1. For wildlife: Mackay, http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=australia Queensland

Surrounded by sugarcane and with a primary street well shaded by tropical foliage, Mackay is a great base for visiting Eungella National Park.

This enchanting jungle has rivers abundant enough in platypus to make seeing one nearly ensured. Your best possibility 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 tracks through the trees, perfect for birdwatching and goanna identifying, or head back to town for a stroll along the golden sands of Harbour Beach.

2. For legendary sundowns: Tower Hill, Victoria

Continue just a little additional 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 house to koalas and kangaroos aplenty.

The guided walks from the visitor centre will introduce you to the wildlife, in addition to to the Aboriginal history-- and you'll find out how to rustle up some bushtucker. But the sundown-- best seen from the crater's rim-- is the main event. Stick around later on and sign up with the directed night walk to see the animals at its most active.

3. For remarkable images: Devil's Marbles, Northern Territory

You'll need to devote 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 throughout the Wilderness.

Envision them as the eponymous marbles, or as the eggs of the rainbow snake from the local Aboriginal story. In either case, they're ideal fodder for the keen photographer.

4. For wine: Denmark, Western Australia

Let Margaret River keep its crowds of white wine tourers and head rather to Denmark on the south coast. Here you'll find an easygoing cluster of shop wineries and hyper-local dining establishments underneath a karri tree canopy. Head for the hills inland and go to Castelli Estate for fantastic Pinot Noir and Shiraz or hit Howard Park for wines that integrate the best of both Denmark and Margaret River grapes.

Don't miss out on Pepper and Salt for supper, where chef Silas utilizes the area's premium produce to develop dishes inspired by his Fijian-Indian heritage. And check out in March or April for Taste Fantastic Southern, which celebrates the area's outstanding regional produce.

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

Superlatives are plentiful on the Nullarbor-- it's the world's largest single piece of limestone, the world's longest stretch of straight railway track and even deep space's longest golf course.

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

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

Freycinet might be one of Tassie's most checked out sites, however that doesn't suggest you'll run into anyone else on a stroll here. Head out on the 31km peninsula circuit and you'll soon get rid of 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 Mount Freycinet (the top is 620m above sea level). When you're done, start those treking boots and dig your toes into the unspoiled 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 inaccessible wilderness that would easily pass for the Amazon. New England National Park opens this UNESCO World Heritage jungle for visitors, providing walking routes through the snow gums and lookouts from which the view extends 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 fungi, travel to australia endemic beech orchids and dripping waterfalls, often frozen in winter season. You'll ultimately reach Point lookout for those panoramic jungle views.