1. For wildlife: Mackay, Queensland

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

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

Afterwards, take a hike on strolling tracks through the trees, ideal for birdwatching and goanna spotting, or head back to town for a walk along the golden sands of Harbour Beach.

2. For legendary sundowns: Tower Hill, Victoria

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

The directed strolls from the visitor centre will present you to the wildlife, as well as to the Aboriginal history-- and you'll learn how to rustle up some bushtucker. However the sunset-- finest seen from the crater's rim-- is the main event. Stay afterwards and sign up with the assisted night walk to see the animals at its most active.

3. For awesome photos: Devil's Marbles, Northern Area

You'll need to commit to a long drive for this one-- however it's well worth it. Some 130km south of Tennant Creek, en path to Alice Springs, you'll discover a geological phenomenon: a fistful of rock marbles flung throughout the Outback.

Envision them as the eponymous marbles, or as the eggs of the rainbow serpent from the regional Aboriginal story. Either way, they're ideal fodder for the keen photographer.

4. For wine: Denmark, Western Australia

Let Margaret River keep its crowds of red wine tourers and head rather to Denmark on the south coast. Here you'll http://edition.cnn.com/search/?text=australia discover an easygoing cluster of shop wineries and hyper-local dining establishments underneath a karri tree canopy. Head for the hills inland and visit Castelli Estate for terrific Pinot Noir and Shiraz or hit 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 supper, where chef Silas utilizes the location's premium produce to develop dishes inspired by his Fijian-Indian heritage. And see in March or April for Taste Terrific Southern, which commemorates the region's excellent regional produce.

5. For an unbelievable 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 railway track and even the universe's longest golf course.

All that makes for one very long (however legendary) drive, punctuated only by lookouts over the Great Australian Bight (next stop Antarctica), dirty roadhouses and the odd pitstop to hit a golf ball, if you're so inclined.

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

Freycinet may be one of Tassie's the majority of gone to websites, but that doesn't mean you'll bump into anybody else on a stroll here. Head out on the 31km peninsula circuit and you'll soon shake off any fellow visitors (so bring a lot 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 top is 620m above water level). As soon as you're done, start those treking boots and dig your toes into the pristine white sands of Wineglass Bay.

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

Ancient rainforest cloaks the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, much of it an unattainable wilderness that would easily pass for the Amazon. New England National Park opens up this UNESCO World Heritage jungle for visitors, providing walking trails through the snow gums and lookouts from which the view stretches all the way to the coast.

Take the Eagles Nest track, a 2.2 km loop, and you'll see Antarctic beech trees covered in fungus, endemic beech orchids and dripping waterfalls, typically frozen in winter season. You'll eventually reach Point lookout for those scenic rainforest views.