With stylish lodges nestling in the green depths of ancient rainforests, boutique hotels on paradise islands, opulent tented safari camps in the outback and private boat charters, it is easy to get close to nature in Australia in supreme luxury.

You'll meet colourful fish, turtles, penguins and kangaroos, see stunning waterfalls, mountains, rivers and beaches - then it's back to your hotel for a relaxing massage in a top spa.

Take amazing natural beauty as your starting point, add some of the best food and drink in the world, and Australia will be an experience you will never forget.

kangaroos
by Jenny shobbrook

2 years ago I went to Armidale (outskirts) of Perth to stay with rellies, who took me to various wonderful places. Cavendish Park where I had roos eating out of my hand, smoothed down Koalas and held a fat-assed wombat named Bubba. Went to Rottnest island, saw quokkas, and the wineries were great!! You get to sample any wine that takes your fancy free. Wonderful memories. genolan cave
by Velasco Legasi

It was April of 2002 that we were to journey inside the cave. This was my first time to enter what seems to be an endless cave yet to my surprise after three hours the exit is just a metre away from the entrance. discovering...
by R Wade

My favourite memories are of the animals...watching the turtle hatchlings on Heron Island, desperately heading towards the ocean; an echidna on Tasmania trying to pretend he wasn't there (they're more furry on the island, so cuter than on the mainland); a wallaby hopping past us en route to Melbourne Botanical gardens; the kangaroos on the Great Ocean Road golf course... Phillip Island
by Tex Gates

One of the most memorable moments of my time in Australia was a visit to Phillip Island to see the Fairy Penguins coming ashore. Fascinating to watch the first few coming onto the beach to make sure it was safe for the rest and then a gradual increase in numbers until the beach itself seemed to be moving. They all knew exactly where they were going and in no time the beach was cleared. A sight once seen but never forgotten. Swimming with Nuns
by Philippa Tooke

Snorkelling in the Heron Island channel - watching 10 sting-rays below - flapping their gentle wings like nuns flying in the sky - breathtaking - just kept returning to watch nature & Australia's wonderful undersea world Breakfast with dolphins
by Chris Horrocks

We left Perth early enough to make the five-hour journey north to arrive at Monkey Mia in time for breakfast with the dolphins who swim towards the beach at precisely 9.30 am every day to be fed breakfast by the coastal wardens. We waded into the water and they swam around us playfully, giving us the never-to-be-forgotten experience of a lifetime. Close Encounter with a Turtle
by Mark Cowley

I was in Queensland in 1997 and went on a weekend liveaboard trip out to the Great Barrier Reef with a dive company in Gladstone. We did a wall drift dive near Heron Island and my buddy and I encountered a very large turtle. It seemed to take an interest in me and chased me for a few minutes!! I think it wanted to mate with me!!! Bar-b-Cue
by Graham Downes

Our experience was having a moonlight barbecue in the middle of nowhere, north of Warrego Mine. We had to collect brushwood for the fire and lights were rigged up from the car battery. The moonlight was terrific. At the end of the barbecue our hosts (daughter and husband) made sure the fire was out, to prevent a bushfire. Mision Beach
by David Whitfield

I happened upon the 'Cutten Brothers Walk' which is a short wetland walk. The area is complex mesophyl lowland (you really do not need to know that!), the only surviving one at sea level. It was amazing and I felt privileged to be there ducking under bamboo and mangroves virtually on a beach only metres away yet only able to hear the waves. I came out on a beach where only the tide and sand crabs had left a mark and my footmarks would soon be washed away so the next person could imagine that they too were the first! Kangaroo Island
by Michael Kirk

A visit to Kangaroo Island, South Australia, for perhaps two or three days, gives a wonderful all-round experience of Australian animals in the wild. We had an experienced guide, and the privilege of seeing and photographing at close quarters many animals and birds including wallabies and kangaroos, echidna, seals and sea-lions, koalas, and much more. A never to be forgotten experience in a not so well known part of Australia. playful rays
by John Swash

I was sailing a small catamaran off the beach at Hayman Island in the Whitsundays when I noticed that although the water was crystal clear and the bottom was sandy there was a brown rock just below the surface to the front and right of the hull. I steered away from it but whatever I did it always seemed to be there in exactly the same position. I was sailing quite fast and the rock was always there. It was only when I caught a glimpse of a long tail behind the "rock" that I realised that it was a small ray about 2 ft across playing with me by matching my speed and direction exactly. The same thing happened every time I sailed there. One of many small encounters with the magical wildlife which makes a holiday "down under " so memorable. Flinders Mountains
by Elaine Gardner

Waking up in a remote gorge and finding a rock wallaby sitting outside your tent in the morning was just magical. Sharing the public shower block in Blinman with several spiders including redbacks and huntsmen was more of a challenge!! On the Captain Cook Trail
by Jackie McAlavey

On my second visit to Australia I visited the rainforest and stayed in Cape Tribulation.

