Update Your Travel Bucket List with Some Brand New Australian Experiences

You don’t have to travel to the ends of the earth for incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Update your travel bucket list with some of the very latest must-not-miss Australian experiences now

Not many of us have the luxury of travelling the world, or checking items off travel bucket lists one far-flung destination at a time. Luckily, some of the world’s rarest sights and experiences are only a flight away in Australia.
 

1. Swim with Gentle Giants of the Ocean

Just over three hours from Perth to Exmouth by plane, the tropical Ningaloo Reef is home to one of world’s most elusive creatures — the whale shark. Score a once-in-a-lifetime chance to swim and snorkel with the world’s biggest but gentlest sharks, which congregate at the World Heritage-listed reef every year between April and July. 

2. Scale the Sydney Harbour Bridge

If you are not easily scared of heights, then this experience should go right to the top of your bucket list. Scale the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which stands at 134 metres above the harbour as the world’s largest steel arch. For an even more unique twist to this experience, lap up the city’s highlights from a whole new perspective at twilight or later in the night.  

3. Take On a World-Class Rollercoaster

Just when you thought that you had seen everything, Warner Brothers’ Movie World on the Gold Coast unleashes the fastest and highest rollercoaster in the southern hemisphere. Release your inner speed demon on Movie World’s DC Rivals HyperCoaster, which sends you through thrilling twists and turns at more than 61 metres high. Labelled one of the best rollercoasters in the world, it is less than an hour’s drive from Brisbane and also offers adrenaline junkies the option of riding it in reverse. Yes, you read correctly.

4. Immerse yourself in an Underwater Playground

Who says you need a wetsuit to go underwater at the Great Barrier Reef? The newly opened Cairns Aquarium in Far North Queensland lets you get up close with rare and unusual underwater inhabitants from two World Heritage-listed sites — the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics — in a single location. 

Meet majestic sea creatures, including hammerhead sharks and leopard stingrays, the highly endangered freshwater sawfish and, the whiptail stingray: the largest freshwater ray in the world. Looking for a fresh dining experience? Tuck into modern Australian-Italian cuisine at the on-site restaurant AquaLuna, complete with a 13.5-metre shark exhibit.  

Put that wanderlust into action!