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Meet Ask AT: Our game-changing new travel tool

We are excited to share with you Ask AT.

We think it is a world first – an Australian-owned, human-powered AI travel tool that will plan your ultimate domestic Aussie holiday for you.

What exactly is Ask AT?

We’ve called it Ask AT because it draws exclusively on AustralianTraveller.com content – more than 150 detailed destination guides, curated trip itineraries, family-friendly tips, outback experiences and hundreds of road trip ideas – to give you personalised recommendations in seconds.

You can prompt Ask AT with any Aussie travel questions you have, and it will give you expert ideas and advice based on real travel insights from 20 years of specialist Australian travel writers.

To give you an idea, here are some questions asked by our users during testing:

“Tell me the best things to do on the Gold Coast for families – where to stay, what to do and nature-based activities"

“Hi, can you suggest some unique luxurious stay at Port Macquarie?"

“Can you design a week away in Margaret River with great food and wine?"

Why it’s different

A car parked on the side of the road next to a pink lake
Ask AT will plan your ultimate domestic Aussie holiday. (Image: Rachel Claire/@fieldnotes__)

We think there are four reasons Australians will fall in love with Ask AT.

1. Ask AT has the answer

Ask AT uses 20 years of expert travel writing to answer your question. In numbers, that is more than:

150+ thorough Aussie destination guides

100+ individually crafted family trips

160+ detailed outback itineraries and experiences

170+ thoroughly explored road trips

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

AI Prompt

2. You can trust it

Because Ask AT draws exclusively from AustralianTraveller.com content written by real travel journalists, the answers are local, vetted and 100% focused on Aussie travel. We even include the reference articles for you to read in the answer.

3. It’s ethical

Unlike other LLMs (ChatGPT, etc.), which are trained using content from other websites without permission or reimbursement, we have spent millions of dollars paying Australian writers for our content, so we are not stealing from Australian writers.

4. It’s Australian

As an Australian company, we are invested in our community, pay taxes in Australia and employ Australians. Again, every other LLM is an international company not contributing to the Australian economy or community. The more success Ask AT has, the more Australian writers we will pay for content, the more Australians we will employ, the more taxes we will pay in Australia.
But most importantly, the more we spend on Ask AT, the better Ask AT will get at helping Aussies find their dream holidays.

That’s a win for all Australians and something we believe you can feel good about supporting.

Who it’s for

Two cars parkers near the beach
Ask AT draws exclusively on AustralianTraveller.com content. (Image: Rachel Claire/@fieldnotes__)

Everyone!

Whether you are a couple chasing a romantic getaway, a solo traveller looking for your next thrilling adventure, a group of friends in need of a weekend away, or a family planning a break for the school holidays, Ask AT is here to help.

How to use it

Ask AT
You can prompt Ask AT with any Aussie travel questions.

It really couldn’t be easier!

Ask AT sits front and centre of our new website.

All you need to do is type in your travel-related question into the prompt box and let it do the hard work for you.

Don’t forget you can clarify any response or ask for more information.

And in our testing, people loved it when they asked Ask AT to turn all those great insights and recommendations into an itinerary.

There are a couple more great features:

  1. You can save all your conversations for easy reference by creating an account using your email. Each time you log in your prompt and answer history will appear on the sidebar.
  2. You can share answers with friends and family by clicking the send icon.

Weekly travel news, experiences
insider tips, offers, and more.

A final request

Happy or unhappy with an answer?

Let us know by giving it a Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down – we’re dedicated to continually refining our new tool to make it as helpful as possible.

Ready for your next amazing Aussie adventure? Ask AT is here to help.

Quentin Long
Quentin Long is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Australian Traveller Media. Quentin is a sought-after travel media commentator. He is Australia’s most trusted source for travel news and insights, having held weekly radio segments across the country since 2006, and regularly appearing on Channel 9’s Today and A Current Affair programs from 2010. Don't ask him his favourite travel experience as that's like asking him to choose a favourite child. However he does say that Garma Festival is the one travel experience that changed him the most.
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This geological wonder is hiding in the heart of Victoria

    Michael Turtle Michael Turtle
    Mythical, historical and most of all, spectacularly beautiful, Buchan Caves demands you take your time – and a tour. 

    In the pools of water, so still they could be mirrors, the reflections of the stalactites make these limestone towers seem even taller. Almost 400 million years ago, an underground river carved through the rock to create the Buchan Caves. Now, artworks created by dripping water adorn these subterranean galleries: stalactites hanging from the ceiling, pillars connecting some to the ground, even curtain-like wave formations clinging to the stone.

    Caves House
    Visit the caves for the day or stay onsite in the campground or at the self-contained Caves House. (Image: Ben Savage)

    “This is called the Fairy Cave because it’s full of fairy dust,” a guide tells visitors as they enter a cavern glittering with “calcite that’s solidified into thousands of tiny little diamond shapes”.  Buchan Caves is Victoria’s largest cave system, but Fairy Cave is a highlight and, along with nearby Royal Cave, is accessible only by tour. Naturally cold, naturally dark, these caverns deep below the surface light up as the local experts tell their stories. 

    couple walking in cave
    You’ll need to book a guided tour to see the caves. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Among the hundreds of caves, some can be easily accessed from the surface. For instance, a casual stroll along the FJ Wilson Interpreted Walk, as kangaroos watch on from beneath acacia trees, leads into the 400-metre-long Federal Cave and its natural steps of white limestone. A slightly longer track, the Granite Pools Walk heads through soaring forest down into moss-covered gullies where the calls of lyrebirds trill through the leaves. 

    A quick history lesson on Buchan Caves 

    Buchan Caves
    Buchan Caves are a must-visit attraction in Gippsland. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Among the geology and the nature are millennia of history. This part of East Gippsland connects the high country to the coast and was long a place of refuge for the local Gunaikurnai people on seasonal migrations to the mountains. Archaeological studies show humans lived here up to 18,000 years ago, with artefacts such as small stone tools found around the site. But not too far into the caverns – oh no! The Gunaikurnai didn’t dare venture deep into the dark at Buchan Caves, telling stories they were inhabited by gnome-like nyols (small grey-skinned creatures that could steal memories). 

    Buchan Caves Hotel
    The Buchan Caves Hotel was rebuilt after burning down in 2014. (Image: Jess Shapiro)

    By the early 1900s, more people had started to hear about these incredible caves and so the Moon family set up home at the site and started to run tours below ground for intrepid visitors. More than a century later, their historic residence is available as accommodation, with the three-bedroom house sleeping up to eight people and now equipped with modern amenities the Moons could only have dreamt of. 

    But whether you stay overnight or just spend the day here, it’s worth taking your time to explore more than just the main caves, to get a deeper understanding of one of Victoria’s fascinating geological attractions.