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Natural wonders
to be discovered Down Under
In this deep dive into Australia’s incredible offerings, David Whitley picks out places to go – as diverse as they are dazzling – that make the country’s great outdoors irresistible
Header image: Murchison, Western Australia | CREDIT: Tourism Australia
Wildlife wonders
Whale shark, Ningaloo Coast, Western Australia | CREDIT: Tourism Western Australia
CREDIT: Tourism Western Australia
CREDIT: Tourism Western Australia
Cruise with crocodiles
… Or kangaroos
See emus on the beach…
Spot nocturnal wildlife with night-vision goggles
Watch birds at Lake Reeve
Spot some cute creatures
Watch turtles give birth
Meet the mini-marsupial crowd
Snorkel with whale sharks
It’s a herculean effort from Mama Turtle. She hauls herself up the beach in the Mon Repos Conservation Park, near Bundaberg in Queensland. The mother loggerhead then digs a hole in the sand with her flippers, lays her eggs and struggles back towards the sea.
Nesting and hatching season is from November to March, when turtle encounter tours take guests to watch nests being made and eggs hatch.
As the sun sets over Wilsons Promontory National Park in Victoria, something scuttles across in front of the decking of the Tidal River Cabins. It’s furry, it’s sturdy and it’s faintly comical – and the wombat sighting completes a day of frequent wildlife encounters, from roos on the walking trails to chirruping crimson rosellas in the trees.
The water off Western Australia’s World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Coast is staggeringly clear. That means there’s no feeling of sudden shock when a 13ft juvenile whale shark glides into view – just awe.
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the world, and they emerge through the pristine deep blue of Ningaloo Reef like it’s some sort of computer-generated magic.
In Victoria’s peaceful Lakes National Park, the wetlands around Lake Reeve are a prime location for migratory birds. Put the binoculars down for a while, though, and you can see rare orchids on the park’s walking trails, and stop for a swim in the lakes. Stay at the Emu Bight Campground, and you’ll have a good chance of seeing koalas, wombats and echidnas.
The surf and white sand of Almonta Beach on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula are tempting, but don’t expect to have it to yourself. Coffin Bay National Park is home to thousands of strutting, boldly confident emus, and they happily amble across the sand. After emu-enhanced beach time, head for the tiny town of Coffin Bay – here, the oyster farms provide world-class freshly shucked oysters.
The winding road to Pebbly Beach slithers through the thickly-forested Murramarang National Park, then emerges at the campground. On the dunes behind this seductively curving NSW South Coast beach are not just a few kangaroos, but dozens of them. They graze a while, then provide the perfect Australian photo moment, bounding off over the sand.
Yellow Water is a serene spot where lily pads bob and bare-trunked paperbark trees rise. No-one’s jumping off the boat for a swim though. A big croc is watching from the banks of Kakadu National Park’s most beloved billabong. The Aboriginal-run Yellow Water Cruises come packed with knowledgeable commentary, and the guide’s respect for the billabong’s massive saltwater crocodiles is evident throughout.
On Tasmania’s north coast, the Springlawn section of Narawntapu National Park is home to abundant wildlife – particularly the smaller marsupials that don’t tend to grab the headlines. Come at dusk, and they all emerge from the bush – Forester kangaroos (pictured) here, pademelons there, Bennetts wallabies a little further along the Springlawn Nature Walk, which is an easy three-mile, two-hour circuit around the lagoon.
It’s after dark in the Nightcap National Park, in the north east of New South Wales, but not much seems to be sleeping. The frogs are out, as are the possums (pictured), tawny frogmouths, bandicoots and microbats. Usually, this activity in the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area goes unseen by humans, but Vision Walks of Byron Bay, NSW, provides military-grade night-vision goggles. Guests can see the rainforest action without using torches that would spook the wildlife.
