Unexpected Aussie adventures top travel list

Lonely Planet has ranked 500 bucket list experiences – including these unmissable gems.

The Three Capes Track has been hailed as Australia‘s premier coastal bushwalking experience. Picture: Stu Gibson.

Ask any traveller to pinpoint the best bucket list experience in Australia and you’ll likely be met with conflicting opinions. This is, after all, a nation as vast as it is varied.

The team at Lonely Planet have attempted this seemingly impossible (and highly subjective) task in Ultimate Australia Travel List, a new book that ranks 500 unmissable experiences and little-known sights. Recommendations were gathered from a network of travel editors and contributors, as well as local personalities such as writer and broadcaster Benjamin Law, chef Christine Mansfield and Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton.

Rated number one is Uluru; specifically, exploring the 10.6km perimeter as part of the Uluru Base Walk and learning about the spiritual significance at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre. Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) came in second place, followed by the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef.

Beyond the usual suspects, there are a few unexpected winners. Ahead, discover our favourites to inspire your next adventure.

Marvel at the Milky Way in the Warrumbungle Dark Sky Park

Stars lighting up the night sky over the Breadknife rock formation in Warrumbungle National Park. Picture: Daniel Tran

The night sky unrolls around you each night in the Warrumbungle National Park, Australia’s first and only Dark Sky Park. The 233-sq-km park has been internationally recognised for its stunning views of the stars, due to its high altitude, low humidity and carefully monitored light pollution. With four observatories to choose from, you can stargaze well into the night. Siding Springs Observatory is home to the largest optical telescope in Australia. With a mirror measuring 3.9m, the Anglo Australia telescope is capable of viewing quasars up to 12 billion light years away. The Warrumbungles still have plenty to offer once the sun rises. Avid bushwalkers are sure to enjoy the rugged volcanic landscape. The Breadknife and Grand High Tops walk will bring you close to the park’s most impressive formations.

With over 190 bird species recorded within the park, birdwatchers should be sure to look out for emus, wedge-tailed eagles and the southern boobook owl. For a more relaxing option, take a trip along the world’s largest Virtual Solar System Drive. The dome of the Siding Springs Observatory represents the sun, with scaled model planets stretching the whole 200km to Dubbo.

Walk alongside Australia’s highest sea cliffs on the Three Capes Track

The Three Capes Track has already been hailed as Australia's premier coastal bushwalking experience.

Any list of epic Australian bushwalks is bound to contain the Three Capes Track. Traversing a well-maintained path alongside the lofty sea cliffs in Tasman National Park, this four-day, 48km trek kicks off after walkers are dropped by boat at the Denmans Cove trailhead. The route links the cove with Cape Raoul, Cape Pillar and Cape Hauy before finishing on the sandy shores of Fortescue Bay. Scenery includes eucalypt forests, coastal heathland and ocean views for as far as the eye can see. Accommodation is in ranger-supervised camps with architect-designed huts that are almost as good- looking as the eye-popping coastal scenery. You’ll walk up the slopes of Crescent Mountain and Mt Fortescue and down to Ellarwey Valley, seeing native flora and fauna aplenty. Daredevils can scale the well-named Blade Rock formation at Cape Pillar and plunge into the icy surf at Fortescue Bay. The track is described as being achievable for most ages and abilities, but some bushwalking experience is recommended.

Go wild on mainland Australia’s southernmost point, Wilsons Prom

Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria.

Hitting rock bottom is a good thing when it involves Wilsons Promontory. Occupying the southernmost point of mainland Australia, the 305-sq-km national park claims some of Victoria’s most varied, magnificent natural landscapes: salt-white Squeaky Beach, the Saharan dunes of the Big Drift, the lushness of Lilly Pilly Gully. Walking tracks lead over ridges, across heathland and through headily scented bush alive with kangaroos, wombats, echidnas and iridescent birdlife.

The Telegraph Saddle to Sealers Cove route (10.3km) is especially memorable, weaving through fern gullies and swampland to a forest-backed beach. It’s the first section of the challenging, multi-day Southern Circuit (59km), whose stops also include monumental Oberon Bay. A much quicker way to admire the bay’s sweep is from panoramic Mt Oberon, an easy 6.8km-return hike from the Telegraph Saddle car park. Head up at sunset and pinch yourself.

Discover underwater art installations at MOUA.

As if the Great Barrier Reef wasn’t epic enough, you can now explore an underwater sculpture garden. The second instalment of the Townsville region’s Museum of Underwater Art, the Coral Greenhouse features 20 human figures performing conservation work in and around a submerged conservatory. Designed by renowned sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor in collaboration with Indigenous groups, the installation complements the Ocean Siren sculpture.

This is an extract from Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Australia Travel List, $39.99.