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What’s new to do down south?
Summer road-tripping season is here, so point the wheels down south, because there are a bunch of new arrivals you won’t want to miss.
Published
8 min read
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Explore
8 min readExplore
Summer road-tripping season is here, so point the wheels down south, because there are a bunch of new arrivals you won’t want to miss.
Published
8 min read
Text size
Published
Text size
As summer temperatures rise, the desire to head ‘down south’ grows. And we don’t mean just to the Margaret River region and its glittering, winery-dotted coastline.
For us, ‘down south’ takes in the tall trees of Pemberton and the Southern Forests, as well as the bays and bush of Denmark and Albany, and the white sands of Esperance; all make for excellent road trips with plenty of stops for eats, drinks, walks and swims.
And while it’s tempting to fall into the same old rinse-and-repeat escape, there are loads of new activities and experiences. This summer might see you marvelling at the world’s largest-ever lighting installation, taking a sauna floating on a tree-fringed pool, or drinking wine that was fermented 20m deep in the ocean.
So read on for all the latest hot ideas for this summer’s road-tripping season.
Think you know the Margaret River region? Think again. Even locals are surprised at the finds. That includes the Secret Picnic Adventures that have launched in Busselton, Bunbury and Dunsborough. It’s like a treasure hunt, with clues delivered to your mobile phone. As each clue is solved, directions are given to places where you collect the goodies for your picnic.
While the destinations are ‘classified’, we can tell you that wineries, on-farm producers, tucked away cafes, and under-the-radar restaurants are part of the mix. All picnics are dog and family friendly. A choice of three picnic locations is revealed at the end of the hunt. One is a hidden wonder, one will please the doggos, and one has a playground.
The concept was dreamt up by the two dynamic women behind the Bridgetown Art Trail and The Rabbit Hole gallery and art boutique. Beginning in Bridgetown in 2022, there are also secret picnics in Pemberton and Nannup.
Speaking of astonishing discoveries, the first wholly ocean-based winemaker in the southern hemisphere, Subsea Estate, is now open to visitors. Giant vats shaped like spinning tops are anchored to the sea floor off the coast of Augusta, where they’re pushed around by the ocean’s swell, putting pressure on the grapes.
The Estate’s 413-hectare subsea grounds are shared with Rare Foods’ ocean-grown greenlip abalone. You can now visit the underwater winery – not beneath the sea, mind, but at their cellar door based at the marina. Tastings are available for walk-ins, or you can book a behind-the-scenes tour that includes seeing abalone tanks, hearing the full Subsea story, and finishing with a wine-abalone combo tasting.
Good eating and drinking are at the heart of Margaret River, and there are many good reasons to indulge (provided you have a designated driver). In addition to wineries, a handful of gin distilleries have wedged themselves between Margaret River’s vineyards. One of them, Busselton small-batch producer Beyond Distilling, is now revealing the secrets of creating small-batch gin using native botanicals by taking visitors on a two-hour masterclass with the head distiller.
On the food front, there’s a new Community Café at Dunsborough brewery and pub, Southcamp, a new chocolatier you’ll struggle to get the kids out of on the Busselton foreshore called Little Otto's Big Choc Shop, and an eclectic Italian eatery, South West Bottega, which recently opened in Vasse. The cosy interiors combine art with vintage furniture and upcycled treasures, giving this new spot a creative, lived-in vibe.
The surf’s up at Albany, with the opening of the Southern Ocean Surf Reef. Found offshore at Middleton Beach, the new artificial reef is creating more consistent, high-quality waves for surfers at all levels, from beginners to salty experienced riders. The $11.75 million project expects better waves more than 40 per cent of the time.
That’s not all for Middleton Beach. It now also has its own self-service sauna, after new owners refreshed the playfully named Sauna on the Corner. Open Wednesday to Sunday, it is, indeed, just around the corner from the new surf break. After the four-person, traditional sauna’s 80-90 degrees Celsius heat, try an 8-degree Celsius ice bath for full rejuvenation. The owners’ goal is to create sauna culture in Albany, while tapping into wellness tourism.