I had been to Africa in the '60's but nothing prepared me for the amazing sights in this wonderful part of the world. When walking through the rainforest on boardwalks you could easily imagine a dinosaur emerging from underneath the huge palms.

The sights of beautifully coloured parrots, cockatoos and butterflies flying overhead

The endless, unpopulated white beaches; the best being Cape Tribulation where Captain James Cook had run aground in the 17th Century and rightly named the beach. Dolphins
by Alex Kerr

Whilst in a small outboard boat off Rockingham WA we came across a pod of dolphins. My two young daughters and I jumped overboard and had this magical swimming experience with them. A Snake Encounter
by Bill Bell

Whilst cycling round Rottnest Island, off Perth, it started to rain. We stopped to put waterproofs on and a large black snake crossed the road, passing through the spokes of the front wheel of the bike as I held it upright. Nobody thought to take a photo! Queensland beach
by Ruth Tyler

Visiting my sister in Mooloaba, we came onto the beach and saw an amazing sight. The sea and beach was an a foaming fluorescent bluey greeny white with foam. A local lifeguard told us that the coral on the reefs was spawning. We could not go onto the beach for 3 days until the sea had washed it away. It was amazing as I'd never heard of coral spawning before. Snowy Mountains
by Shirley Grainger

My husband asked me where I would like to go on my 40th Birthday - and when I answered Australia I didn't dream that we would really go.

We spent my birthday in the Snowy Mountains with our friends Gill and Chris - and the highlight was horse-riding (in the pouring rain) through the Snowy Mountains. I felt just like the Man from Snowy River (although I had to wear a hard hat and not my Akubra). It was wonderful riding through the trees, with kangaroos jumping around beside us. Unfortunately, my camera got so wet that the photos which I took were ruined - so I only have my own memories to remind me! Mum and Baby
by Peter Thomas

Seeing Mum and baby whale almost close enough to touch off our boat in Platypus Bay - surrounded by half a dozen others of the pod blowing and breaching all around us. Awesome! Awesome Nature
by Russell Bradford

A half day driving away from the Great Ocean Rd up into the really old forested area behind Apollo Bay to see Koalas; black cockatoos and kangaroos all in the space of a few hours ~ Never ever to be forgotten bill platypus
by keith pollard

We stayed at Yungella primarily to see the duck billed platypus, waited with a load of aussies until light faded and a small beauty appeared. My wife whipped out the camera, it flashed and that was the last we all saw of Bill. Well theres always tomorrow!! Listen to the silence
by Chris Kermath

This country is so amazing. You can travel for miles and miles without passing another vehicle ...bliss! We drove from Brisbane to Sydney through the Blue Mountains, taking our time. We stopped one day and got out to listen to the silence! No traffic, road or air. The ONLY sound was bees buzzing in a nearby bush and a distant Kookaburra. Don't forget the night sky either, with no light pollution. Just lie on the grass and look up! Another World
by Barrie Turner

Visit Kings Canyon for an experience that makes you think you are on another planet, there is nowhere like it on earth. Reef & Rainforest
by Anne Hayward

We spent 3 nights cruising the reef and 3 nights in the Rainforest at Daintree. It was fabulous. The colours of the reef and the peaceful journey were bliss but the rainforest was beautiful and noisy as all the frogs and other wildlife chattered, croaked, shrieked and pattered across our villa roof. The accommodation was superb and I will always remember Coopers Creek and the walk through the forest plus sitting on the loo watching Bush Turkeys, Praying Mantis, Butterflies etc through the glass wall which let us see straight into the forest. I loved it and would love to go back Tasmania
by Alan Wiggins

I can thoroughly recomend to anyone the scenery, sights and welcome you receive in Tasmania. Walking around Dove Lake in the Cradle Mountains, staying in one of the lodges, is an experience not to be missed. LAKE CAVE MARGARET RIVER
by Lesley Williams

