Positioned near the begging of the Barron River at the eastern edge of the Atherton Tableland, Kuranda is a hugely important area for biodiversity in the Tropical North of Australia. The area is home to Kuranda National Park and Barron Gorge National Park, which both belong to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and are two of Australia’s most beautiful parks. Completely surrounded by breathtaking rainforest, the Kuranda offers a large array of attractions for visitors to enjoy when they visit.
If you are in the Melbourne, Australia area and you are looking for a fun and unique part-day excursion to enjoy, then the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island may be just what you are looking for. On this small stretch of coastline in Southern Australia, the world’s smallest penguin is the area’s biggest attraction. Because of their small size and relatively clumsy disposition on land, the Phillip Island penguins spend the majority of their time at sea. However, they do need to come back to land each day to rest and feed their young. Smartly, they do this at night when the eyesight of the birds of prey in the area is less sharp and the penguins are more protected.
When most people think of Australia, two of the most common things that come to mind are Koalas and breathtaking coastline. If visiting Australia is on your bucket list and seeing these two things are dreams of yours, then you will absolutely love the Great Ocean Road in Southern Australia. I mean, how can you not with the word “great” right in the name! Seriously though, the Great Ocean Road is much more than a coastal road, it is a national treasure. Not only does the road pass thru Australia’s iconic Shipwreck Coast and provide a look at some of the country’s most stunning coastline, but it also allows visitors to get up-close to some of Australia’s most beloved wildlife in the wild.
Established in 1842, and now the capital city of the Australian state of New South Wales, Sydney is the largest city in Australia by both population and by size. While its size is impressive, the city is as busy as it is big, with roughly 10 million domestic visitors and 4 million international visitors coming to Sydney each year. With over 200 beautiful beaches, ranging from a few feet in size to several kilometers long, it is no wonder that Sydney attracts so many people from around Australia and the rest of the world. In addition to the beautiful beaches, the amazing Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House are a few of the other popular tourist draws in the city.
If you are an outdoor adventure enthusiast, there may be no location on Earth that is better suited to fulfill your dreams than the city of Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island. Widely regarded to be the “Adventure Capital of the World”, every year Queenstown attracts millions of tourists from throughout the world who flock to the city to test their mettle bungy jumping, skydiving, jetboat riding, canyon swinging, downhill mountain bike riding, and a myriad of other amazing outdoor adventures. Around every corner in the city it seems is the headquarters of another adventure activity.
New Zealand has an abundance of breathtaking national parklands, especially on the country’s South Island. This is what has made the South Island of New Zealand one of the top destinations for travel photographers and travel adventurers from around the world. Out of all of the beautiful parklands the country has, the most well-known may be the stunning Aoraki\Mount Cook National Park. In addition to being the home of Mount Cook, which is New Zealand’s tallest mountain, it is also home to the Tasman Glacier, which is the largest glacier in New Zealand.
New Zealand’s South Island is full of amazing and beautiful landscapes. With stunning mountains and crystal blue, glacially-fed lakes, there isn’t a shortage of breathtaking scenery. While Lake Tekapo may not have the notoriety that some of the more well-known spots on the South Island have, it isn’t for a lack of beauty. On the contrary, it happens to be one of the South Island’s most beautiful landscapes.
As the second-largest of three parallel lakes located along the north side of the Mackenzie Basin, Lake Tekapo, as well as the small town by the same name, are enveloped by some of the prettiest snow-capped peaks in the Southern Alps. The waters of the lake, which are fed by glaciers that originate high within the surrounding mountain peaks, is a beautiful color of blue that is a trademark of glacially-fed bodies of water.
There are a lot of amazing adventures to be had on New Zealand’s South Island. Milford Sound and the Milford Track is something that every traveler should experience, the city of Wanaka is home to quite a few of New Zealand’s most infamous hiking tracks, and the city of Queenstown is known across the globe as the “adventure capital of the world”. However, none of these adventure locations in New Zealand are quite as unique or as special as the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers on the west coast of the South Island.
There are a lot of incredibly beautiful places on New Zealand’s South Island, but few other places on the island can match the number of incredible hikes and visa viewpoints that you will find in the Wanaka area. Located on the shores of Lake Wanaka, which sits just at the foot of the stunning mountains of Mount Aspiring National Park, the city could not have been placed in a more beautiful area. This is why travelers from around the world flock to New Zealand each year to enjoy the beautiful views and amazing hikes in and around this wonderful city.
There are some amazing wine destinations around the world and the Central Otago Valley on New Zealand’s South Island is definitely one of them. It is the world’s southernmost commercial wine regions and with the Southern Alps as a backdrop, it is also one of the world’s prettiest. The region is known for its stellar Pinot noirs, but there are many white wines that are popular in the region as well.