date published
29.03.2006

100 Things To Do In Australia Before You Die

The 100 Things To Do In Australia Before You Die. It’s a big country out there. But with so many ways to experience it all – and only one lifetime – where on Earth do you start? That’s where we come in . . .

< Previous Photo Next Photo >

The 100 Things To Do In Australia Before You Die

In rank from One to a Huindred, this is how the panel voted:

From One to Fifty		From Fifty One to One Hundred
001 Overload your senses in Kakadu 002 Dive into the Great Barrier Reef 003 Find Freedom on the Big Lap Around Australia 004 Visit the remarkable pebble Uluru 005 Climb the coathanger Bridgeclimb 006 Cruise the rugged Kimberley Coast 007 Swim with Whale Sharks at Ningaloo Reef 008 Explore Sydney Harbour 009 Chase a pure dingo down Fraser's 75 mile beach 010 Wind yourself up along the Great Ocean Road 011 Visit the world’s oldest living museum 012 Bareboat around the Whitsundays 013 Time’s nearly up at the Top Cape York 014 Go Walkabout with the First Nation 015 Take in an Opera at the Sydney Opera House 016 Visit Melbourne's sporting colosseum 017 Go bush for a week 018 Spy a platypus in the wild 019 Conquer the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley 020 Peak at Cradle Mountain 021 Ride with the man from Snowy River 022 Stay at a truly great Aussie Pub 023 Swim with Dolphins 024 Be the last to see the sun set over the Ocean 025 Have a whale of a time whale whatching 026 Paddle the mighty Murray River 027 Meander the Katherine Gorge 028 Visit the world’s oldest art, Aboriginal Art 029 Explore the spectacular Flinder Rangers 030 Rediscover the ancient secrets of the Mungo Man 031 Keep your eyes peeled for a bend in the Nullarbor 032 Do some time at Port Arthur 033 Venture into unique Arnhem Land 034 Shed an ANZAC tear at dawn 035 Catch the sun’s first rays in Australia on Byron 036 Take a rest on Lord Howe Island 037 Parade of the little penguins 038 Noodle for opals at Coober Pedy 039 Have a flutter on the Melbourne Cup at Flemington 040 Explore our capital Canberra 041 Take a Cable Beach camel ride in Broome 042 Experience the world's only waterless regatta 043 Line the streets for Sydney's Mardi Gras 044 Bound over to Kangaroo Island 045 Play around with the Devils Marbles 046 Exlpore the wild Macquarie Harbour 047 Sink a few and have a flutter at Birdsville 048 All aboard for our greatest Train Journey 049 Get a raw hide on a great Australian cattle muster 050 Visit the Green Room Surfing a great aussie beach		051 Visit Australia’s Bay of Fires 052 Walk the line at Kings Canyon 053 Ride the world’s steepest railway 054 Walk Our Greatest Bushwalk, the Overland Track 055 Grab a seat at the Aussie Open 056 See the Outback sculptures at sunset 057 March with 100 million red crabs 058 Wipe out or win through at Bells Beach 059 Cook a barbie on the beach 060 Retrace the path of our tragic Great Race 061 Trek the Larapinta 062 Go on an Aussie safari 063 Grab a feed Australia's Gourmet Island 064 Take a refreshing sip from a Wineglass 065 Immerse yourself in European life in the Barossa 066 Catch a barra at Lake Awoonga 067 Make a stand at the Eureka Stockade 068 Fire yourself up in sugar cane country 069 Get festive in Tamworth country 070 Fall under the spell of Florence Falls 071 Sun yourself with seals 072 Perouse Botany Bay 073 Ride round Rotto 074 Let your spirit soar into Seven Spirit Bay 075 Feel like fish bait and swim with sharks 076 Savour a Sauv Blanc with Margaret 077 Have lunch with a croc 078 Retrace the steps of old tin head Ned Kelly 079 Watch the natives surf at Pebbly Beach 080 Wind your way through the Atherton Tablelands 081 Pad up with Bradman in Bowral 082 Take a long reach to the Outback in Longreach 083 Munch a monster crayfish on Thursday 084 Dance with the Tasmanian Devil 085 See the wildlife on Bondi Beach 086 Conquer the French Line across the simpson 087 Follow the Yarra Valley Grape Trail 088 Take in the Footy Grand Final on Bathurst Island 089 Ooze along Undara's lava tube 090 Be a houseboat captain on the Hawkesbury 091 Relive Sydney’s Olympic history 092 Hang out at Old Melbourne Gaol 093 Drive the Savannah Way 094 Down an oyster at Constitution Dock 095 Explore our maritime history at Fremantle 096 Pinch yourself at the Pinnacles 097 Get out of the wind at Mawson’s Huts 098 Go uderground at Mount Isa 099 Be Manly on the Beach 100 Shop till you drop in Melbourne

How We Arrived At The 100

Compiling the 100 Things To Do In Australia Before You Die is an exercise fraught with danger, as we always knew it would be; Australians can’t agree on a republic or a monarchy, let alone what are the most important things to experience in this country. So we undertook this project with a real understanding of the challenges. That’s why we stood back and said we shouldn’t be the arbiters of this guide, but instead the facilitators of the debate.

Ultimately, the list should be a collaborative assessment that represents all of Australia, which really requires two things: a starting point that includes as many “things to do” as possible; and then a way to distil this into the 100 things Australians should prioritise as the most important.

To arrive at the most exhaustive starting list possible, we went first to the most informed: the travel and tourism industry. The call went out to the entire industry to submit a nomination (or nominations, as we invited them to vote early and often). To balance this we also enlisted the help of our bank of expert travel writers, and finally you, our readers, through our website.

And what a turn out. From the tourism industry alone we received more than 700 submissions (a huge testimony to their enthusiasm for the project – thanks, everyone, for your support), then we added to that the fantastic ideas and inspiration our readers and writers brought to the project. In the end, after culling double-up nominations, we had a fairly definitive list of more than 950 unique “Things to Do In Australia Before You Die.”

To arrive at the magic 100, we pulled together an excellent panel of passionate, well-travelled individuals from all quarters of society. (In fact, a special thanks must go out to our panellists, who generously donated their time and expertise and were, without exception, thrilled to be involved. Their enthusiasm and love for our vast and sometimes inexplicable land kicked this project into another stratosphere.

All nine panellists then received a spreadsheet of nominations, divided into two categories: around 300 probable and 400 possible items. Each was then scored out of five, where a one was “No Way”, and a five was “Must Be Included.” We tallied the totals, and there was our list.

You’ll have noted that the panellists judged only 700 nominations from an original list of 950. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, we developed this guide primarily for Australians, so we culled what we believed to be important, yet assumed. A great example is “see a kangaroo.” For an overseas visitor, yes.

For an Australian, most of us would have seen one, maybe eaten one, probably even hit one in a 4WD. Secondly, the guide is mainly about activity, not a specific place where that activity can be done. So, while “swim with dolphins” was nominated 18 times at 18 different spots, we decided it should appear as only one nomination for our panellists to consider.

We hope you find the inspiration to get out and see this great country of ours, and of course we know you’ll think we missed a few Things To Do. That’s fine, that’s how it’s supposed to work – so we’ve set up a section on the website for you to tell us what you think should’ve made it.