The Great Southern Lens
Natural
Wonders.
The handful of places that put the country on every traveller's bucket list. Reefs, monoliths, gorges, rainforests and tidal cathedrals carved over hundreds of millions of years.
The Eight Flagships
Editor's pick.
Great Barrier Reef
The Living Cathedral
Uluru & Kata Tjuta
The Spiritual Heart
Twelve Apostles
Sentinels of the Southern Ocean
Daintree Rainforest
Where the Jungle Meets the Sea
Bungle Bungle Range
The Beehive Domes of Purnululu
Kakadu National Park
Ancient Country, Living Culture
Ningaloo Reef
Where the Desert Meets the Reef
Horizontal Falls
One of the Greatest Natural Wonders of the World
NSW · 10 wonders
New South Wales.
From the sails of Sydney Harbour to the eucalypt haze of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales packs the country's most iconic skyline, its oldest wine region, and more than 1,500 kilometres of Pacific coast into a single state. Base yourself in Sydney and the continent opens out: vineyards to the west, beaches to the north, snow country to the south.
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Blue Mountains
Eucalypt Haze and Sandstone Cliffs
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Jenolan Caves
The Oldest Open Caves on Earth
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Mount Kosciuszko
Australia's Highest Peak
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Lake Mungo
Home of the Oldest Known Cremation on Earth
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Royal National Park
The Second Oldest National Park in the World
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Warrumbungle National Park
Australia's First Dark Sky Park
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The Three Sisters
Three Sandstone Pillars at Echo Point, Katoomba
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Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Aboriginal rock art and bushland waterways on Sydney's northern edge
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Myall Lakes
A chain of freshwater coastal lakes behind untouched ocean beaches
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Stockton Sand Dunes
The largest moving coastal sand dunes in the southern hemisphere
VIC · 6 wonders
Victoria.
Victoria is Australia's cultural capital and its smallest mainland state. A dense, walkable mosaic of street art, long-lunch laneways, alpine country, and one of the world's great coastal drives. Melbourne anchors it. The Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, and the Mornington Peninsula fan out within a few hours.
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Twelve Apostles
Sentinels of the Southern Ocean
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Grampians National Park
Ranges and Rock Art
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Wilsons Promontory
The Southernmost Point of Mainland Australia
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Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria
38 Hectares of Heritage Gardens on the Yarra
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Cape Otway
Ancient rainforest, wild coastline and the oldest lighthouse on mainland Australia
Loch Ard Gorge
Cliffs, Caves, and a Shipwreck Story
QLD · 16 wonders
Queensland.
The Sunshine State covers roughly a quarter of the country and contains two of the planet's oldest and most diverse ecosystems: the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. Add tropical islands, long stretches of empty coast, and a dry, red interior, and Queensland becomes the obvious choice for travellers chasing warmth and wildlife.
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Great Barrier Reef
The Living Cathedral
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Daintree Rainforest
Where the Jungle Meets the Sea
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Whitsunday Islands
74 Islands, One Reef
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Fraser Island
The World's Largest Sand Island
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Cape York
The Northernmost Tip of Australia
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Heron Island
A Coral Cay on the Reef
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Carnarvon Gorge
Sandstone Walls and Aboriginal Rock Art
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Lady Elliot Island
The Reef's Southernmost Coral Cay
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Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
The World's Oldest and Largest Koala Sanctuary
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Glass House Mountains
Ancient volcanic peaks rising sharply from the Sunshine Coast hinterland plains
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Undara Lava Tubes
One of the longest lava tube systems on earth, deep in the Gulf Savannah
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Hinchinbrook Island
The largest island national park in Australia, wild and mostly untracked
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Girraween National Park
Spectacular granite formations and wildflower displays on the Granite Belt
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Lake Eacham
A crystal-clear volcanic crater lake ringed by ancient rainforest on the Tablelands
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Mapleton Falls
A dramatic 120 metre waterfall cascading into the Obi Obi Valley below the Blackall Range
Wallaman Falls
Australia's Tallest Single-Drop Waterfall
WA · 14 wonders
Western Australia.
Western Australia covers a third of the continent and holds some of its strangest, emptiest landscapes: the striped sandstone domes of the Bungle Bungles, the whale-shark migration at Ningaloo, the pinnacles of Nambung, and the turquoise coastline of the South-West. Perth is the gateway, but the real magic starts when you leave it behind.
