DIY), and crazy, untouched landscapes.
Stretching roughly 65 kilometres of rugged coastline around Yaté, the Côte Oubliée offers views that demand your full attention: think dramatic cliffs, secret inlets, and a flora & fauna cast that’s super diverse, even the bugs seem exotic.
And if you want total freedom, you can go solo: map, kayak, and just a ‘you vs nature’ attitude. Prefer to lean on someone who knows where the beautiful bits are before you kayak straight into a patch of stinging plants? Choose the guided option so you get local insight, safety tips, and perhaps someone to laugh with when the tides conspire.
Don’t expect five-star hotel service, though. Camping gear, food, sleeping bags? That’s on you. Kayak, safety equipment, a tribal meal and breakfast, and expert prep are included. So, bring your adventure boots and deodorant.
Whether you spend 3 days & 2 nights or go full kayaking nerd with 4–5 days soaking it all in, Côte Oubliée rewards the brave with pure wilderness and eye-popping scenery.
New Zealand has gone and done it again. As if the South Island didn’t already have enough scenery to make your phone storage cry actual tears, Central Otago is rolling out the Kawarau Gorge Trail, a 32km stretch of pure wow that’s shaping up to be the newest crown jewel in cycle tourism.
Due to open in early 2026, the track will link Bannockburn to the Gibbston Valley, which basically means you can pedal straight from world-class Pinot Noir to jaw-dropping river gorges without feeling guilty about that second tasting flight.
It’s not just another bike path slapped onto some gravel, either. This one comes with cliff-hugging bluff bridges, swooping suspension bridges over the raging Kawarau River, and sections of terrain that until now have been off-limits unless you were a goat (or an extremely confident hiker).
And the best part is that the Kawarau Gorge Trail will connect into a 530km network of rides that stretches all the way from Queenstown to Waihola. That’s five of New Zealand’s Great Rides stitched together, so whether you’re a Lycra-clad speed demon or someone who considers biking between wineries an Olympic sport, you’re covered.
For now, you can sneak a preview on Felton Road, where the trail links into the Lake Dunstan track (handily, it’s also one of the finest wine roads in the country).
Slip down the cobbled lanes behind the Guinness mothership and you’ll find a discreet little door that feels more speakeasy than brewery. No neon, no fanfare and no hordes of tourists. Step inside and you’re not in the Guinness Storehouse throng anymore, you’re in the Open Gate Brewery, the secret lair where Ireland’s most famous pint takes its tie off and gets experimental.
We got lucky, real lucky, stumbling upon a random Stout Festival. Suddenly Guinness isn’t just Guinness, it’s a technicolour freak show of flavours: chili chocolate stout that smacks you silly, peanut butter stout that makes you question life choices, and tiramisu stout that somehow belongs on both a dessert menu and a tap list.
Long tables brim with tasting paddles and strangers debating with new friends about “the one stout to rule them all,” (that’s the Konbad Imperial that crosses my eyes ata lazy 10.5%). DJs keep it loud, the kitchen keeps it stout-soaked, and the whole thing feels more underground rave than brewery tour.
Come back on a regular night and the secret door still delivers. The crowd is thinner, but the taps are no less daring, There’s a selection of saisons, sours, coffee stouts and more beers the Guinness faithful are too polite to mention at the pub down the road. The space is stripped-back and communal, the food ridiculously good (try the stout-braised beef or whiskey-cured salmon), and the vibe one of discovery, like you’ve stumbled into a Dublin secret the tourists missed.
In short: Open Gate Brewery is Guinness gone rogue. Whether you sneak in during the chaos of a Stout Festival or on a quiet Wednesday, the back-door entrance is your ticket to a side of Dublin’s most famous brewery that most never see.
Hobart is about to become the world capital of cacao-induced grins, with the AU$150 million Chocolate Experience at Cadbury opening in 2027. Forget Charlie’s golden ticket, this is Tasmania’s turn to unwrap the world’s ultimate chocoholic playground, but sadly, there won’t be any Oompa Loompas.
Set on the Claremont waterfront, the project will reimagine the century-old Cadbury Factory into a glossy, gooey wonderland of pipes, conveyor belts, and hyperreal chocolate dreams. It’s Willy Wonka meets MONA because the design is being whipped up by Tasmanian architects Cumulus Studio alongside Art Processors (the mischief-makers behind MONA’s mind-bending magic).
