A clown fish laps up the good life on the Great Barrier Reef

Get here before global warming does. Coral bleaching caused by abnormally high sea temperatures has sucked the colour and life out of vast tracts of previously technicolour coral; reef scientists are predicting further devastation if temperatures continue to rise. 

The Overland Track is a 65km bushwalk through stunning wilderness.

Photo: Tourism Tasmania & Don Fuchs

Tasmania - the oft-overlooked island state south of the Australian mainland - has 3,000 kilometres of well-maintained walking tracks.

Catch the Ghan across Australia's Red Centre

One of the great train journeys of the world pulled into the station in 2004 with the long-awaited extension of the Ghan railway.

After decades of chugging from the sprawling city of Adelaide to remote Alice Springs, the 2,979-kilometre transcontinental journey now extends to tropical Darwin in the Northern Territory.