It’s the question we are asked most frequently: Where are the best places to visit? Or one of many similar variations such as ‘Which place did you enjoy the most?’.
Well, I’ve both good and bad news for you. The good news is that you can go almost anywhere in Australia, and you’ll see stunningly beautiful landscapes. The bad news is that ‘best’ or ‘nicest’ are very subjective as everything is so different – just as apples are different from toothbrushes (sorry, oranges are too similar to apples to use them in that metaphor 😉 ).
How can you compare the imposing structure of Uluru, to incredibly diverse wildlife at Kakadu, to jumping into rock pools at Litchfield, to gem stone mining in QLD, to stunning beaches in southern WA, to majestic views from the Flinders Range, to climbing through gorgeous rock canyons in the Pilbara, to…. I think you get the idea!
There were many standout locations for us personally. Any list must be viewed in that context – what we enjoy may be different to others preferences, as we have our own lenses, our own likes and dislikes, through which we view everything.
I polled each member of the family for their 5 favourites. Here are the results:
Uluru and The Olgas
Imposing and stunning. Appeal to almost everyone – young and old, locals and overseas tourists.
Karijini National Park
Rock canyons for the active and adventurous. Might not have as wide appeal, but it featured in the top two for all of us!
Esperance
When asked where we’d live if we had to choose another place, we all ummed and arghed except for Jonathan who answered straight away. No, it isn’t the snakes or hospital service that draws him to Esperance, but the beautiful beaches and surf!! The southern forests along the bottom of WA are pretty good too! The final location to be in all our favourites list.
The Alps (including Mt Kosciuszko)
I’m cheating and leaving this generic, as they are beautiful in both Vic and NSW. Even better in winter (which we didn’t see this trip).
Ningaloo Reef & Point Quobba
Where the reef meets the beach. Its just a short stroll across the lovely sand and you’re immediately immersed in another world – an underwater one!
Margret River Region / Busselton Shire
For scenery and the connoisseur. The widest appeal of all the gourmet regions.
Litchfield National Park
For the dive bombers, in a beautiful setting.
The Bungle Bungles
For stunning ranges and rock formations, along with the rest of the Kimberleys. El Questro may have piped The Bungle Bungles in the view of some, but hey with so many beautiful places I could say something like that for any selection!
There we go, the best places to visit in Australia as selected by the 4 of us. Ignoring most of QLD, NSW, Tasmania and everywhere else we didn’t visit anyway!!!
A list like this is completely unfair to all the other incredibly beautiful places we saw. Besides why would you only want to see a few of them when the rest of the country is sitting there, waiting to be explored and appreciated? Nah, ignore this post and take an extended trip (or two or more) and see as much as you can!
ps. I’m a bit late in posting this one – noticed it sitting in ‘drafts’, mostly completed, when I logged on to write on another issue. Still worth posting though!