10 hidden wonders to find around Australia

From spots to seek serenity in nature to mind-blowing landscapes and a new kind of tourist trail, these unique destinations and experiences are icons in the making that are hiding in plain sight.

This article is part of our 100 Australian Wonders series. Throughout the series, we explore our nation’s wonders across culture, nature, food, islands and many more. We hope it inspires your own exploration of Australia’s many wonders.

1. Rowley Shoals, WA

Travelling with: Carla Grossetti

Look down on Rowley Shoals from above and you might find sunlight catching on the somewhat-secret ecological treasure, scattering sequins over the sea.

Some 300 kilometres north-west of Broome, Rowley Shoals Marine Park is characterised by spectacular intertidal and subtidal coral reefs, exceptionally rich and diverse marine fauna and pristine waters.

The intertidal reefs, which comprise Clere, Imperieuse and Mermaid, are set about 30 to 40 kilometres apart. Pack your bathers: the shallow sparkling lagoons are popular with snorkellers thanks to the clarity of the water, colourful coral and abundant marine life.

Rowley Shoals Marine Park is characterised by spectacular intertidal and subtidal coral reefs. (Image: Tourism Australia)

2. Hawkesbury River, NSW

Travelling with: Imogen Eveson

Sitting on the balcony with the Hawkesbury River unspooled in front of you like molten silk, watching the colours change as the light fades over the ridges, it’s hard to imagine the centre of Sydney is little over an hour away.

Calabash Bay Lodge sits on the Hawkesbury River. (Image: Pablo Veiga)

The luxurious water-access-only Calabash Bay Lodge at a magnificent crook of the river provides total immersion into this other world. This is a place that slows your heart rate and enlivens your soul. You’ll find a boat and kayaks to untether and take out on the water at a most leisurely pace. And dinner cooked by a private chef to retreat back to in the evening.

Brave the river and captain your own boat. (Image: Nicholas Watt)

Book the Ultimate Hawkesbury Pearler’s Package to experience all of this plus a private tour of Broken Bay Pearl Farm’s local oyster leases and ‘shellar door’ to learn the secrets of pearl and oyster harvesting on the river.

Famed two-hatted restaurant Berowra Waters Inn is just a few oar strokes away, too.

Check into this luxe river lodge on Hawkesbury River. (Image: Pablo Veiga)

3. Swan River Trails, WA

Travelling with: Fleur Bainger

Sometimes, wonders are right under our noses. Take Western Australia’s Swan River Walk Trail, an 11-kilometre loop that circles both sides of the river in Perth’s CBD and its bookending bridges.

It’s packed with surprises, like how many waterbirds call from various nature ponds. Or the way you can spot jellyfish while cycling over the Causeway Bridge (a new, dedicated pedestrian and cycle bridge is set to open later this year) and how much public art dots the landscape.

Look out for the building-sized frillneck lizard and towering silver bird depicting first European contact by Noongar artist, Laurel Nannup.

Other eye-opening tracks include the two-kilometre-long Jenna Biddi Yorga loop in riverside Bicton, which follows an Aboriginal Dreaming trail. Or the Wadjemup Bidi, which traverses all of Wadjemup (Rottnest Island), itself known to Whadjuk Noongar people as a resting place of the spirits.

Take Western Australia’s Swan River Walk Trail. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

4. Litchfield’s swimming holes, NT

Travelling with: Megan Arkinstall

Litchfield National Park, just 90 minutes from Darwin, is an ancient landscape of thundering waterfalls that cascade into emerald pools, perfect for waterhole-hopping and doable in a day.

Surprise Creek Falls flows into two huge rock pools. (Image: Tourism NT/@75vibes_)

Travelling south from Darwin via Cox Peninsula Road, you’ll pass the swimmable Walker Creek, which carves through ancient rock, and Wangi Falls, which has a large plunge pool and grassy area. From here, loop up Litchfield Park Road to Florence Falls, a waterhole fed by twin falls, and Buley Rockhole, a series of shallow rock pools and deep plunge pools.

Return to Darwin via Batchelor, refreshed from your day of wild swimming (in designated areas only). Or linger longer in the park’s southern reaches, where the 4WD-only Reynolds Track leads to Sandy Creek and Surprise Creek Falls, two lesser-visited waterholes with camping facilities.

Dip into a waterhole fed by the twin falls. (Image: Tourism NT/@75vibes_)

5. Australia’s hot springs

Travelling with: Carla Grossetti

The healing benefits of bathing in hot springs – balneotherapy – have long been documented. In addition to the fact these thermal pools are likely to be at the edge of nature, with breathtaking backdrops, the actual act of soaking in mineral-rich waters serves to soothe aching muscles and calm busy minds.

Test the theory everywhere from Peninsula Hotsprings and the Mornington Peninsula’s newest sanctuary, Alba Thermal Springs & Spa, as part of a road trip along the new Great Victorian Bathing Trail.

And elsewhere in the country: from the warming waters of Talaroo Hot Springs in outback Queensland to Witjira-Dalhousie Springs in South Australia.