Inside, visitors can stroll through Chocolate Central, tinker in the Chocolate Lab, or whip up their very own Tasmanian-flavoured bar in the Premium Studio. There’s also a decadent Chocolate Lounge because of course there is. Nothing says “holiday” like sinking into a plush chair with truffles you don’t have to share (snuck a cheeky little rhyme in there for ya).
To top it all off, the whole thing will be connected to Hobart via two new custom ferries, meaning you can sail down the Derwent in style before docking at your cocoa-coated destination. Move over, wine tours – it’s seemingly all about the choc-cruise now.
The attraction is tipped to draw over half a million visitors each year and pour AU$120 million into Tassie’s economy. Which, let’s be honest, is just icing on the (chocolate) cake. Or, in this case, the ganache.
Forget the midlife crisis convertible – Explore Worldwide wants you to trade spreadsheets for safaris and Zoom calls for ziplines with their new ‘Radical Sabbatical’ campaign. Because honestly, if you’re going to have a breakdown, it might as well be somewhere photogenic.
The idea is simple: take a longer-than-average break from your real life and actually live a little.
We’re talking four to six weeks of guilt-free adventure, the kind of trip where you learn to cook tagine in Morocco, hike volcanoes in Guatemala, or cycle across Vietnam. You know, the stuff you tell people you’ll do “one day,” right before you hit “Join Meeting” for the 47th time that week.
These extended trips aren’t just about sightseeing, either. They’re designed so you can dig deeper into cultures, get to know locals, and maybe even remember what it’s like to have hobbies that don’t involve doomscrolling (couldn’t be us). And because Explore Worldwide is all about doing things responsibly, the itineraries come with a side of sustainability, meaning slower travel, smaller groups, and actually leaving a place better than you found it.
So, whether you’re looking to reset your brain, fill your Instagram feed with something other than desk lunches, or just avoid Brenda from HR for a month (soz Brenda), Radical Sabbaticals might be your golden ticket. Consider it a life upgrade: fewer deadlines and more mountain sunrises.
After all, no one ever put “answered emails promptly” on their bucket list.
The two travel powerhouses are celebrating ten years of teaming up by dropping a fresh batch of immersive journeys launching in 2026, taking their total collection to 106 trips across 59 destinations.
That’s a lot of stamps for your passport.
The new itineraries span everywhere from the ancient wonders of Egypt to the foodie streets of Portugal, the windswept steppes of Central Asia, and the neon-meets-tradition magic of South Korea. Think bamboo rafting in Yangshuo, swapping stories with Kyrgyz nomads, puzzling over hieroglyphics in secret tombs, and watching octogenarian women divers in Jeju plunge 10 metres deep without tanks. It’s fair to see these trips aren’t your average bus tour.
Twelve of the new adventures fall under “National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures,” designed to pull you beyond the guidebook and into real-deal cultural encounters (yes, that means breadmaking with Tajik villagers is firmly on the menu).
Two new “Family Journeys” round things out – finally, a trip where kids can learn hieroglyphics by day and float down the Nile by night, or take surf lessons before raiding Portugal’s pastry shops.
Even though we’ll have to wait ’til 2026 for these new offerings (sigh), we already know these are the kind of adventures you’ll be bragging about long after your fridge magnets have lost their shine.
Pack your hiking boots, a sequin jacket, and maybe a helmet because The Unconformity festival is back to shake up Queenstown in Tasmania, 16–19 October 2025, and it’s anything but ordinary.
This year’s theme is ‘respawn,’ which basically means the festival is coming back to life like a video game character, though instead of dodging fireballs or little ghosties, you’ll be dodging avant-garde art, spontaneous footy matches on gravel, and possibly a rogue Spiderbait riff echoing through the mountains.
The program is a colossal 60 events featuring 121 artists who seem hell-bent on proving that Queenstown is the creative capital of the universe. We’re talking semaphore messages at sunrise, copper sculptures literally etched by the town’s acidic river (yes, that’s a thing), and a performance involving a log the exact weight of the artist’s body (we’re not sure either).
