Rob McFarland - Travel Writing, Aviemore (2026)

On this page you'll find tips, advice and courses for aspiring travel writers. In 2004 Rob McFarland was an IT consultant who had never been published. Now he’s one of Australia’s leading travel writers, with six awards including Travel Writer of the Year. He’s proof that you don’t need to have studied journalism or worked on a newspaper to break into travel writing. Travel Writing Workshops
Rob r

egularly runs two-day travel writing workshops in Sydney and Melbourne. Correspondence course
Prefer to study from home? Take the course by correspondence instead. It covers all the same material and has the added benefit that you can do it at your own pace from anywhere in the world. Story review
Looking for feedback on a story you’ve already written? Let Rob provide a detailed review of your piece. Results
Students have gone on to be published in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Sun-Herald, Sunday Telegraph, Herald Sun, Courier Mail, International Traveller, Get Lost, Get Up & Go, OUTthere, Destinations and Signature magazines. For more information, see http://robmcfarland.org/

18/02/2023

A 10-metre-high stone pyramid, the UK's highest public road and Britain's only free-ranging herd of reindeer. Just three of the many surprises I discovered on a seven-day hiking trip in Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands with

Read all about it in today's in the and or online at traveller.com.au

05/12/2021

I’ll be honest - having visited Antarctica by ship, I had low expectations for a scenic flight. After all, how much can you really see from 18,000 feet?

An unbelievable amount as it turns out. Thanks to low humidity and air pollution, the views are next level epic. Plus you get to see stuff you can’t reach by boat - like yawning dry valleys (who knew they existed?), hyper-saline lakes and two of the continent’s highest peaks - Mt Erebus and Mt Terror.

It was also the most fun flight I’ve ever been on, with a constant chorus of “wows” and “amazings” and “oh my Gods” from passengers and crew.

The crew were awesome, the commentary and insight from expedition team was illuminating and the Dreamliner 787-9 with its bigger windows, higher humidity and low cabin noise is the perfect aircraft for it.

Plus, how often do you get off a 14-hour flight with no jet lag?

One of those epic, life-affirming pinch-me days.

21/11/2021

The historic Six Foot Track, the 45km "shortcut" between Katoomba and Jenolan Caves in NSW, has long been on my hiking to-do list. But one thing has always put me off - the hassle of carrying a tent plus all my camping gear and food for three days. If only someone ran a guided trip that allowed you to just carry a day pack...

Enter (part of ) and their newly launched Six Foot Track in Comfort trip. Over three days, we hiked past towering sandstone escarpments, through meandering fern-filled gullies and skirted lush open farmland, while they took care of all the logistical shenanigans, ferrying our luggage between camps and whipping up delicious lunches and dinners.

The highlights?
-the descent into Nellies Glen, a rare pocket of rainforest hemmed in by towering sandstone cliffs
-the nerve-testing crossing of the Coxs River on the Bowtells Suspension Bridge
-the hearty roo stew at the Six Foot Track Eco Lodge (the first night's accommodation) washed down with a delicious bottle of Jack shiraz from nearby
-the local flora and fauna, which included a 2m-long lace monitor, a mob of colourful gang-gang cockatoos and numerous kangaroos and wallabies
-insightful interpretation from our two excellent guides, Janice and Tanya
-and a suitably epic finale - an entertaining tour of the awe-inspiring Temple of Baal Cave at by Lochie

15/11/2021

Last stop on the Central NSW gallivant: Oberon - a place I've sped past on numerous occasions and thought "Hmmm...I really must stop there one day". Great to finally check it out. The highlights?

-The Hobbit, a stunning new architect-designed retreat on , which overlooks the mesmerising gorgeous Tarana Valley (why had I never heard of this before?!). Although we missed peak truffle season (June to August), resident truffle hound Fergus still gave it a spirited go, sniffing enthusiastically around the two-hectare "truffiere" (the fancy French term for truffle farm)
-a DIY dinner box of local produce (with truffle butter and truffle salt, of course), which included a delicious bottle of new 2021 Rural Method di Renzo rose (amusingly described as "racey pink dancing juice")
-a super tasty lunch of pickled pork frittata at The Long Arm Farm Cafe and Produce (don't leave without buying some of their delicious tomato relish)
-and perhaps the biggest revelation of all - , which I totally failed to do justice to during a whistle-stop 30-minute tour (it's 65 hectares and deserves at least half a day) but in summary, it's jaw-droppingly gorgeous, particularly when ablaze with spring colours

Great to catch up with for lunch on the way home at , which - as always - delivered tasty tipples and epic escarpment views

Address

Aviemore

Website

http://www.robmcfarland.org/

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Rob McFarland - Travel Writing