In this special issue

Three outstanding national park experiences were prize winners at the 2008 Qantas National Tourism Awards last week in Melbourne. In this special edition of Explore, we profile the winners and applaud the NPWS team and partners who make these tourism experiences some of Australia's best.

Top honours for our parks and experiences at national tourism awards

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate staff and managers of the New South Wales national parks tourism sites that won their award category at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.

Montague Island Tours and Lane Cove River Tourist Park are owned and operated by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and are shining examples of how conservation, sustainability and tourism can work together.

Celebrating its second consecutive win in the Ecotourism category at the awards, Montague Island Tours – a highly successful partnership between NPWS and Conservation Volunteers Australia – has firmly entrenched its reputation as one of the country's leading ecotourism experiences.

Montague Island may be small but boasts an amazing diversity of wildlife, including thousands of New Zealand and Australian fur seals, thousands of Little Penguins and other seabirds, as well as the 130 year old historic lighthouse and keepers' complex.

Montague Island Tours offers groups of up to 12 people the opportunity to stay overnight on this magnificent island nature reserve and engage in conservation activities that benefit the island and its wild inhabitants.

Closer to Sydney, Lane Cove River Tourist Park can now add Australia's best tourist and caravan park to its awards list, with the tribute highlighting the park's outstanding efforts in providing a unique and environmentally sustainable nature experience.

The park generates its own solar power and uses only accredited green energy from the grid. It uses electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions, recycled materials for building and maintenance and also practices on-site water harvesting and recycling.

The national award comes just after the tourist park's nomination as Australia's only finalist in the World Travel and Tourism Council's 'Tourism for Tomorrow' Awards, with the winner to be announced in Brazil in May.

The national parks of the Blue Mountains are also sharing the spotlight after the Greater Blue Mountains Drive – a comprehensive touring journey taking in the spectacular World Heritage landscape and its regions – won the national New Tourism Development Award.

The Drive is the result of a successful collaboration between the NPWS, Blue Mountains Tourism Limited, Regional Tourism Organisations and local Councils, with funding from Ausindustry.

The national parks of NSW conserve some of the most amazing places in Australia and our priority is to protect them, and these awards are recognition that there is a place for sustainable tourism in our parks.

Congratulations to all involved on these outstanding achievements and partnerships, and good luck to Lane Cove River Tourist Park for the global awards in May!

Carmel Tebbutt, MP

Deputy Premier
Minister for Climate Change and the Environment
Minister for Commerce

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Montague Island Tours

It's less than 1.5 kilometres long and just 525 metres wide, but charming Montague Island Nature Reserve, located off Narooma on the far south coast, becomes a bustling fur seal metropolis in spring each year, when up to a thousand of the playful creatures gather on the rocks of their island home.

The seals share their rocky islet with around 15 bird species, including some 8000 pairs of breeding Little Penguins, one of the largest colonies in Australia. Dolphins frequent the surrounding waters year round, and migrating humpback whales also visit in season.

Known as Baranguba by Aboriginal people, Montague's archaeological sites indicate thousands of years of Aboriginal heritage, while the island's lighthouse started guiding ships in the late 1800’s and is still in operation today.

Montague Island Tours – a multi-award winning partnership between NPWS and Conservation Volunteers Australia – operates a range of ecotourism adventures to this offshore Eden, with regular half-day tours or the opportunity to stay overnight in the restored Lighthouse Head Keeper's Quarters.

Tours have a strong emphasis on conservation and education, with visitors enjoying a unique nature experience while supporting crucial wildlife conservation and research projects.

Montague Island Tours is now the winner of two Australian Tourism Awards in Ecotourism, as well as five NSW State Tourism Awards, and an international IUCN/British Airways 'Tourism for Tomorrow' Award. In 2008, MIT became a member of the NSW Tourism Hall of Fame, after winning its third consecutive award in the Ecotourism category.

Visit www.montagueisland.com.au for more information.

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Lane Cove River Tourist Park

Located just 10 kilometres from the heart of the Sydney CBD, Lane Cove River Tourist Park offers visitors a peaceful ecotourism escape just minutes from the bustle of the city.

Nestled in the bushland and eucalypt forests of Lane Cove National Park, the tourist park offers 28 fully serviced eco-cabins and more than 300 caravans, campervan and tent sites, as well as a range of nature-based activities and experiences, including native wildlife walks and opportunities for visitors to join in bush regen and conservation activities.

The tourist park, a unique business unit within NPWS, has received multiple awards for its commitment to ecotourism and environmental initiatives.

The carbon-neutral park generates its own solar power, uses recycled materials for building and maintenance, practices on-site water harvesting and recycling and employs a range of measures to reduce the park's carbon footprint, such as the use of electric vehicles and a carbon credit scheme for visitors.

In addition to the 2008 National Tourism Award for best Tourist and Caravan Park, Lane Cove River Tourist Park has also received the NSW Tourism Award for two year's running, and is the only Australian finalist in the upcoming World Tourism and Travel Council's 'Tourism for Tomorrow' Awards, to be announced in May.

Visit www.lanecoverivertouristpark.com.au for more information.

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Greater Blue Mountains Drive

The national parks of the Blue Mountains feature as a star attraction along the award-winning Greater Blue Mountains Drive, a comprehensive drive tour that links the vast and spectacular world heritage landscape to the regions that surround it.

The Drive is the result of a highly successful collaboration between NPWS, Blue Mountains Tourism Limited, Regional Tourism Organisations and local Councils, in consultation with Tourism NSW and Tourism Australia, and funded by Ausindustry.

Covering 1200 km of major connecting roads, the Drive links Sydney with its World Heritage backyard and beyond to the diverse landscapes and experiences of inland New South Wales. It includes a series of 18 unique Discovery Trails branching off the main loop that provide opportunities to explore the spectacular landscapes of the Greater Blue Mountains – including Blue Mountains National Park – walking trails and local attractions.

The Greater Blue Mountains Drive, which was launched to the domestic market in 2007 and the international market at the 2008 Australian Tourism Exchange, was awarded the National Tourism Award for best New Tourism Development.

Visit www.greaterbluemountainsdrive.com.au for more information.

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Disclaimer The information contained in this publication is of a general nature only and is, as far as the Department of Environment and Climate Change is aware, correct at the time of publishing. The Department accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage incurred as a result of reliance on any information contained in this publication. Privacy Policy

Banner images Carmel Tebbutt MP; Montague Island NR (A.Brown/Tourism NSW); Lane Cove River Tourist Park (M.van Ewijk/DECC); Blue Mountains National Park (©Evolving Images/DECC).

For further information: T | 02 9585 6878 or E | npwstourism.newsletter@environment.nsw.gov.au

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