Rafting down the Mitta Mitta: Adrenalin seekers are discovering the adventure to be had on Victoria's mighty Mitta Mitta River. Under the eagle eye and guidance of former Australian champion rafter Linton Smith, take to the rapids in Victoria's High Country and discover muscles you never knew you had. After 18km over six hours, I was exhilarated, exhausted and elated.
Story by Lee Mylne

Trekking in the Land of the Long Hello: The Pays Dogon, or Dogon Country, is an isolated area in eastern Mali, not far from the border of Burkina Faso in West Africa.  Cut through by the towering Bandiagara Escarpment, a 500-metre high, 150-km long line of cliffs that cuts thought the Sahel (the edge of the Sahara) the Dogon live in tiny villages of mud-brick houses that cling to the rock faces.  Rugged and remote, the best way to explore it is by foot. 
Story by Lee Atkinson

Australian features
International features

Australian Adventures

Out there: pump up the adrenaline on your next Australian holiday with this round up of top 10 holiday adventures, from hang gliding in New South Wales, kitesurfing in WA, hot air ballooning, skydiving, white water rafting and more. Story by Lee Atkinson

Learn to surf: everybody's doing it! Doesn't seem to matter how old, or how young, surfing is no longer just for bleached dudes and blonde chicks. I sign up for a surfing lesson with Pines Surfing Academy at Shellharbour of the NSW south coast to see why this sport is riding a wave of new found popularity.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Ever wanted to escape to the circus? Now adults and kids from three years and over can swing, jump, hang upside down and fly through the air as they learn daring performances on the flying trapeze at the Novotel Pacific Bay Resort in Coffs Harbour. It's just one of the many adventures on offer on the NSW mid north coast.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Bridging the Heights: There are only three legally climb-able bridges in the world. And suddenly, it seems, I am the first woman in the world to have climbed them all. But by now, certainly not the only one. Climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge, Auckland Harbour Bridge and Brisbane's Story Bridge offers three very different experiences. Story by Lee Mylne

Thrill city: On October 1, 2005, Brisbane joined the elite ranks of just three cities in the world where you can legally, and safely, climb their iconic bridge. Pump up the adrenalin in this adventure guide to Brisbane.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Dust on My Boots: The first 15 minutes are the worst. Once you are on the rim of King's Canyon in Watarrka National Park it is easy going, but the steep ascent at the start of the trail is a challenge. Despite that, tackling the 6km Canyon Walk is achievable for most people, and getting red dust on your boots is an essential part of the Cental Australian experience.
Story by Lee Mylne

Loop the loop: It's a freeze-frame moment. Suspended in time and space, silently hanging upside down in the sky, nothing between you and the ground thousands of metres below except a flimsy 50-year-old piece of scuffed Perspex, time has stopped and all the usual rules of physics have dissolved. It's a profoundly disorientating feeling on the ultimate roller coaster ride, an aerobatic flight above Brisbane in a vintage fighter plane. Story by Lee Atkinson

Driving the Kimberley: Driving the Gibb River Road and western half of the trans-continental Savannah Way is a road trip for those that want a true outback adventure. To drive the Gibb you'll need a four-wheel-drive; it's remote, and rugged, you'll need to be pretty much self-sufficient, carry spares and tools and be willing to camp most nights, but it is one of the most beautiful outback drives in the country. Alternatively, the Great Northern Highway, part of the Savannah Way, is fully sealed and has a range of non-camping options along the way.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Sky high in Sydney: I have no head for heights, so the thought of walking out on the Sydney Tower filled me with trepidation. A glass-floor suspended 260 metres above street level sounded awfully scary. In the end, it's a doddle. Story by Lee Mylne

Swimming with sea lions: At Baird Bay on the western side of the South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, join Ocean Eco Tours on a half-day trip swimming with wild sea lions. Story by Lee Atkinson

Lava-ly stuff: I know that bats have one of the most refined and sophisticated echo-location systems in the animal kingdom. But put me in a murky cave with 40,000 micro bats all in mid flight just inches above my head, and all reason and logic goes out the window as I madly wave my arms above about trying to ward off any unexpected bat-caught-in-hair-squealing moments. Welcome to the bat cave, a.k.a. Barkers Cave at Undara Volcanic National Park, near Mt Surprise, 275km west of Cairns. Story by Lee Atkinson

Climbing Mount Gower: There's no ignoring Mount Gower on Lord Howe Island, a tiny speck of an island 550km east of Port Macquarie. The rocky flat-topped peak's image is on all the postcards, in all the books, its likeness stamped on all the souvenirs, incorporated into most of the logos of the island's businesses, printed on all the t-shirts. Including mine, which says “I climbed Mount Gower, and survived.”
Story by Lee Atkinson

