Ningaloo Coast
Ningaloo Reef © Tourism Western Australia
Western Australia's Ningaloo Coast, noted for its near-shore reefs, whale sharks and coastal karst, is the state's third World Heritage site, after Purnululu National Park and Shark Bay.
Purnululu National Park
Piccaninny Creek at Purnululu © Tourism Western Australia
Purnululu National Park, also known as the Bungle Bungles, features spectacular rounded rock towers alternately striped in orange and black. In July 2003, Purnululu National Park and the Bungle Bungle range were declared a World Heritage site in recognition of the area's "outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view.
Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens
Photo: John Gollings, courtesy Tourism Victoria © Tourism Victoria
Just north of Melbourne city centre along the route of the free City Circle tram lies the Royal Exhibition Building in its Carlton Gardens setting. The building and its gardens were inscribed in 2004 by the United Nations as a World Heritage site, one of 16 Australian World Heritage sites and the first Australian structure to receive World Heritage recognition.
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shark Bay sunset © Tourism Western Australia
Shark Bay's name evokes images of deadly, predatory, man-eating sharks. In fact, Shark Bay on the western coast of Western Australia, a World Heritage site, is more home to dugongs, dolphins and stromatolites. It is a vast 2.3 million hectares of a fascinating aquatic world, a diver's paradise (where diving is allowed), and a place where you can almost shake hands with the dolphins.
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House © Tourism New South Wales
The iconic building on Sydney Harbour, Sydney Opera House, has joined other famous world structures such as India's Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China when it was inscribed a World Heritage Building in 2007. Sydney Opera House was described by the World Heritage Committee as a "daring and visionary experiment that has had an enduring influence on the emergent architecture of the late 20th-century. The building is a great artistic monument and an icon."
Tasmanian Wilderness
Sir John Falls in the Tasmanaian Wilderness, courtesy Tourism Tasmania and Joe Shemesh
With an area of more than 1 million hectares, and comprising a fifth of the island state of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Wilderness is one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests in the world. A place of peaks, gorges, rivers, caves, endemic flora, rare and endangered fauna, and — in so many parts of it — impenetrable forests, the Tasmanian Wilderness is a place for explorations, adventure and simply being with Nature at its most pristine.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Uluru in the heart of Australia © Yourism NT
There is no mistaking Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It is distinctively home to the iconic rock monolith that is Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock. Located in the Red Centre of Australia, the park draws innumerable visitors yearly: to gasp at the imposing presence and changing colors of Uluru, and to explore and take camel treks through Kata Tjuta.
Wet Tropics of Queensland
Daintree National Park © Tourism Queensland
With more than 100 scenic spots to visit, the Wet Tropics of Queensland offer not only striking scenic vistas but also a variety of river and rainforest activities. Some of its outstanding — if not astounding — features include Queensland's highest peaks, Bartle Frere and Bellenden Ker, and Australia's longest single-drop waterfall, the 305-metre (1000-foot) Wallaman Falls.
Willandra Lakes Region
Mungo National Park © Tourism New South Wales
They were a system of lakes in the Pleistocene Epoch during the last Ice Age and today are dry lake beds with salt-tolerant low bushes and grasses. Dunes have been formed by prevailing winds, and erosion has sculpted the sand and clay into dramatic formations such as the Walls of China at Mungo National Park, part of the World Heritage-listed Willandra Lakes Region inscribed by the United Nations as a World Heritage site.
