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Explore Port Arthur’s spooky penitentiary

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Fear not, Ningaloo’s whale sharks don’t have you on their menu!

GHOST BUSTING Visitors seeking the scary and surreal can now go ghost hunting at the Port Arthur Historic Site, reputedly one of the most haunted locations in Australia. Thousands have already experienced the atmospheric Port Arthur Ghost Tours – now ghost tour enthusiasts can go one step further with a new Paranormal Investigations tour. During the tour, visitors are invited to use professional test equipment to try and detect the presence of ghosts and other paranormal activity. www.portarthur.org.au

Dive with whale sharks Breaking dawnWhendawnbreaksacross Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef on 14 November this year the early bird call will be replaced by an eerie silence. The

There has never been a better time to visit Western Australia’s Ningaloo Marine Park, which was recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage list and is considered one of the best places in the world to swim with whale sharks.

From now until early August, the big friendly giants visit the Ningaloo Reef to feed before leaving for another year. Visitors can take the plunge with the world’s biggest fish and get up close as the creatures, some 16 metres in length, move through the water. Swimming and snorkelling tours start from A$375 (£248) and leave from Exmouth and Coral Bay.

temperature will drop as the moon passes across the sun, plunging the tropics into darkness.

It may only last for two minutes but 40,000 visitors are expected to flock to Queensland for this celestial experience, which begins at 6:37am in Darwin before sweeping over Port Douglas’s Oak Beach, the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea at 6:39am. A series of events are set to coincide with the eclipse, including a family-oriented event at Port Douglas. www.eclipse2012.org.au

LIONS TOUR The British and Irish Lions Tour of Australia takes place from 1 June to 6 July 2013, and more fans are expected to travel on the tour than ever before. Official ticketinclusive travel packages went on sale to the public recently, with Lions Rugby Travel, an official travel company for the event,

confirming that they have more than 26,000 intentions to travel from British and Irish rugby supporters for the nine-match rugby spectacle. Fans will have a choice of more than 80 tour itineraries as well as, for the first time, the opportunity to build their own itinerary online. The British and Irish Lions will play nine matches during their six week tour of Australia, including three Test matches and games against all five Australian Super 15 Rugby teams. Australia is a great rugby touring destination, with unique sightseeing opportunities. Fans can book travel packages with Lions Rugby Travel online at www.lionstour.com.

TAKE A DETOUR Personalised tour service, My Sydney Detour, has launched three new guided tours in and around the vibrant New South Wales capital, each travelling in a classic EH Holden vehicle. The five-hour My Hawkesbury Detour includes a two-hour cruise along the Hawkesbury River in a private vessel. The My Artisan Detour takes an insider’s look at Sydney’s artisans in their studio workshops and My Redfern Detour provides a look into one of Sydney’s most interesting suburbs. www.mysydneydetour.com

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