Crib Road will once again transform into the festival’s beating heart, lined with food, drink, and free live music. Spiderbait headlines Saturday night, alongside the brooding brilliance of Bleak Squad (featuring members from Dirty Three and The Bad Seeds), and plenty of Tassie-grown talent.
And then there’s The Unconformity Cup, a gladiatorial football match on a gravel oval that pits ‘The West’ against ‘The Rest.’ Think grassroots AFL, only there’s no grass. Are you game?
Imagine a treasure hunt so exclusive, so top-secret that even your GPS wouldn’t spill the beans; this is The Queen’s Lost Diamonds, Ariodante’s audacious new immersive “anti-game” debuting in Paris this fall.
But this game is less ‘puzzle with a timer’ and more like a three-day, adrenaline-fueled odyssey across the City of Light where every cobblestone may be hiding a clue, and every café could be your downfall.
Forget the rules because you make your own. With over 100 unique structural scenes, an impressive actor-to-player ratio, and literally dozens of secret venues (some never open to civilians), this isn’t your typical gameplay; it’s guerrilla history.
Here, decisions aren’t hints—they’re your lifeline. Turn left down a dimly lit alley, and you might stumble into a conspiratorial meeting with a ghostly historical figure, and by “historical figure,” we mean anyone from Napoleon I to Delacroix, or a fashion designer who may or may not be part of the script.
Yeah so it costs a decent chunk of cash, starting at around AU971k, but what price do you put on being the hero of your own clandestine saga? Participants must be picked, vetted, and silenced under NDAs; after all, illusions must remain… well, illusive.
And sure, you could spend your weekend queuing to get into the Louvre (it’d be sooo much cheaper), but this game might just be the craziest immersive experience we’ve ever stumbled upon and wading into a different reality on the hunt for pricey gems beats taking a pic of the Mona Lisa any day.
Brace yourselves, Brisbane – you’re about to willingly walk into a prison, and love every second of it.
Launching September 4, Prison Island is the city’s newest adrenaline-fuelled playground, where escape rooms go to retire and teamwork comes to thrive.
Forget breaking out, here, you break in… to 35 challenge cells packed with puzzles, physical feats, and just enough laser-dodging drama to test your friendships (and flexibility). It’s an escape room, a ninja warrior course, and a high-stakes game show, all in one.
Brought to life by immersive entertainment wizards Make It Now and global experience pros Fever, Prison Island is a Scandinavian-born sensation that’s already dazzled crowds across Europe and in Melbourne. Now, it’s Brisbane’s turn to get a little competitive and whole lot sweaty.
Here’s how it works: teams of 2–5 have 90 minutes to tackle as many themed cells as possible. Think brain-bending logic, memory games, agility courses, and the occasional “how is this so hard?” moment. Every success earns points. Every fumble earns laughs. And yes, there’s a leaderboard, so bring your A-game, or prepare for a light roasting in the group chat.
From workmates to mates’ dates, Prison Island is the ultimate test of brains, brawn, and competitiveness.
If your idea of a cruise involves endless buffets, bingo nights, and enough emissions to melt the poles, Selar would like a quiet word (and a strong gust of wind).
Launching in 2026, Selar is the world’s first fully sustainable polar expedition company, and it’s here to prove that you can chase adventure and save the planet at the same time.
Helmed by Arctic explorer, ice pilot, and all-around badass Sophie Galvagnon (alongside two entrepreneurial trailblazers, Julia Bijaoui and Quentin Vacher), Selar’s luxury voyages will take just 36 lucky adventurers on noise-free, zero-emission journeys into the most remote reaches of the Arctic. We’re talking sails with solar panels, cabins with horizon views, a rooftop sauna, and hot chocolate served in driftwood huts. Pinterest, eat your heart out.
But there’s more. Selar’s trips have no set itinerary, just pure, spontaneous adventure. Spot a polar bear? Go silent and observe. Fancy a kayak around a glacier? Done. Want to ski down an untouched fjord then sip glögg under the Northern Lights? Absolutely.
You’ll share the ship with scientists, artists, and maybe a seal or two, as well as take part in polar clean-ups and citizen science. Because why just see the world when you can help save it?
Selar’s whole motto is that they’re ‘not a cruise, but an expedition’. But make it carbon-negative, luxury-forward, and wildly unforgettable.
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