Soak in the mineral-rich waters of Peninsula Hot Springs. (Image: Ben Savage)

6. Bundanon, NSW

Travelling with: Imogen Eveson

Cradled by the soft folds of the Shoalhaven landscape, Bundanon is artist Arthur Boyd’s legacy: a wildlife sanctuary set on 1000 hectares that inspired much of his work and that he and wife Yvonne gifted to the nation in 1993. When the long-held dream of embedding an art museum in the landscape was realised in 2022, it marked the start of a new chapter.

Bundanon is an art museum embedded in a wild sanctuary. (Image: Adrian Lander)

Bundanon is many things, and best visited to be understood. Head here to see thought-provoking exhibitions, visit Arthur Boyd’s old paint-daubed studio and stately homestead, and the locavore cafe led by chef Douglas Innes-Will.

Visit Arthur Boyd’s old paint-daubed studio. (Image: Bundanon Archive)

The word Bundanon means ‘deep valley’ in Dharawal and Traditional Owners are consulted on everything from land management to cultural connection.

Absorb it all thoroughly with an overnight stay at the architecturally designed Bridge, which acts as a window to this ancient and absorbing landscape.

See the Fantastic Forms installation in Bundanon. (Image: Zan Wimberley)

7. Noosa Everglades, Qld

Travelling with: Katie Carlin

Cast off at sunrise to witness the ‘river of mirrors’ at its most spectacular. That’s when you’re likely to see osprey take flight as you glide through a blanket of waterlilies past ancient tea tree forests on the banks of the Noosa Everglades – one of only two everglades systems on Earth.

Be surrounded by lush hinterland at Noosa Everglades. (Image: Tourism and Events Queensland)

The pristine network of waterways is home to 40 per cent of Australia’s bird species and overlaps the Noosa and Great Sandy UNESCO Biosphere reserves, making it one of the world’s most pristine environments.

Explore it onboard a river cruise with Everglades Eco Safaris or kayak with Kanu Kapers, both award-winning ecotourism operators on the Sunshine Coast.

Cruise along the Noosa Everglades. (Image: Tourism and Events Queensland)

8. Bungle Bungle Range, WA

Travelling with: Imogen Eveson

Purnululu National Park’s World Heritage-listed Bungle Bungle Range erupts 300 metres out of grassy plains and is unlike anything you’ve ever seen: a cohort of bizarre beehive-shaped karst sandstone domes striped in black and orange, thanks to age-old stains, iron oxidisation and black algae.

Purnululu National Park’s World Heritage-listed Bungle Bungle Range. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

The ancient range was carved into shape more than 20 million years ago (from deposits that date back some 360 million years).

The Bungle Bungle Range is dotted with bizarre beehive-shaped karst sandstone domes. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

And while seeing it from above on a scenic flight is a must-do, getting up close at ground level with a Gija guide from Kingfisher Tours is to truly feel and understand this remarkable living landscape.

Get up close to Cathedral Gorge, a natural amphitheatre of red rock within the Bungle Bungle Ranges. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

9. Royal Exhibition Building Dome Promenade, Vic

Travelling with: Jo Stewart

Melbourne’s UNESCO Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building is often admired from afar. But visitors were finally welcomed to experience the incredible Dome Promenade and vistas of Melbourne’s skyline in 2022, a view unseen by most for 100 years.

Apart from being an architectural triumph, this grand landmark, completed in 1880, holds a wealth of significant stories crucial to Melbourne’s cultural and social history.

Book a tour to get a rare perspective of this enduring wonder that’s dominated inner Melbourne’s streetscape since its early days.

Take in the grandeur and allure of the Royal Exhibition Building. (Image: Eugene Hyland/ Museums Victoria)

10. Arnhem Land, NT

Travelling with: Imogen Eveson

Covering vast tracts of Australia’s northern fringes, Arnhem Land is a destination rich in First Nations cultures, rare wildlife and breathtaking scenery that needs to be experienced to be understood. A stay at one of three unique wilderness lodges is a good place to start.

Seven Spirit Bay is hidden on the Cobourg Peninsula, a scallop-edged finger of West Arnhem Land that uncurls into the Arafura Sea north of Kakadu and forms part of Garig Gunak Barlu National Park. With spectacular views of the glittering bay it rests above and adventures on tap into the surrounding environments of eucalypt forests, billabongs, mangroves and turquoise seas, a stay here is a highlight of any Outback Spirit tour through Arnhem Land.

At Davidson’s Arnhemland Safari Lodge, the headline attraction is the abundance of rock art galleries at the at Awunbarna (Mt Borradaile), which you’ll explore with the legendary camp as your base.

And in Northeast Arnhem Land, on an island off the coast of Nhulunbuy on Yolngu Homelands, Banubanu Beach Retreat offers a tropical-paradise getaway layered with a rich cultural experience.

Keep reading our 100 Australian Wonders series; from road trips, outback and cultural wonders to foodie wonders and many more.