Scroll to learn about Incredible island wonders
Tidal River Cabins
Crocodile at Yellow Waters, Northern Territory CREDIT: Tourism NT, Sean Scott
Lake Reeve, Victoria | CREDIT: Alamy
Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria CREDIT: Visit Victoria, Mark Watson
Possum at Byron Bay, New South Wales | CREDIT: Tourism Australia
Emu at Coffin Bay, South Australia | CREDIT: Tourism Australia
Mon Repos Conservation Park, Queensland | CREDIT: Tourism and Events Queensland
Kangaroos at Pebbly Beach, New South Wales | CREDIT: Tourism Australia
Forester kangaroo at Springlawn Tasmania CREDIT: Samuel Shelley
These gentle giants of the warm Indian Ocean waters are harmless – unless you’re krill. For humans, it’s a case of keeping up, though snorkelling with whale sharks here is about swimming alongside them at a respectful distance on an eco-tour.
Later on the Ocean Eco Adventures tour, a pair of even bigger whale sharks appear. They circle each other in an elaborate underwater dance, their choreography witnessed by the snorkellers through their masks.
Click on each tab below to learn more
Snorkel with whale sharks
Watch turtles give birth
Spot some cute creatures
Spot nocturnal wildlife with
night-vision goggles
See emus on the beach…
… Or kangaroos
Cruise with crocodiles
Watch birds at Lake Reeve
Meet the mini-marsupial crowd
Ningaloo’s whale sharks can be seen on boat tours, but there’s plenty of life on the Reef for those who head out independently. With the stark Cape Range National Park in the background, Ningaloo Reef is an ocean lover’s dream. The best beach-side snorkelling spot is Turquoise Bay, its waters packed with coral, turtles and tropical fish.
Incredible island wonders
75 Mile Beach, K'gari, Queensland | CREDIT: Tourism and Events Queensland
Lake McKenzie, Queensland | CREDIT: Tourism and Events Queensland
K'gari, Queensland | CREDIT: Tourism and Events Queensland
Four-wheel drive along the beach
Meet the wombats
Indulge on Bruny Island
See Batavia’s resting place
Pose for pics with the Remarkable Rocks
Snorkel the world’s southernmost coral reef
Go wild on French Island
Stay on the Great Barrier Reef
Everyone feels giddily silly as they float along Eli Creek in a rubber tube. Nature’s lazy river, a gently flowing stream weaving its way past the boardwalk, comes out at K’gari’s main highway.
On the world’s largest sand island – formerly known as Fraser Island, off the east coast – that highway just happens to be 75 Mile Beach. This epic beach is a staple of 4WD adventures on K’gari. Several key attractions line up alongside it, including the evocative Maheno Shipwreck and the Pinnacles – sand dunes that have arranged themselves into multi-coloured spires.
The tale of the Batavia shipwreck – a Lord of the Flies-esque story of mutiny, murder and an incredible rescue mission – is one of Australia’s great jaw-dropping yarns. You’ll hear it on Shine Aviation’s day trip to Western Australia’s Houtman-Abrolhos Islands, flying over the reef where the Batavia sank, then landing on East Wallabi Island for beach time and ultra-cute tammar wallabies.
The wombats on Maria Island, a short ferry hop from Tasmania’s east coast, practically form a welcoming committee. The island was once a convict probation station, and the colonial-era buildings are still remarkably intact. But Maria Island’s history tends to take second place to its nature, whether it’s the prodigious number of wombats and roos or the multi-coloured ‘painted’ cliffs where the combined might of the wind and waves has gradually eroded the sandstone to reveal a stunning painterly facade.
The walking trails of Bruny Island, an easy day trip from Hobart in Tasmania, bring vertiginous sea cliffs, empty surf beaches and a wealth of bird life. But you can reward yourself after walking with a saunter around the island’s burgeoning band of food producers. Honey, oysters, cheese and chocolates are among the gourmet goodies to sample, along with a glass from Australia’s southernmost winery.
