Australia is known around the world for its pristine beaches, towering rock formations and breathtaking outback landscapes.
But if you were to choose, what sites would you pick to be the most breathtaking and unique?
In the country’s largest ever tourist poll the public will vote for the very first time for what they believe are the Seven Wonders of Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living organism, stretching over 2, 300km long (the size of Italy and Japan)
Stretching for an impressive 7km, Whitehaven Beach is unlike any beach you’ve ever seen before
Would the baby-pink waters of Lake Hillier be your choice? Voting is now open for Australian’s to vote for their Seven Wonders of Australia
Reaching up to 45 metres in height, Victoria’s 12 Apostles are a series of limestone stacks that were formed over thousands of years worth of erosion from the Southern Ocean
A panel of Australia’s regional and state tourism organisations, industry insiders and conversation experts have narrowed it down to 50 iconic Australian destinations and the rest is up to Australia to decide.
The shortlisted sites were selected by the panel who valued these sites as essential parts of their states’ tourism, natural, cultural or architectural scenes and no fees were charged to be included in the list.
Voters are encouraged to vote based off the answers to a series of questions.
Is the site recognised internationally? Does it hold significant value to Australia? Would you put the site on your bucket list? Does it harness unusual characteristics to make it one-of-a-kind, and does it contribute to Australia’s tourism economy?
Australian Capital Territory
Canberra’s Australian War Memorial was chosen for being one of the most significant buildings from both an architectural and historical point of view
Parliament House is embedded in the earth overlooking Canberra and was built to ‘become one’ with the city’s landscape
Canberra’s Australian War Memorial was chosen for being one of the most significant buildings from both an architectural and historical point of view.
Boasting more than 1,120,000 annual visitors, the memorial serves as a tribute, museum, archive and attraction for both the living and fallen participants of Australia’s global military conflicts.
Perhaps the most poignant feature of the memorial is the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier. It represents all the nameless heroes who have lost their lives in wars around the world.
Parliament House is embedded in the earth overlooking Canberra and was built to ‘become one’ with the city’s landscape.
Opened in 1988 as part of Australia’s bicentennial celebrations, it is a symbolic piece of architecture that promotes accessibility to the public, with visitors given an almost uncommonly-wide degree of access, unlike the majority of the world’s political locations.
New South Wales
The Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most recognisable buildings and has become symbolic not only of the city of Sydney but the entire country
The Blue Mountains National Park is a breathtaking mixture of both Australian bush and authentic landscapes
The Sydney Opera House is one of the world’s most recognisable buildings and has become symbolic not only of the city of Sydney but the entire country.
Architect Jorn Utzon won the Pritzkey Prize – architecture’s answer to the Pulitizer Prize – for his design which was formed out of innovation, creativity and controversy.
The Sydney Opera House is host to over 1,800 performances and draws 8.2million visitors each year.
The Blue Mountains National Park is a breathtaking mixture of both Australian bush and authentic landscapes.
It is one of the most-visited sites in Australia as its famous for the mist of blue oil which comes off the thousands of Eucalyptus trees that surround the park.
Perhaps the most famous part of the park, the Three Sisters, draws 1.2 million visitors per year.
Queensland
The Great Barrier Reef has its own ecosystem of hard and soft coral and marine life and draws over 3 million tourists each year, making it one of the biggest contributions to Queensland’s tourism economy.
Whitehaven beach’s pure white sand with its high silica content make the beach a tourist hot-spot and one of Queensland’s top sites
The amazing yet delicate Great Barrier Reef runs along much of the Queensland coast and is arguably Australia’s most internationally well-known natural wonder.
It is also the world’s largest living organism, stretching over 2,300km long (the size of Italy and Japan).
Within it lies a complex ecosystem of hard and soft coral and marine life which draws over 3 million tourists each year, making it one of the biggest contributions to Queensland’s tourism economy.
Stretching for an impressive 7km, Whitehaven Beach is unlike any beach you’ve ever seen before.
Its high level of silica content helps set the sands of Whitehaven Beach apart.
Silica is a substance that is contained in an extremely high-purity form of sand and its pure white colour mixed with the turquoise blue ocean-that twists in and around the sand-make it look like a work of art.
South Australia
The typically dry-lake is filled with flood water once every eight years and has only filled to capacity three times in the last 160 years
The signature highlight of South Australia’s Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park,Wilpena Pound is a staggering 800 million years old.
Lake Eyre is Australia’s largest lake and also doubles as the lowest natural point in the country.
It spans over 10,000 square kilometres and transforms colours and textures from dawn to dusk.
The typically dry-lake is filled with flood water once every eight years and has only filled to capacity three times in the last 160 years.