Sand castles: Shimmering in the midday heat haze, the pile of rusted tin scraps half buried by the white shifting sands of Stockton dunes looks, at first glance, like the ruins of some dessert outpost, left abandoned half a century ago. Get a little closer though, and the ramshackle heaps begin to take shape, like a mirage forming before your eyes, and out of the sand emerges a town of sorts, euphemistically known as Tin City. There are no roads to Tin City, and you won't find it on many, if any, maps. The only way to get here is to forge a track across Stockton Beach's 32km of immense sand dunes that spill into the ocean on the seaward side of Tomaree Peninsula and Port Stephens.
Story by Lee Atkinson

High on adrenalin: The Great Alpine Road, stretching almost 300km from Wangaratta to Bairnsdale, is one of Australia's classic summer touring routes. It begins in pastoral northern Victoria, not far from the Murray River, and takes you high into the Australian Alps, deep into the heart of two alpine national parks and finally brings you out, a stone's throw from the coast, in east Gippsland. We look at five of the best get-out-there adventures you can have along the way.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Flying High: Microlighting. Take a big kite, screw on some billy cart wheels and strap on a small engine and propeller at the back, hang on tight and you're ready to fly, right? Well, I wasn't so sure. I get nervous in small planes. Even turbulence in a commuter 727 gets me jumpy and sweaty palmed. And now here I was, while the rest of my group was still serenely snuggled into their beds sleeping off last nights excesses, at the Eagle School of Microlighting and Hang Gliding. Based at Porepunkah at the base of Mt Buffalo, and just 10 minutes from Bright, the flying school offers tandem instructional flights for absolute beginners.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Dolphin song: The water of Port Phillip Bay is icy, despite the warmth of the February sun beating down on us as we plunge into the glassy surface from the back of our boat bobbing in the bay off Sorrento on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. As we hang there, suspended in the water, three curious bottlenose dolphins race over to check us out. For the next 15 minutes the dolphins circle and dive around us, often only inches from our faces. Story by Lee Atkinson

International Adventures

Bridge-building in Peru: The concrete is being hand-mixed on the riverbank and carried in cooking pots borrowed from the homes nearby. Huge rocks are being shifted by hand. We're building a bridge in the remote Andean village of Qelqanqa, a World Expeditions project which will allow the local kids to get cross the river to their school in safety. Half of our small group is at the other end of the village building a pipeline so the houses can get water from a tap. It's hard work, but immensely satisfying. And it's definitely a holiday we'll never forget. Story by Lee Mylne

Stingray Supper-time: My hand slides gently, gingerly, into the stingray's mouth. The fish I'm holding disappears, and with a swish of water, so does the giant stingray which has taken it gently from my palm. On New Zealand's East Cape, this is a daily ritual which the locals are sharing with increasing numbers of visitors. Story by Lee Mylne

Walking on White Island: Steaming, hissing, sulphurous clouds rise from the crater of New Zealand's White Island - a very active live volcano. It may not be the greatest look, but suddenly I'm reaching for the gas mask....Story by Lee Mylne

Kayaking in the Dark: My kayak bobs in the calm water in the canyon. In the dark, the rock walls on both sides of me are ablaze with pinpricks of light from hundreds of glow worms. Above, the open sky is competing for attention. We follow the Milky Way back up the river, the silence disturbed only by a flock of black swans as they move away from us. Lake McLaren, near the North Island city of Tauranga, is the only place in New Zealand where you can kayak into the glow-worm caves. Story by Lee Mylne

The Wild Whanganui: There are two ways of discovering the isolated, pristine Whanganui River in New Zealand's North Island. One is by jetboat to the once-forgotten Bridge to Nowhere, the other by waka down a series of rapids, with local Maori as your guides. Story by Lee Mylne

NZ's Adventure Capital: Head to Rotorua for a dose of adrenaline, Kiwi-style. Choose from bungy-jumping (of course), swooping, X-treme free-fall, jet-boating or zorbing. Or take the Skyline gondola to the start of the luge track - fun for all ages. Story by Lee Mylne

Flying high in Macau: It's a long way down from the top of Macau Tower. A really, really long way. 233 metres. One of the 10 highest towers in the world – a third higher again than Sydney's Centrepoint Tower. And I'm about to jump off the top of it! Story by Lee Atkinson

Vancouver Island: If you've ever had an itch to get up close and personal with a bear or sing with a whale, Vancouver Island is the place to do it – it's one of the best places for bear and whale watching in western Canada. Story by Lee Atkinson

Rafting the Rapids in Sri Lanka: If white-water rafting in Sri Lanka sounds surprising, it probably won't be for much longer. The island nation is fast developing a range of adventure options which will broaden its appeal. Story by Lee Mylne