It's definitely a trend. Just out of Denmark, Heyscape has launched three new tiny cabins, each with a sauna between them. Perfect for friends or families holidaying together, the new pairs of off-grid cabins gaze over William Bay National Park and are only a five-minute drive from Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks. They join individual cabins that opened last summer with a deep steel bath set into each balcony. More cabins are planned for the same property, which is a regenerative cattle farm where The Dam distillery and restaurant sits. A new e-bike trail is also in the works – ideal for the free-to-use e-bikes on the property.
In nearby Walpole, a new guided hiking, mountain biking, and packrafting tour sees adventure lovers explore the Walpole Wilderness area. The adventure starts at the Valley of the Giants – where there’s a suspended canopy walk – then continues on through ancient tingle forests where you’ll paddle along hushed waterways and stare in awe at some of WA’s tallest karri trees, before camping overnight.
Back in Albany, the largest lighting installation on Earth is set to illuminate the skies for nine nights spread across three weekends in March 2026. Created as an Australian-exclusive event by renowned Finnish artist Kari Kola, the free-to-view Lighting the Sound installation will be part of Albany’s 2026 bicentenary events. Enormous projections will be visible from various locations around Albany, lighting up landforms in and around King George Sound. The artist draws inspiration from the Menang (or bloodroot) plant, for which the region’s First Nations peoples are named. The illuminations on Menang Noongar Country will play into themes of reconciliation, shared cultural knowledge, and community.
While in Albany, step back 100 years at a restored and transformed dairy farm, now home to Barrel Brewery. The name speaks to the family’s three main loves: winemaking, brewing, and ocean waves perfectly formed for surfing. The 38-acre property blends rustic elements of the historic dairy, shearing sheds and Albany’s original settlement cottages, with modern food – think herb and garlic Albany sardines, Reuben sandwiches or crumbed local shark. For more fresh produce, pop into Sotao Bar, another new arrival in the centre of town.
Pemberton is reinventing itself this summer. A floating sauna is being trialled atop Pemberton Swimming Pool, expected to open around Christmas time. Two sauna rooms will overlook the placid water rimmed by trees. That same view doubles as a freshwater plunge for those steaming inside.
If you haven’t been, Pemberton’s swimming hole is no ordinary chlorinated pool, it’s a historic, dark-water pool built in the late 1920s for timber workers’ families. It sits within the 120-hectare Pemberton Forest Park and beside the Pemberton Mountain Bike Park, granting easy access to 22 kilometres of tracks and dual-use trails. It’s also an excellent picnic spot beneath the shade of karri trees filled with birdlife. Just nearby is the historic Pemberton Tramway, which chugs for 10km through forest on a former timber milling route. New owners took over nearly three years ago, undertaking numerous upgrades since. They also allow dogs to take the tram ride for $10.
The summer festive period should also see the Gloucester Tree reopen for visitors to climb its new, 37m-high lookout platform – just as fire spotters once did - as part of the state government-funded Climbing Trees Project. Climbing has been closed since 2023, and the full 61m ascent is not expected to return. An upper tree canopy experience of the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree is also on the cards, above the 20m climbing platform that opened in 2024.
If heights aren’t your thing, take in the Gloucester Tree’s grandeur from the alfresco deck at a new forest café. It’s just doing drinks and ice cream for now and is run by Aerial Adventure, which opened in 2024 with a zipline and ropes course suspended between the trees.
Continue to delight the senses with a visit to Southern Forests Chocolates, which has just installed two kitchens and a new machine to make their own couverture chocolate from scratch. The artisan chocolatier is a former winemaker and expertly pairs the two crafts. Families driving to Pemberton from Perth should stop at the upgraded Thomson Park in Greenbushes. Its new youth precinct combines a skate park and pump track with a playground, ping pong table and barbeques – a great way to tire kids out and stop any cries of “Are we there yet?”
