Australia is a country full of culture, but some of the best things to see here are older than life itself. The good thing is that they are all fairly accessible, and no touring trip around this country is complete with out ticking off some of the natural wonders of the world that are found right on your doorstep. Here are seven of the most famous to get you packing!
Hamelin Pool, WA
This World Heritage listed site at the base of Shark Bay contains very rare living stromatolites. These sedimentary rocks are created by bacterial colonies, and can trace their family history back at least 2.7 billion years on Earth, which makes them the oldest living things on the planet.
Kata Tjuta, NT
A few kilometres further west of Uluru, these upended bowls huddle together in the flat red desert that surrounds them. An extremely holy place to local aboriginals, their beauty and anthropomorphic shapes make it obvious why.
Great Barrier Reef, Qld
The only living organism on Earth visible from space, the Great Barrier Reef is 25 million years old. It stretches over 3,000km long off Queensland’s shore and is the largest reef system in the world. Dive, snorkel or just fly over, access is via Cairns, Airlie Beach mainly.
Purnululu NP (Bungles), WA
The orange and black domes known as the Bungle Bungles have quickly cemented their place as a must see destination on the Big Lap of Australia. Formed by nothing more than erosion by water, the unique colours come from microscopic cyanobacteria and oxidation. Located in the eastern Kimberley region, access is by 4WD only.
Pinnacles, WA
These limestone columns rising out of the yellow sand of Nambung National Park are only about 30,000 years old. When the ocean receded, seashell deposits were left behind, which eroded into these strange shapes.
Uluru, NT
At 348m tall, this orange monolith is not the largest in Australia (that honour belongs to Mount Augustus), but it is the most famous in the world. Located 450km southwest of Alice Springs, the trip here is a kind of Australian rite of passage to the spiritual heart of the country.
Twelve Apostles, Vic
Along the Great Ocean Road the coastline is always breathtakingly beautiful, but these giant limestone stacks take the cake for epic ocean vistas. They are still eroding today, with a collapse in recent years, so they make a great lesson in the formation, and destruction, of natural wonders.
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