Australia Is A Vast Country, Though Most Visitors Stay On The Same Tried And Tested Track, Ticking Off Well-touristed Pitstops Along The Way. But, Of Course, There's Plenty More To See Beyond The Usual Sydney, Rock And Reef Holiday Triangle. Here’s Our Pi

1. For wildlife: Mackay, Queensland

Surrounded by sugarcane and with a main street well shaded by tropical foliage, Mackay is a great base for visiting Eungella National forest.

This charming jungle has rivers abundant enough in platypus to make seeing one almost ensured. Your finest chance is at Broken River, where the viewing platform is surrounded by ferns and vines-- load a picnic and wait a while in silence to see them.

Afterwards, take a hike on walking tracks through the trees, ideal for birdwatching and goanna spotting, or head back to town for a stroll http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=australia along the golden sands of Harbour Beach.

2. For epic sundowns: Tower Hill, Victoria

Continue just a little further west from the Great Ocean Roadway and you'll discover this volcanic crater. Encircled by beds of ash, it's a fertile green sanctuary that is home to koalas and kangaroos aplenty.

The assisted strolls from the visitor centre will present you to the wildlife, as well as to the Aboriginal history-- and you'll find out how to rustle up some bushtucker. But the sunset-- finest seen from the crater's rim-- is the centerpiece. Remain afterwards and join the assisted night walk to see the animals at its most active.

3. For incredible pictures: Devil's Marbles, Northern Area

You'll need to commit to a long drive for this one-- however it's well worth it. Some 130km south of Tennant Creek, en path to Alice Springs, you'll find a geological phenomenon: a fistful of rock marbles flung across the Wilderness.

Imagine them as the eponymous marbles, or as the eggs of the rainbow serpent from the regional Aboriginal story. In any case, they're perfect fodder for the eager photographer.

4. For wine: Denmark, Western Australia

Let Margaret River keep its crowds of red wine tourers and head instead to Denmark on the south coast. Here you'll discover a laid-back cluster of store wineries and hyper-local restaurants beneath a karri tree canopy. Head for the hills inland and check out Castelli Estate for excellent Pinot Noir and Shiraz or struck Howard Park for wines that integrate the best of both Denmark and Margaret River grapes.

Don't miss out on Pepper and Salt for dinner, where chef Silas uses the location's premium produce to produce meals inspired by his Fijian-Indian heritage. And check out in March or April for Taste Excellent Southern, which celebrates the area's superb local produce.

5. For an amazing journey: The Nullarbor Plain, South Australia

Superlatives are plentiful on the Nullarbor-- it's the planet's largest single piece of limestone, the world's longest stretch of straight train track and even deep space's longest golf course.

All that produces one very long (but legendary) drive, punctuated only by lookouts over the Great Australian Bight (next stop Antarctica), dusty roadhouses and the odd pitstop to hit a golf ball, if you're so inclined.

6. For outdoor camping and climbs up: Freycinet National top forest, Tasmania

Freycinet may be among Tassie's a lot of visited sites, but that does not indicate you'll bump into anyone else on a walk here. Go out on the 31km peninsula circuit and you'll soon shake off any fellow visitors (so bring plenty of water) as you tramp anti-clockwise around the peninsula from the Hazards Beach Track to the Wineglass Bay lookout.

Outdoor camping is at Cooks Beach and there's time to climb Mount Freycinet (the top is 620m above water level). When you're done, kick off those hiking boots and dig your toes into the pristine white sands of Wineglass Bay.

7. For unbeatable hiking: New England National Park, New South Wales

Ancient rain forest cloaks the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, much of it an inaccessible wilderness that would easily pass for the Amazon. New England National Park opens this UNESCO World Heritage rain forest for visitors, using strolling trails through the snow gums and lookouts from which the view stretches all the method to the coast.

Take the Eagles Nest track, a 2.2 km loop, and you'll see Antarctic beech trees covered in fungus, endemic beech orchids and trickling waterfalls, often frozen in winter. You'll eventually reach Point lookout for those scenic jungle views.