We took a trip to Australia in June. My husband told me he wanted to explore, so we hired a car, after we had stayed in Central Perth at the Hyatt, where the next day the Dalai Lama was giving a talk. I have an elder sister in Perth, nr. to Fremantle and she and her husband planned a brilliant stay in Margaret River, we enjoyed it immensely and managed to see the most beautiful sight, 'Lake Cave' which was one of three situated in Margaret River. It was spectacular! I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone, apart from this, the choice of wines in this region was staggering. Artisan and lots of cultural souvenirs were available too! We got ourselves a boomerang, and someday, I'd like to go back and see my big sis once again. She may be pleasantly surprised! Platypus River
by John Mills

The joy of watching the Platypus swim out from its home in the bank and playing in the dappled sunlight from the observation deck at Broken River, Queensland. Whilst the snapping turtles lazily sunned themselves or slowly explored the clear waters of the river and the yellow crested cockadoos sat regally in the trees overseeing the whole scene. Crocodile
by Neil Marshall

Diving just off the coast, 75 kms north of Cairns, the water was an azure blue, with a myriad of small, frenetic, electric blue fish filling this underwater world. Then suddenly, the long grey shape of a reef shark, lazily renting apart the curtain of fish, slunk towards us - eyeballing, waiting, policing. Then, suddenly - in a display of immense power, the perfect swimming machine turned through 180 degrees and was gone. Stunning and awesome in equal measure - yet as fragile as the smallest fish. Oz tourist nature
by paul Cobber

What can I say. I learnt to dive at the Great Barrier Reef, fed wild lorikeets by hand in Sydney and semi tame possums outside a takeaway in Darwin. Came across huntsman spiders for the first time whilst emptying a bin and nearly stepped on a blue tongued lizard on a coastal walk near Manly. As for the wobbegongs... Heron Island snorkeling
by Rombout Hartemink

Last day in the relaxed Heron Island luxury resort, taking the a 1 hour snorkel trip by boat around 200m from the resort along the reef edge. Looking down after jumping in three giant manta rays circling below , 6 different sharks, several spotted rays, several huge turtles lying on the reef and swimming around just past me, zillions of small and big fish all around me, Jacques Cousteau's movies will forever look pale in comparison, amazing! Seen more in 1 hour than I had seen in all previous snorkeling and diving trips around the world. the amazing coloured spider
by christine grasso

my daughter is nursing in sydney so i went for a holiday to visit her in july.australia was amazing,we went up to port douglas in northern queensland and stayed in a resort in the rainforest area. to my horror the first night i had a spider the size of my hand on my balcony!! i took a photo of it and the flash brought out the most beautiful colours all over its body.it was a wonderful picture but i am still not sure if i feel the same about the spider!! Paradise
by Jan Minton

My most wonderful experience of Australia was when petsitting. I daily walked two dogs around a running track with the Australian flag flying over a nearby school, masses of colourful birds flying overhead, lovely blue sky and a wood of Australian trees in the background.. Kings Canyon
by Steph Hills

Having walked around the rim of this stunning work of nature on our own, we found ourselves at a secluded pool surrounded by sheer rocks faces. A man was sitting on a rock playing the didgeridoo - the acoustics were perfect and the effect magical. Wildlife everywhere
by Gwynne Lyons

Some of the most memorable high spots include hearing a loud thump when we were walking in the countryside and finding a koala that had fallen out of its tree. Another was just clapping our hands in the botanic garden in Melborne and watching all the fruit bats take off. Or maybe the most magical experience was watching a bronze whaler shark just inches off the shore of Heron Island, cutting through a large shoal of fish. Truth is there were so many magic moments I can't decide which was the best. Coral Bay
by Ethel Hensley

Having been to both the Barrier Reef and Coral Bay I would recommend the later for excitement, unspoiltness, friendliness. There I saw turtles hatching, swam with manta rays and turtles flew over the unusual coastal plain and did many more exciting things. Go if you can. Fly from Perth. Dolphins and snakes
by Keith Jones

We visited Moreton Island in a four wheel drive, camped under the stars the like of which I have never seen any where else and then stayed at Tangalooma resort for two nights and fed the wild dolphins in the bay at evening time. Amazing to hand feed dolphins. Walking off the beach onto a path we encountered a large snake. We took some pictures and it was identified as an Eastern Brown. Where else can you drive on the beach, feed dolphins and come face to face with snakes. A beautiful place to visit. Dolphin Dreamtime
by Helen Gallagher

