Things to do in Australia

Pick up your rental car and drive from one of the world's most iconic cities to the largest coral reef on the planet whilst enjoying some of east coast Australia's best loved locations, including the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and Lamington National Park, all to be found before reaching the halfway point in Brisbane.

Driving northwards from Queensland's capital finds no let up in the incredible coastal scenery with chances to camp on Fraser Island's Seventy Five Mile Beach, before continuing to Bargara and Rockhampton, about as good as it gets for those seeking white sand at the southern start of the Great Barrier Reef. As you get closer to Cairns it's the breathtaking Whitsundays that steal the show with shimmering shallows and glorious gardens of coral allowing a glimpse at things to come as you experience wet tropics rainforest and the Great Green Way before finally reaching your end goal. All that’s left is to drop off your car at Cairns airport and head for home.

Researching the origins and oppression of Australia's Aboriginal people is heartbreaking stuff which is why a visit to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory is a must for anyone wishing to find out more, as well as learning about the spiritual significance of Dreamtime. Guided tours allow access to Aboriginal artwork on an unprecedented scale before embarking on trips through Kakadu National Park and onwards to the Cobourg Peninsula where evidence of abandoned British settlements brings the relationship between man and nature into even starker contrast.

There is no better way to truly experience the remarkable channels and reef islands around the Great Barrier Reef other than to embark on a small boat cruise accompanied by a marine biologist. Sailing to Thetford Reef and Sudbury Cay before heading out on a glass-bottomed boat invites every opportunity to immerse yourself within an underwater world alive with tropical fish and hundreds of species of coral, with expert advice ensuring a much deeper experience in every sense.

Guided snorkelling tours allow you to explore the most impressive shallows with cruises through the Hinchinbrook Channel and onwards to Pelorus Island unveiling trails through rainforests and mangroves whilst dolphins, turtles and dugongs appear offshore. Stepping foot on rainforest-covered islands, such as Dunk and Nathan, offer further opportunities to revel in the region's wildlife with sun birds, doves and blue-winged butterflies fluttering overhead as starfish, sea cucumbers and red emperors call for another dip over the world's most majestic marine environment, the Great Barrier Reef.

Tasmania’s wildlife is as eclectic as its landscapes with tiny offshore islands, like Bruny, offering opportunities to spot white wallabies appearing through cloud forests whilst a cruise to the outermost reaches of the Great Southern Ocean conjures up shearwaters, sea eagles and huge colonies of fur seals against 300m cliffs. From Mount Field and the Western Wilderness to spotting platypus, quolls and Tasmanian devils on a river cruise up the Arthur River in the Tarkine Rainforest, nothing beats Tasmania for wildlife tours.