Red Centre travel tips

Lonely Planet contributor, Tasmin Waby, just returned from a trip to the northernmost part of Australia's Northern Territory. Here, she shares details of a trip spent mainly on water in the lush green wetlands of the Top End.

Unlike the Eurostar that takes passengers from London to cities on the European continent in record time, The Ghan, one of Australia’s four luxurious trains, is not something you book because you need to get from point A to point B. It may sound like the biggest travel cliché there is, but in this case it’s true: Riding The Ghan is all about the journey and not really about the (albeit lovely) destination. You go on the Ghan because you want to see and experience parts of Australia you’d never get to go to otherwise, at a slow pace, and in the comfiest, most lavish setting you could find.

Australia’s biggest state has often been neglected by travellers in a hurry to hop straight over to the East Coast or the continent’s Red Centre. This year though, all that has changed with Qantas launching its 17-hour direct flight from London to Perth.

Australia has it all covered: the big blue Great Barrier Reef, the Red Centre, white and golden beaches, but often visitors miss out on a huge part of the country's landscape: the lush, green rainforests. Spanning across this vast country (yes, even in the seemingly arid Northern Territory – we'll get to that later) you'll find all five types of climactic rainforest. So whether it's an exciting jungle walk you're looking for, a rainforest that brushes onto beautiful beaches or one surrounding thundering waterfalls and cooling plunge pools, an Australia rainforest experience will have your heart fluttering as fast as the butterflies that inhabit them.

Not every place has the looks of theTaj Mahal, the majesty of the Grand Canyon, or the intrigue of Angkor Wat. Some wow from the first glimpse, others fail miserably and some, well, just bemuse.