Five reasons to visit Australia in 2015

It’s time to visit Australia, with 2015 offering new experiences across the country. Here are five big reasons to book that flight right now.

The new hike:

Uluru has a sibling and now you can hike around it. Mount Conner sits on Curtin Springs cattle station in the Northern Territory, and you can take guided walks around this fragile desert environment.

The new retreat:

Escape to Pumphouse Point, a 1940s pumphouse turned boutique hotel in Tasmania. Dine overlooking the water and mountains beyond before sleeping in the middle of Australia’s deepest lake.

The new bed:

Sleep in a 19th-century prison reimagined as a contemporary and very comfortable hostel at Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.

The new journey:

Take a four-day train tour through the Outback on the Ghan Expedition. En route from Darwin to Adelaide, it stops at Katherine, Alice Springs and now Coober Pedy, the world’s opal mining capital.

The new cool:

Glamping just went up in the world – literally. Victoria’s new campsite is uber-cool and urban – on the roof of St Jerome’s hotel at the Melbourne Central shopping centre. It opens in late May for a limited period – so book early.