70 per cent of French Island, in Victoria’s Western Port Bay, is a national park. And the local wildlife truly appreciates it. Wading birds patrol the mudflats, while bandicoots and potoroos snuffle through the woodlands and heathlands. Look up, and there’s a strong chance of seeing Victoria’s biggest koala population in the eucalypt trees. Look down, and the island hosts more than 100 native orchid species.
Perched high above the ocean, the Remarkable Rocks on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island look like they’ve come out of a Dalí painting. These bizarrely shaped, eerily smooth and startlingly colourful rocks in Flinders Chase National Park show another natural side to an island famed for its wildlife. The journey there will probably take in sea lions and koalas on the way.
Lady Elliot Island is the southernmost island on the Great Barrier Reef. It’s surrounded by a dazzling lagoon, where you can take a tour on a glass bottom boat or snorkel straight from the beach in search of turtles. However, you can also stay overnight. The Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort offers units and cabins, but the most fun option is the spacious glamping tents with a large wooden deck outside for viewing the seabirds.
Tropical fish meet cooler climate species in the staggeringly clear waters of Lord Howe Island’s lagoon. The island, a mountain-topped speck in the Tasman Sea off New South Wales, is famed for its seabird colonies on land. But in the water, the planet’s southernmost coral reef creates a haven for fish, turtles and the snorkellers that come to see them.
Scroll to learn about World Heritage wonders
Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | CREDIT: Destination NSW
Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island, South Australia | CREDIT: Tourism Australia
Bruny Island Oysters, Tasmania | CREDIT: Adam Gibson
Koala bear on French Island, Victoria | CREDIT: Tourism Australia Visit Victoria
Wombats on Maria Island, Tasmania | CREDIT: Tourism Australia
Hutt Lagoon, Port Gregory, Western Australia | CREDIT: Tourism Western Australia
Lady Elliot Island, Queensland | CREDIT: Tourism Australia
However, it’s arguably when you leave 75 Mile Beach and head inland that K’gari becomes truly extraordinary. Lake MacKenzie is a ‘perched’ rainwater lake with water so pure it feels like swimming in a bath full of incredibly expensive mineral water. The surrounding sand is fine enough to use in beauty treatments or for buffing jewellery.
Click on each tab below to learn more
Four-wheel drive along the beach
See Batavia’s resting place
Meet the wombats
Snorkel the world’s southernmost coral reef
Indulge on Bruny Island
Go wild on French Island
Pose for pics with the Remarkable Rocks
Stay on the Great Barrier Reef
Yet on all this sand grows something quite unexpected – a subtropical rainforest. The walk along Wanggoolba Creek offers sightings of turtles and eels in the water, plus ancient ferns and cycads on land. Rising through them are hoop pines, towering kauris and satinay trees – which were used to rebuild the London Docklands after World War Two, and the Suez Canal.
World Heritage wonders
Walls of China, Mungo National Park, New South Wales | CREDIT: Destination NSW
Walls of China, Lake Mungo, New South Wales | CREDIT: Destination NSW
Guided tour at Lake Mungo, New South Wales | CREDIT: Destination NSW
Explore a landscape like nothing else on Earth
Hike through alpine forests
Abseil down Empress Falls
Meet megafauna at Naracoorte Caves
Tackle the Overland Track
Walk the Riversleigh Fossil Trail
Meet the eel farmers
Reassess human history at Lake Mungo
Part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Mount Field National Park’s strength is its range of environments. Tall eucalypt forests, waterfalls, cool-temperate rainforests and glacial lakes combine. Longer hikes are available, but the short Tall Trees Walk and the trail to three-tiered Horseshoe Falls are an excellent taster.
The Naracoorte Caves in South Australia offer an abundance of cave decorations. But there’s more than just stalagmites and stalactites to this World Heritage-listed network of limestone caves. It has spent 200,000 years as a pitfall trap, collecting up an astonishing fossil record of unfortunate animals. Some of the long-extinct megafauna bones are on display within the complex.
