All 100 Aussie Wonders

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Discover all the top 100 Aussie Wonders.

Wild coastlines, cultural institutions, gourmet delights, epic road trips… Australia is full of wonders, from icons to the lesser-known. Here, we’ve curated 100 Aussie Wonders to discover across the nation. Get ready to explore all the things that make Australia the extraordinary place it is (like the epic shot above taken by Salty Wings of Roebuck Bay in Broome, WA).

Here is the complete list to inspire your own travels this year and beyond.

Iconic wonders

See Australia’s iconic wonders here.

1. Uluru, Northern Territory

2. Murray River, New South Wales and Victoria

3. Sydney Harbour, New South Wales

4. Great Barrier Reef, Queensland

5. Hunter Valley, New South Wales

6. Quokkas of Wadjemup (Rottnest Island), Western Australia

7. Australia’s Big Things, across Australia

8. Parliament House, Australian Capital Territory

9. Luxury Lodges of Australia, across Australia

10. Aussie pubs, across Australia

Natural wonders

See Australia’s natural wonders here.

11. Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Tasmania

12. Aurora australis, Tasmania

13. Gorgeous gorges across Australia, across Australia

14. Kiama Blowhole, New South Wales

15. Australia’s wonderous waterfalls, across Australia

16. Remarkable rocks, across Australia

17. Cassowaries of Mission Beach, Queensland

18. Daintree Rainforest, Queensland

19. Christmas Island

20. Ningaloo/Nyinggulu, Western Australia

Outback wonders

See Australia’s outback wonders here.

21. Flinders Ranges, South Australia

22. Lake Argyle, Western Australia

23. Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory

24. Mungo National Park, New South Wales

25. Undara lava tubes, Queensland

26. Outback wildflowers of Western Australia

27. Qantas Founders Museum, Queensland

28. The Ghan, multi-state journey

29. Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, South Australia

30. Larapinta Trail, Northern Territory

Cultural wonders

See Australia’s cultural wonders here.

31. Tiwi Islands art, Northern Territory

32. Garma Festival, Northern Territory

33. Tamworth Country Music Festival, New South Wales

34. Australian Music Vault, Victoria

35. Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, Northern Territory

36. Mad Max 2 Museum, New South Wales

37. Indigenous art fairs, across Australia

38. Australian Open, Victoria

39. Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Victoria

40. Norfolk Island

Urban wonders

See Australia’s urban wonders here.

41. WA Museum Boola Bardip, Western Australia

42. Bendigo’s art scene, Victoria

43. Adelaide Oval, South Australia

44. Flinders Street Photo Booth, Victoria

45. Melbourne’s laneways, Victoria

46. The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre, New South Wales

47. Newcastle’s food scene, New South Wales

48. Balumbul/Umpherston Sinkhole, Mt Gambier, South Australia

49. Mona, Tasmania

50. National Arboretum, Australian Capital Territory

Foodie wonders

See Australia’s foodie wonders here.

51. Aboriginal Bush Traders cafe, Northern Territory

52. Aussie oysters, across Australia

53. Tokyo Lamington, New South Wales

54. Australian coffee culture, across Australia

55. Bilpin cider, New South Wales

56. The Agrarian Kitchen, Tasmania

57. LANGTONS Classification of Australian Wine

58. The Aussie sausage sizzle

59. Aussie spirits

60. Sydney Fish Market, New South Wales

Coastal wonders

See Australia’s coastal wonders here.

61. Kimberley Coast, Western Australia

62. Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, New South Wales

63. Australia’s waves

64. Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia

65. Ocean pools of New South Wales

66. Cod Hole Dive Site, Queensland

67. Cable Beach, Western Australia

68. Esperance from the air, Western Australia

69. Orcas of Bremer Bay, Western Australia

70. wukalina Walk, Tasmania

Island wonders

See Australia’s island wonders here.

71. Climbing Lord Howe Island’s Mt Gower, New South Wales

72. Torres Strait in a day

73. Little penguins of Phillip Island, Victoria

74. Whitehaven Beach, Queensland

75. Cocos (Keeling) Islands

76. Brisbane’s islands, Queensland

77. Kangaroo Island’s Ligurian honey bees, South Australia

78. K’gari, Queensland

79. Lizard Island, Queensland

80. Maria Island, Tasmania

Hidden wonders

See Australia’s hidden wonders here.

81. Rowley Shoals, Western Australia

82. Hawkesbury River, New South Wales

83. Swan River Trails, Western Australia

84. Litchfield’s swimming holes, Northern Territory

85. Australia’s hot springs, across Australia

86. Bundanon, New South Wales

87. Noosa Everglades, Queensland

88. Bungle Bungle Range, Western Australia

89. Royal Exhibition Building Dome Promenade, Victoria

90. Arnhem Land, Northern Territory

Road trip wonders

See Australia’s road trip wonders here.

91. Adelaide to Birdsville (and beyond)

92. Great Ocean Road, Victoria

93. Waterfall Way, New South Wales

94. Silo Art Trail, Victoria

95. Great Beach Drive, Queensland

96. Prosecco Road, Victoria

97. Cairns to Cape York, Queensland

98. Tassie’s Tasting Trail, Tasmania

99. Savannah Way, multi-state journey

100. Gibb River Road, Western Australia

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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

    Chloe CannBy Chloe Cann
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    Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington , like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

    We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

    A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

    inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
    Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours . While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

    holding Portarlington mussels
    See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

    As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

    The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

    blue mussels off Portarlington
    Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

    Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

    Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli
    Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

    “Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

    a hand holding a Portarlington mussel
    Mussels are a sustainable food.

    Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

    But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

    guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard
    Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.