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

This captivating rain forest has rivers rich enough in platypus to make seeing one almost 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, suitable for birdwatching and goanna identifying, or head back to town for a walk along the golden sands of Harbour Beach.

2. For epic sundowns: Tower Hill, Victoria

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

The assisted walks 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. But the sunset-- finest seen from the crater's rim-- is the main event. Remain afterwards and join the directed night walk to see the fauna at its most active.

3. For incredible pictures: Devil's Marbles, Northern Area

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

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

4. For red 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 boutique wineries and hyper-local restaurants beneath a karri tree canopy. Head for the hills inland and visit Castelli Estate for terrific Pinot Noir and Shiraz or hit Howard Park for red wines that integrate the best of both Denmark and Margaret River grapes.

Do not miss Pepper and Salt for supper, where chef Silas uses the area's premium produce to develop meals inspired by his Fijian-Indian heritage. And go to in March or April for Taste Great Southern, which celebrates the area's superb local fruit and vegetables.

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

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

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

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

Freycinet might be among Tassie's a lot of visited sites, however that does not suggest you'll run into anyone 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.

Outdoor camping is at Cooks Beach and there's time to climb up Mount Freycinet (the top is 620m above sea level). As soon as you're done, begin those hiking 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 capes the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, much of it an inaccessible wilderness that would quickly pass for the Amazon. New England National forest opens up this UNESCO World Heritage jungle for visitors, offering strolling tracks 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 http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=australia beech trees covered in fungi, endemic beech orchids and trickling waterfalls, often frozen in winter season. You'll ultimately reach Point lookout for those scenic jungle views.