Top 15 experiences you shouldn’t miss in Australia
Australia has it all for the adrenalin-loaded adventure junkie. Australia is home to is the exotic Great Barrier Reef, golden beaches, crystal clear water, flora and fauna, wide open spaces, basalt plains studded with extinct volcanoes, scenic mountain ranges, rugged wilderness, surrounding tropical islands, extensive coastlines, vast rivers, and the oldest, deadliest rainforest in the world. Read on to know more about the kinds of adventure activities you can enjoy in Australia.
1. Sea Diving
Australias crystal clear waters and teeming ocean life tempt people from all over the world to experience diving in Australian waters. The tropical waters of Australias East Coast which houses the Great Barrier Reef are an adventure divers delight. Another great diving experience is to be had on the exquisite Ningaloo Reef in West Australia, where youll find some of the most stunning marine life on earth. If you are a professional diver, youll enjoy the waters tremendously. For people who are not familiar with diving, courses are readily available, so theres no need to feel left out.
2. Four Wheel Adventure Driving
Imagine rattling about on the roughest terrain imaginable, climbing up hills and rock mounds on Jeep Wrangler, hanging on for dear life! For the ultimate 4-wheel drive adventurer, theres no place like the Australian outback, with its fantastic 4WD destinations that include Kakadu National Park, Cape York and Fraser Island. You can hire 4WD vehicles and hit the outback on your own, or even take a tour where someone else does the driving and you can just sit back and enjoy the thrill of driving on the terrain.
3. Rogue Wave Surfing
If diving deep underwater is not what gets you going, then stick to the surface! Surfing Australias rogue waves is no less thrilling; there’s nothing like the thrill of riding a huge wave, feeling the ocean rush past around you. Once youve surfed Australias waters, youll be hooked for life. Australian surf schools actually offer guarantees that students will stand up on their surfboards during their first session itself. Thats how dedicated people are to surfing there; no one wants to be left behind. What about you?
4. Jet Boating
Powering through rough waters on a jet boat, beating the speed of the waves with jet propulsion while enjoying the speed thrill of your life! Sounds fantastic? It is. Jet boating is the favorite adrenalin fix for many adventure junkies in the world. Australia sees its share of jet boating fans, visiting Gold Coast,
the Sydney Harbor and Perth’s Swan River every year for their jet boating fix. Check out this adventure option today if youve not tried it out yet!
5. Blue Sky Skydiving
Viewing the unbelievably beautiful sceneries of Australia from high up in the sky, while drifting along on a silk parachute. Sounds like nirvana? What can be better? How about what comes before you drift peacefully on that parachute? How about throwing yourself out of a plane thats 10,000 feet high, experiencing a mind-blowing free-fall ecstasy, screaming for your very life, your heart thudding in your ears? If you are a true adventurer, you must try skydiving for the ultimate thrill, especially over the blue Pacific Ocean overlooking the picturesque Cape Byron Lighthouse.
6. Hot Air Ballooning
Take a break from the high adrenalin adventures for a day and try hot air ballooning for a relaxing thrill. Watch beautiful Australian shores, hills, forests, rivers and cities drift by below you as you float high above the ground in a balloon. Youll never forget your first hot air balloon adventure, especially if you go on this magical thrill with a loved one. Try the hot air balloon tours over Hunter Valley and Yarra Valley, and watch the wildlife thunder past you on the ground as you drift.
7. White Water Rafting
Do you seek the ultimate thrill, pulled by the need to pit yourself against nature at her wildest? Then white water rafting is what you need. Sitting in an insignificant inflatable boat while hanging on to a plastic oar, trying to beat the roaring, churning and crazy waters of Australian rivers has to be the greatest thrill of life. Try out white water rafting on Mission Beach; raft down the Tully River, Australia’s most deadly white water rafting destination.
8. Backpacking
Experience true Australian wilderness on a backpacking trip through its forests, valleys and river plains, teeming with dangerous reptiles, crocodiles and other wild creatures. The Great Dividing Range in New South Wales is home to rugged lands, with magnificent virgin forests filling valleys, cloaking peaks and escarpments. In this area, the adventurer trekker and rock climber will find unlimited challenges, with vast bushlands, scenic fire trails and rugged back roads.
9. Jungle Surfing
The best way to explore Australias ancient rainforests is to whiz along on a series of flying fox cables and zip lines thatll give you a great birds eye view of the rainforest over treetops. What better way to truly experience the magnificence of the rainforests than to speed through at a height, not having to actually be exposed to its many dangers? The Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours gives you this once in a lifetime adventure thrill in the Daintree Rainforest. Dont miss it!
10. Sailing
Sail the open, exciting blue seas of Australia on a true blue sailing ship! Australia is home to some spectacular sailing destinations such as the Sydney Harbor and the Whitsundays. Enjoy a true nautical experience all around Australias sunny coast and feel the wind in your hair. Regular sailing trips are organized in and around coastal cities in Australia and you dont have to be a boating expert to enjoy them.
11. Wilderness Camping
Camp in the Australian wilderness, and be home with this rugged countrys many creatures, old forests and dry plains. Ensure that you take plenty of water with you, and take all possible vaccinations before you leave. Pack the toughest camping gear you can find and hit the rugged wilderness and glistening beaches of Broomes Cable Beach, Kununurras Lake Argyle , Windjana Gorge, El Questro, Kakadu and Darwin regions.
12. Flying
Jump into the cockpit of a vintage tiger moth and get going on a flight of a lifetime. Vintage Tiger Moth planes are available to take you flying on 60-minute trips over the inspiring Glass House Mountains and the exotic Bribie Island, where you can get a spectacular cockpit view of Australias bountiful nature and take all the pictures you want. If flying is your thing and if you enjoy the thrills of whizzing around in a small plane, dipping and bending with the wind, then Australias Tiger Moth flying adventures are for you.
13. Deep Sea Scuba Diving
Try deep-sea scuba diving in Lord Howe Island, off Australia’s East coast, in the world’s most Southern coral reef. Explore the 50 dive sites in this remote island; spot black cod, butterfly fish and other sea fauna in the exotic waters. Take videos and pictures of the volcanic seascape. Australias beautiful coral reefs offer exciting, unparalleled seascapes for the avid scuba diver in you.
14. Rafting, Canoeing And Kayaking
Are you an avid boating enthusiast? Is your idea of the perfect adventure tied to great rafting or kayaking experiences? Then you must experience the Great Dividing Range of Australia, which offers unlimited challenges for rafters and kayakers. Rivers carve their way through the ranges here, passing through narrow gorges, offering the best venues for canoeing and rafting.
15. Cave Exploring
Australia has everything for the avid foot adventurer, with its many rugged mountains, hills, valleys and escarpments. Needless to say, the hills of Australia are riddled with beautiful caves begging to be explored. For the cave explorer, Australian caves offer the opportunity to also study aboriginal art on cave walls deep into the mountains. What are you waiting for?
Teena Celis is a Content Developer at Adrenalin, an Australian experience provider.
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What about walking to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge? It’s quite expensive and booked out months in advance, but that just proves how popular it is.
Lists like this show why people can spend months travelling around Australia and still not get to do everything they had hoped to.
Sign me up for the Jungle Surfing please!
brilliant list there is so much to do in australia and in each place. as matt suggested the bridge climb in sydney is great just make sure you haven’t had a drink before as you are breathalised. i have also tried quad biking in the sand dunes – great fun. camping under the stars in the red centre, hiking kings canyon, horse riding on the beach to name only a few. i am always planning new expereiences every time i go!
“rogue wave” surfing? That’s a strange description – I don’t think this blogger has tried some of the activities :/