Once it is filled it plays host to an abundance of wildlife including thousands of pelicans and silver gulls and bursts with green grass and foliage.
The signature highlight of South Australia’s Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park, Wilpena Pound is a staggering 800 million years old.
The enormous rock formation is a natural amphitheater, formed over the course of millions of years worth of erosion.
Its peaks span 100km around the region’s heart and despite it being eight times the size of Uluru, it is considered the hidden gem of South Australia.
Tasmania
Australia’s largest and most recognisable remains of colonial and convict heritage, Tasmania’s Port Arthur Historic Site is globally significant
Located along the east coast’s Freycinet National Park, its almost-perfect curve of pure-white sand and turquoise waters make Wineglass Bay one of the most visited attractions in Tasmania
Australia’s largest and most recognisable remains of colonial and convict heritage, Tasmania’s Port Arthur Historic Site is globally significant.
The ruins run over 40 hectares alongside the waters of the Tasman Peninsula.
The mixture of 30-some buildings and ruins remain an architectural testament to the origins of our country’s early European influence, serving as a haunting relic of the crimes and lifestyles of early overseas settlement.
Reserved as a national park in 1916, Wineglass Bay is one of the oldest national parks in Tasmania.
Located along the east coast’s Freycinet National Park, its almost-perfect curve of pure-white sand and turquoise waters make it one of the most visited attractions in Tasmania.
Its surrounding national park is also home to rare birds including the White Bellied Sea Eagles and Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo.
Victoria
The pillars were once connected to the mainland but have since disconnected due to increasing bad weather (only eight apostles stand today)
Known as Gariwerd in indigenous tongue, Grampians National Park is one of Australia’s richest locations for Aboriginal rock art
One of Australia’s most globally-recognised views is the Great Ocean Road’s 12 Apostles.
Reaching up to 45 metres in height, the rock formations are a series of limestone stacks that were formed over thousands of years worth of erosion from the Southern Ocean.
The pillars were once connected to the mainland but have since disconnected due to increasing bad weather (only eight apostles stand today).
The backdrop in which they stand among has become equally as famous, with it being voted by Australian public as the third ‘Best Sunset in Australia’.
Grampians National Park is an expansive land of breathtaking canyons, peaks and valleys.
Known as Gariwerd in indigenous tongue, the site is one of Australia’s richest locations for Aboriginal rock art.
The land has been home to indigenous peoples for over 20,000 making it a site of significant environmental and cultural value.
Western Australia
Lake Hillier gets its baby-pink colour from the presence of a mixture of bacter and algae which thrive in the high-density salt enviroment.
Perhaps known more for the acclaimed horror film Wolf Creek, which used this eerie crater as it’s back drop- Wolfe Creek is the second-largest meteorite crater in the world- making it very much a star in its own right
Located within Western Australia’s Goldfields-Esperance region, Lake Hillier is truly a sight to behold.
The salt lake gets its baby-pink colour from the presence of a mixture of bacteria and algae which thrive in the high-density salt environment.
Unlike many salt lakes, Lake Hillier’s strawberry milkshake colour is permanent and stands out vividly with the surrounding Pacific Ocean.
Perhaps known more for the acclaimed horror film Wolf Creek, which used this eerie crater as it’s back drop- Wolfe Creek is the second-largest meteorite crater in the world- making it very much a star in its own right.
Its mix of red rock soil which surrounds a ring of greenery in its center and sheer uniqueness of its surround atmosphere makes this one of the most visited sites in the Australian Outback.
Its sloping rim can be climbed by visitors after a fairly steep and rocky scramble, however once atop the view inside is truly unworldly.
Northern Territory
How could we leave this one out?: ‘The Heart of Australia’ Uluru is visited by 300,000 tourists per year and boasts great spiritual significance to the native Aboriginal culture
Formed over 500 million years of weathering, the result is 36 individual red-rock domes that jut out of the earth like varying sized heads
Known world-wide as ‘the Heart of Australia’ Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) boasts great spiritual significance to the native Aboriginal culture.
This enormous rock is located directly at the centre of our continant and is known for its amazing sunrises and sunsets- which create draw-dropping lighting effects and making its red-earth tones stand out even further.
Despite being the lesser-known sister to Uluru, Kata Tjuta is 200metres higher.
Formed over 500 million years of weathering, the result is 36 individual red-rock domes that jut out of the earth like varying sized heads.
Unlike Uluru, its various disconnected domes make seeing the rock up-close-and-personal a lot more possible.
The lack of commercialisation and man-made boardwalks at this site makes the journey weaving in and around the domes a much more intimate, spiritual experience.
With fifty nominees put forward only seven will be crowned The Seven Wonders of Australia.
Voting is now open at the 7Wonders website with entries closing 7th of October.