Australia Things to Do

Phillip Island is best known for its population of fairy penguins. Being just 87 miles (140km) to the south of Melbourne, Phillip Island is often visited on a day trip. In fact, about 3.5 million tourists make it down to Phillip Island every year – and yes, a majority of those people are drawn in to see the Penguin Parade.

Combined with the romantic depiction of said lifestyle thanks to the 2008 movie Australia, the Australian Outback is almost synonymous with cattle ranches, as well as a tourism destination for some of the more adventurous travelers down under.

This post was originally published on Viator’s Ayers Rock Things to Do site. You can read the full article on What to See and Do at Ayers Rock there, but here’s a sneak peak!

Ayers Rock, or Uluru, is considered the spiritual center of Australia, and is, coincidentally, located at just about the center of the country as well.

This post originally appeared on Viator’s travel blog as the Top 25 Things to Do in Australia and New Zealand as part of our annual Viator Travel Awards.

 Each year we check out traveler reviews, data from the millions of people who check out Viator.com during the year, and information on which tours in the region travelers book most often and select the best things to do in the region. From the list, here are some of the top things to do in Australia! 

With the general definition of the Outback being any area outside of the urban areas of Australia, the Outback is composed of thousands of miles of land with no exact dimensions. Covered in red dirt roads, treeless plains and bush, the Outback makes for a place with not many actual activities to partake in, but with all the glory and wonder that creates the main draw of Australia.

What started as a ploy to clean up beverage cans that littered the streets during the Cyclone Tracy rebuild in 1974 has turned into a fun annual event in Darwin. The Darwin Beer Can Regatta is the only day of the year where you will happen upon floating watercraft concocted from empty beer and soda cans, bottles or milk cartons, each competing to be named the best.

To Queenslanders, summer means the beginning of the ‘wet’. Starting in December and finishing at the end of February, the wet season brings increased heat, humidity, rainfall and the occasional thunderstorm.

While Australia‘s long stretches of golden coastline are still popular for tourists at this time (especially on the drier southern beaches), it is Queensland’s marine life that is really thriving, making this the best time to witness some incredible natural phenomena that take place both in the water and on the beach.

Surfing has been synonymous with Australian culture since the late 60s and no matter what the weather or season you’ll see surfers bobbing on the water all around Australia’s coast. But late summer is when the country’s surfing action really heats up and everyone, from first-timers and grommets (young surfers) to old-timers and professionals, grabs a board and hits the waves.

Australia offers unique opportunities to explore the incredible diversity of life that lives in its surrounding ocean. In no other single country in the world can you dive with whale sharks and sea dragons and swim & snorkel along the world’s largest reef system.

So in a country as big as Australia, where do you start? Here’s our guide to the standout dive spots in each state.