From the East coast of England to the blue waters of Bunbury. My heart thudded with excitement as the dolphins swam towards, around and past us. Once again this wonderful country had provided us with a unique and long dreamed of experience, one to share with the folks back home..........but sooner than I expected!
The tide was coming in. I went to rescue my sandals and there, two yards away were my next door neighbours!
We knew they had gone to Australia on honeymoon but didn`t expect to run in to them at 10am on a fairly quiet beach which we had stumbled on by accident.
I got someone to take a photograph and smiled when I saw it - four people on a beach- It could have been Blackpool.
Only we four know it was a magical place in God's own country. Kangaroo Island
by Michael Kirk

We had not heard of it before - but what an experience! Acres of natural scenery and wildlife, from coastal to bush. We had a great guide who showed us seals, sea lions, koalas, echidna, and of course kangaroos and wallabies - all in their natural surroundings. I took photographs and movie film to die for ! A great place for history buffs too - historic sites, and local museums showing fascinating early history of this remarkable place. Definitely one of Australia's best kept secrets, Kangaroo Island gave us a wonderful experience! The Power of Nature
by Julie Miller

Experiencing the exhilarating power of nature in Cape Tribulation. From diving in the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef and watching storms in the distance over the World Heritage Rainforest to staying in a wooden hut in the rainforest and watching the wildlife. Trully the best time of ever and my favourite place in the World. Batty about bats
by Barbara Bridge

We stayed a week at Rainbow Beach, where at about 6 oclock at night the bats take off, they fill the sky in every direction, we watched them for absulutely ages, it happens every evening, the locals didn't seem to notice it anymore, but to us it was a unbelievable sight. Just one more memory of this spectacular country. DOLPHINS
by Keith Graham

Rising early in the morning, swimming and having the dolphins around us in the water at Monkey Mia, followed by snorkelling on the Ningaloo reef with a reef shark just below. swimming with sharks!
by Geraldine Craig

I swam with sharks in Mooloolaba in Queensland - amazing, terrifying and exhilarating!

Sharks and rays swim around in a 'fenced off' area on the coast, are well fed and harmless (honestly!) - but to be so close to these magnificent creatures was a great and memorable event in my life. Natural Wildlife
by Alison Ytreoy

The best bit of visiting Australia for me was seeing the amazing wildlife in their natural habitat. Snorkelling with the fish above the Great Barrier Reef was amazing. It was thrilling spotting koalas high in the trees along the Great Ocean Road. But watching kangaroos hopping about in the wild in a meadow outside Sydney has got to be the highlight of my 3 week visit Down Under. We were definitely in Australia
by Julie Jeffries

We spent a day driving along the wonderful Great Ocean Road in Victoria. On our way down to the spectacular Twelve Apostles we decided to drive through the Otway National Park and to our amazement spotted koalas lounging in the trees, a while later an echidna snuffled past our feet. Thoroughly happy with our day we stopped at one of the lovely coastal towns and on mentioning that all we needed to make our day complete were kangaroos, were pointed in the direction of a local golf course near Anglesea where happily watching the golfers were at least forty kangaroos! The whales of Sydney
by Margaret Mulholland

I spent 3 weeks in Australia visiting relatives and was desperate to see whales. We went on boat trips off the coast near Brisbane and climbed various vantage points as we toured but saw nothing. I had given up hope as we landing in Sydney, then the day before I was to fly home we were having breakfast on Bondi Beach and there they were, two of them playing just offshore. I stood and wept, I had never seen anything so magnificent, it was magical as was the fact that whales had never been sighted there before. Kangaroo Island
by Mandy MacKenzie

Kangaroo Island is the ultimate Australian experience, National Parks, kangaroos, koalas, pelicans, sea lions, seals and fairy penguins all in their natural environment. Unspoilt Australia at its best from the wonder of the "Remarkable Rocks" to the spectacular "Admirals Arch". Turtles on Heron Island
by Peter F Boden

What an experience to get up at the crack of dawn and with an experienced wildlife guide make our way down to the beach to watch the Turtles struggle out of the sea and then make their way up to a safe spot, scoop out a hole and lay their eggs, cover them and struggle back to the sea where they become so at home being able to swim once more. The Great Barrier Reef holds so much interest in all its forms of wildlife.