Australia Is A Vast Country, Though Most Visitors Stay On The Same Tried And Tested Track, Ticking Off Well-touristed Pitstops Along The Way. But, Of Course, There's Plenty More To See Beyond The Usual Sydney, Rock And Reef Holiday Triangle. Here’s Our Pi

1. For wildlife: Mackay, Queensland

Surrounded by sugarcane and with a primary street well shaded by tropical foliage, Mackay is an excellent base for checking out Eungella National Park.

This captivating jungle has rivers abundant enough in platypus to make seeing one nearly guaranteed. Your finest opportunity is at Broken River, where the viewing platform is surrounded by ferns and vines-- load a picnic and wait a while in silence to see them.

Afterwards, go on walking https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=australia tracks through the trees, suitable for birdwatching and goanna identifying, or head back to town for a stroll along the golden sands of Harbour Beach.

2. For impressive sunsets: Tower Hill, Victoria

Continue simply a little further west from the Great Ocean Road and you'll find this volcanic crater. Encircled by beds of ash, it's a fertile green sanctuary that is home to koalas and kangaroos aplenty.

The assisted strolls from the visitor centre will present you to the wildlife, in addition to to the Aboriginal history-- and you'll learn how to rustle up some bushtucker. But the sunset-- best seen from the crater's rim-- is the centerpiece. Stick around later on and join the directed night walk to see the fauna at its most active.

3. For amazing pictures: Devil's Marbles, Northern Territory

You'll need to dedicate to a long drive for this one-- but it's well worth it. Some 130km south of Tennant Creek, en route to Alice Springs, you'll discover a geological phenomenon: a fistful of rock marbles flung across the Wilderness.

Picture them as the eponymous marbles, or as the eggs of the rainbow serpent from the regional Aboriginal story. Either way, they're perfect fodder for the eager professional photographer.

4. For white wine: Denmark, Western Australia

Let Margaret River keep its crowds of red wine tourers and head instead to Denmark on the south coast. Here you'll find a laid-back cluster of boutique wineries and hyper-local restaurants below a karri tree canopy. Head for the hills inland and go to Castelli Estate for excellent Pinot Noir and Shiraz or struck Howard Park for white wines that integrate the very best of both Denmark and Margaret River grapes.

Do not miss out on Pepper and Salt for dinner, where chef Silas utilizes the location's gourmet produce to create meals inspired by his Fijian-Indian heritage. And check out in March or April for Taste Great Southern, which celebrates the area's exceptional regional produce.

5. For an incredible journey: The Nullarbor Plain, South Australia

Superlatives abound on the Nullarbor-- it's the planet's biggest single piece of limestone, the world's longest stretch of straight train track and even deep space's longest golf course.

All that makes for one very long (however epic) drive, stressed just by lookouts over the Great Australian Bight (next stop Antarctica), dusty roadhouses and the odd pitstop to hit a golf ball, if you're so likely.

6. For outdoor camping and climbs: Freycinet National Park, Tasmania

Freycinet may be one of Tassie's many gone to sites, but that doesn't mean you'll run into anybody else on a walk here. Go out on the 31km peninsula circuit and you'll soon shake off any fellow visitors (so bring lots of water) as you tramp anti-clockwise around the peninsula from the Hazards Beach Track to the Wineglass Bay lookout.

Camping is at Cooks Beach and there's time to climb up Mount Freycinet (the summit is 620m above water level). Once you're done, kick off those treking boots and dig your toes into the pristine white sands of Wineglass Bay.

7. For unbeatable hiking: New England National Park, New South Wales

Ancient jungle cloaks the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, much of it an unattainable wilderness that would quickly pass for the Amazon. New England National forest opens up this UNESCO World Heritage jungle for visitors, using strolling routes through the snow gums and lookouts from which the view extends all the method to the coast.

Take the Eagles Nest track, a 2.2 km loop, and you'll see Antarctic beech trees covered in fungi, endemic beech orchids and dripping waterfalls, typically frozen in winter. You'll ultimately reach Point lookout museum for those panoramic jungle views.