Country Guide

Underground Motel (White Cliffs, NSW; tel. 1800/021 154 in Australia, or 08/8091 6677): All but two of this motel's rooms are underground. Rooms are reached by a maze of spacious tunnels dug out of the rock beneath this opal-mining town.

South Long Island Nature Lodge (The Whitsunday Islands, QLD; tel. 07/4946 9777): The five comfy beachfront cabins are basic, but your vacation at this island ecoretreat will be anything but. Sea kayak, sail, snorkel, hike rainforest trails, dine with other guests outside under the Milky Way, and maybe even swim with Myrtle, the pet kangaroo. Considering you'll only shell out for wine and maybe a seaplane trip to the Reef, this is a great value for its exclusivity.

Kingfisher Bay Resort (Fraser Island, QLD; tel. 1800/072 555 in Australia): If it weren't for the ranger station and natural-history videos in the lobby, the wildlife walks, the guided four-wheel-drive safaris, and the other ecoactivities, you'd hardly know that this comfortable, modern hotel is an ecoresort.

Binna Burra Mountain Lodge (tel. 1800/074 260 in Australia) & O'Reilly's Rainforest Guesthouse (tel. 1800/688 722 in Australia), both in the Gold Coast Hinterland, QLD: Tucked almost 1,000m (3,280 ft.) up on rainforested ridges, these cozy retreats offer fresh mountain air, activities, and instant access to the hiking trails of Lamington National Park. At O'Reilly's you can hand-feed brilliantly colored rainforest birds every morning.

Emma Gorge Resort (The Kimberley, WA; tel. 800/221-4542 in the U.S. and Canada, or 08/9169 1777): At this spick-and-span little safari camp on the 400,000-hectare (1-million-acre) El Questro cattle station, guests stay in cute tents with wooden floors and electric lights, eat at a rustic gourmet restaurant, and join in the many hikes, bird-watching tours, river cruises, and more.

Prairie Hotel (Flinders Ranges, SA; tel. 08/8648 4844): This remarkable tin-roofed, stone-walled Outback pub in the Flinders Ranges has quaint rooms, a great bar out front where you can meet the locals, and some of the best food in Australia.

Freycinet Lodge (Freycinet National Park, Coles Bay, TAS; tel. 03/6257 0101): These ecofriendly bush cabins are right next to one of the nation's best walking trails. The ocean views from the magnificent restaurant and the surrounding balconies are spectacular.

Cradle Mountain Lodge (Cradle Mountain, TAS; tel. 13 24 69 in Australia, or 03/6492 1303): Just minutes from your comfortable cabin are 1,500-year-old trees, moss forests, craggy mountain ridges, limpid pools and lakes, and hordes of scampering marsupials.

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Country Guide

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