worldly wonders

From stunning natural beauty to iconic architecture, Australia’s World Heritage Sites are places everyone should put on their to-do list

WORDS KAREN HALABI

As the world’s largest island continent, Australia is blessed with more than its fair share of natural wonders. It has some of the world’s oldest rainforests, one-third of the world’s protected marine areas as well as remarkable ranges and wilderness. So much so that we have 17 UNESCO World Heritage classified sites, 15 of which are natural sites. Now, the Sydney Opera House has joined the list.

Unlike other parts of the world, you’re not going to find most of Australia’s heritage sites in cities, in the form of ancient buildings or even ruins. Most have been sitting around for eons – literally – and you’ll have to get there by plane, car, boat and even foot.

So, what are our World Heritage Sites? Get your packed lunch ready as we head to our top 10.

Sydney Opera House

Photo: Photolibrary

Listed only in 2007, this is the youngest building ever to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. A masterpiece of modern architecture, it was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon. When he designed the Opera House in the 50s no one knew exactly how to build it – its white sail-like structure is still considered a major engineering feat. Today, the Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s busiest performing arts centres with 2,500 events every year and 4.5 million visitors.

Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, Melbourne

Photo: Photoliabrary/JTB PhotoBuilt in Melbourne’s Carlton Gardens for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, this Victorian-style building is one of the great enduring monuments to the mid-19th century International Exhibition movement. Despite the great impact of this movement worldwide and the impressive nature of the buildings built, few remain. Even fewer retain their authenticity in terms of original location and condition. The Royal Exhibition Building, in its original setting of the Carlton Gardens, is one of the rare survivors.

The Blue Mountains, New South Wales

A one-hour drive from Sydney is the city’s second listing, the Blue Mountains – “blue” because of the mist of oil released into the air by 90 species of eucalypts. While the location of the Wollemi Pine, a living fossil dating back to the age of the dinosaurs, is being kept secret to protect its destruction, you can see the Three Sisters and Jenolan Caves, or go bushwalking, rock climbing or abseiling. With more than 1 million hectares of forest, gorges, ravines and sandstone plateaus to explore, it’s worth staying for a while.

Gondwana Rainforests, New South Wales and Queensland

Photo: Tourism AustraliaSome of the world’s oldest ferns can be found in the rainforests of the eastern coast bordering New South Wales and Queensland. Comprising 366,000 hectares, Gondwana is now mostly national park. Go bushwalking, hiking or camping in these ancient rainforests, where you’ll find graded tracks that lead to crystal clear waterfalls and glassy rivers, then pristine white beaches. Accessible from Ballina Byron and Gold Coast airports.

The Queensland Wet Tropics

Photo: PhotolibraryThe best-known part of this site is the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest in the world at 135 million years. A 1,200 sq km tropical rainforest north of Cairns, it supports more than 3,000 plant species, one-third of Australia’s 315 mammals (including 13 mammals such as ringtail possums and tree-kangaroos found nowhere else in the world) and 430 species of birds. You can take an Aboriginal walking tour, a river wildlife cruise or a bird-sighting safari before lazing upon its world-famous beaches. Accessible from Cairns.

The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland

Photo: Tourism QueenslandA maze of 2,900 reefs and islands, this is the largest marine park in the world stretching from Cape York (Cooktown) down to Bundaberg, along the north-east coast of Australia. The reef is the only living organism that can be seen from outer space and is also the only natural wonder of the world that is underwater. Even if you don’t snorkel or scuba dive, you can view the brilliant marine life from viewing platforms and glass-bottomed boats. Accessible from Hamilton Island, Whitsunday Coast (Proserpine), Cairns, Mackay or Townsville.

Fraser Island, Queensland

Photo: Tourism QueenslandAt 184,000 hectares, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world with the largest rainforest trees growing in sand. The island was listed because of its superlative natural phenomena and beauty: long, uninterrupted, sandy white beaches flanked by strikingly coloured sand cliffs, sand dunes, freshwater lakes and tall rainforests. You can four-wheel drive down Seventy-Five Mile Beach or up and down the sand dunes and cliffs, spy dingoes and there are plenty of places to stay, including a resort, cabins and campsites. Accessible from Fraser Coast.

Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory

Photos: Tourism Australia

Some of the world’s oldest trees can be found in the Tasmanian Wilderness. Driving is the best way to see the Apple Isle’s forests, or take a World Heritage cruise on the Gordon or Franklin Rivers. Stay in a mountain lodge at Cradle Mountain or camp out and go bushwalking. Accessible from Launceston and Hobart.

Tasmanian Wilderness

Photo: Tourism AustraliaThe Northern Territory boasts the magnificent Kakadu National Park. Covering almost 20,000 sq km, Kakadu rivals the Okavango Delta in Botswana as a vast repository of flora and fauna, including crocodiles, wallabies, dingoes, goannas and 289 bird species. One of the best ways to experience the mighty Kakadu is from a boat cruise or canoe on the Katherine River, which continues to run even through the dry season. Accessible from Darwin.

Shark Bay, Western Australia

Photo: PhotolibraryThe West’s Coral Coast is where the beach and desert meet. You can hand-feed bottlenose dolphins from the beach at Monkey Mia, see the oldest and largest living fossils in the world, and walk a 60km-long beach made entirely of shells. The turquoise waters of Shark Bay are so clear that docile dugongs, manta rays and marine turtles are easy to spot, while divers flock here to go wreck diving and see dugongs. Accessible from Perth by car or bus.