Lacing through the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in the Tasmanian Wilderness, the 40-mile, six-day Overland Track walk connects a wealth of memorable landscapes. Tasmania’s most famous multi-day walk shows off snow-capped mountains, moody alpine moorland, glacier-cut lakes and carpets of wildflowers. Encounters with platypus, Tasmanian devils, echidna, wombats and quolls along the way are a happy bonus.
The lake bed is a dusty crater, stretching across the horizon towards the sweeping, gracefully-curving lunettes. These dune-like structures of sand, clay and sediment have been gradually blown further east by the prevailing westerly winds of Lake Mungo. Different coloured layers tell of different environmental conditions over thousands of years. And yet it is often what is left behind that makes Mungo National Park special.
It’s one thing admiring a waterfall from a lookout, but quite another to shimmy down the face of it. That’s where the adventure lies in the Blue Mountains National Park, west of Sydney. Here, High and Wild runs canyoning tours suitable for complete beginners, which follow the Empress Canyon, and begin via a 30m abseil down Empress Falls into the deep rock pool below.
The Riversleigh World Heritage Area in north-western Queensland is one of the most prodigious fossil discovery sites on Earth, and one section in Boodjamulla National Park is open to the public. The Riversleigh Fossil Trail passes through remains that date back to the break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent, with fossils of enormous flightless birds and giant freshwater crocodiles left in place.
Budj Bim National Park in western Victoria offers lava canals, caves and a crater lake, as well as plenty of wildlife, but it’s the cultural history that bestows World Heritage status. The Gunditjmara people have been farming and smoking eels here for thousands of years. The Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre shows how it was done, with Aboriginal guided tours for those who wish to delve deeper.
Whether you fly over it, hike around it, camp next to it, or go a little deeper to explore its hidden gorges and watering holes, the 350 million year-old Bungle Bungle Range in World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park is one of the great wonders of Western Australia. The likes of the stunning Cathedral Gorge and Echidna Chasm are natural marvels you will not want to miss.
Scroll to start planning your next adventure
Empress Falls, Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales | CREDIT: David Hill
Cradle Mountain, Tasmania | CREDIT: Jason Charles Hill
Naracoorte Caves, South Australia | CREDIT: Mike Haines
Horseshoe Falls, Tasmania | CREDIT: Lauren Bath
Bungle Bungle Range, Western Australia | CREDIT: Western Australia
Riversleigh Fossil Trail, Queensland | CREDIT: Tourism and Events Queensland
Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre, Victoria | CREDIT: Tourism Australia, Visit Victoria
In the Willandra Lakes region of outback New South Wales, Lake Mungo is a perspective-changing haven of fossil finds. Animal bones are repeatedly unveiled, and what look like small rocks are often calcified tree branches. In the 1970s, however, Lake Mungo revealed remains that radically changed perspectives of life in Australia. A full skeleton – Mungo Man – was uncovered by the elements. Testing showed the skeleton was at least 30,000 years old. Stone weapons and buried fireplaces nearby were then found to be around 50,000 years old – perhaps older. Before this, it was thought Aboriginal Australians came to the continent around 20,000 years ago.
Click on each tab below to learn more
Reassess human history at Lake Mungo
Meet megafauna at Naracoorte Caves
Hike through alpine forests
Tackle the Overland Track
Explore a landscape like nothing else on Earth
Abseil down Empress Falls
Walk the Riversleigh Fossil Trail
Meet the eel farmers
The Mungo Visitor Centre tells the story of these discoveries and their implications, not just for the story of Australia, but of the evolution of humanity. And deep thoughts ring through the mind as you walk across the lake bed to where those fossils keep being uncovered.
Start planning your next adventure at
Image: Bungle Bungle Range, Western Australia | CREDIT: Western Australia
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Produced by Telegraph Media Group
Project Manager: Tom Gadd | Writer: David Whitley | Commissioning editor: Jim Bruce-Ball
Sub editor: Tim Cumming | Video and Photography Manager: Alex Kelly
Creative director: Jonathan Clayton-Jones | Designer: Sylvia Szekely | Web editor: Ross Thomas