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Ningaloo Reef
Where the Desert Meets the Reef
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Bungle Bungle Range
The Beehive Domes of Purnululu
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Horizontal Falls
One of the Greatest Natural Wonders of the World
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Karijini National Park
Iron-Red Gorges of the Pilbara
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Shark Bay
World Heritage Wildlife Bay
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Mount Augustus
The World's Largest Monolith
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Kalbarri National Park
Nature's Window and the Murchison Gorge
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Kings Park
400 Hectares of Bushland and Botanic Gardens Over the City
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Two Peoples Bay
A nature reserve where a bird presumed extinct was rediscovered in 1961
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D'Entrecasteaux National Park
Wild coastline, mobile sand dunes and ancient peat swamps along a remote southern shore
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Tunnel Creek
Wade through a 750 metre cave tunnel carved through a Devonian reef in the Kimberley
Wave Rock
A Granite Wave in the Wheatbelt
Lake Hillier
Australia's Pink Lake
The Pinnacles
Limestone Spires in a Yellow Desert
SA · 9 wonders
South Australia.
South Australia is the country's wine heartland and the jumping-off point for some of its wildest country. Adelaide is ringed by the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills, and the Fleurieu Peninsula. Beyond them lie Kangaroo Island's wildlife sanctuaries, the Flinders Ranges, and the arid heart of the Outback.
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Flinders Ranges and Wilpena Pound
Ancient Ridges of the Outback
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Coorong National Park
A 130 Kilometre Coastal Lagoon
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Murray River (Riverland)
Australia's Longest River
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Naracoorte Caves
A World Heritage Window Into Ice Age Australia
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Blue Lake
The Volcanic Crater Lake That Changes Colour
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Umpherston Sinkhole
The Sunken Garden in a Collapsed Limestone Cave
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Seal Bay
Walk on the beach among Australia's third-largest colony of Australian sea lions
Lake Eyre (Kati Thanda)
Australia's Largest Salt Lake
Remarkable Rocks
Sculpted Granite on Kangaroo Island
TAS · 5 wonders
Tasmania.
A heart-shaped island at the bottom of the continent, Tasmania holds some of the cleanest air and most undisturbed wilderness on Earth. Cradle Mountain, Wineglass Bay, the Tarkine rainforest and the Tasman Peninsula's towering dolerite cliffs are all within a few hours of Hobart, a small capital with a disproportionate appetite for art, produce, and midwinter festivals.
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Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair
Dolerite Peaks above Glacial Lakes
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Wineglass Bay
A Perfect White Arc of Sand
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Bay of Fires
Orange Lichen on White Sand
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Mole Creek Caves
Glow Worms and Limestone Cathedrals in the Tasmanian High Country
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Bridestowe Lavender Estate
The largest lavender farm in the southern hemisphere in full purple bloom
NT · 13 wonders
Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory holds the spiritual heart of the continent: Uluru and Kata Tjuta in the Red Centre, the ancient rock art and billabongs of Kakadu, and the tropical wetlands around Darwin. It's sparsely populated, deeply Aboriginal, and experienced on long drives along the Stuart Highway or flights across Arnhem Land.
Flagship
Uluru & Kata Tjuta
The Spiritual Heart
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Kakadu National Park
Ancient Country, Living Culture
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Kings Canyon
The Rim Walk of Watarrka
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Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu)
Giant Granite Boulders of the Outback
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MacDonnell Ranges
Sandstone Spine of the Red Centre
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Litchfield National Park
Waterfalls and Termite Cathedrals South of Darwin
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Nitmiluk National Park
13 Sandstone Gorges of the Katherine River
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Mataranka
Crystal-Clear Thermal Pools in the Top End
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West MacDonnell Ranges
A 220 Kilometre Spine of Quartzite West of Alice Springs
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Finke Gorge National Park
Palm Valley and the Last Stand of the Red Cabbage Palm
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Standley Chasm
A narrow slot canyon that blazes red-orange when the midday sun hits the walls
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Glen Helen Gorge
A deep waterhole where the Finke River cuts through the MacDonnell Ranges
Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk)
Thirteen Gorges on Jawoyn Country
ACT · 2 wonders
Australian Capital Territory.
Canberra anchors Australia's smallest territory and hosts the national collections: the National Gallery, the War Memorial, the Museum of Australian Democracy. Ringed by the Brindabella Ranges and studded with hot-air balloons every autumn, the capital rewards slower visits and design-minded travellers.
Build your own list.
Each state has its own collection of wonders, plus the bookable experiences that get you to them. Start with the state you'll fly into and build out from there.
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