If you like your natural panoramas served with Champagne, the bathtub on the deck of the luxurious Chamberlain Suite at El Questro Homestead—overlooking fiery sandstone cliffs guarded by lurking crocs—is the place to be. But this million-acre frontier in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia was not created for passive observation—to really appreciate its grandeur, hike through rugged bushland to palm-lined rock pools, boat through gorges lined with Aboriginal paintings or take a scenic helicopter flight for an eagles-eye view of surging waterfalls and inaccessible ravines.

For more information: Voyages

Protected by the Great Barrier Reef and 74 continental islands, the azure waters of the Whitsundays provide a haven of smooth sailing, with all levels of boating experience catered for. You can sit back and let others do the work on a luxury overnight cruise, chart your own course on a self-skippered "bareboat" or learn to hoist the sails on a multi-day nautical course. Anchor overnight in a secluded bay, watch whales frolic from a sun-soaked deck, jump overboard to snorkel the warm waters or walk barefoot on the pure silica sands of Whitehaven beach—sheer tropical bliss.

For more information: Whitsundays

This biennial event invites city slickers to take part in a disappearing Australian tradition—the long-haul cattle drive, joining a team of genuine drovers as they push 500 head of Santa Gertruda cows down the Oodnadatta or Birdsville Track in the South Australian desert. This flat, parched landscape is as outback as it gets and so is the experience. The next Great Australian Cattle Drive will take place in 2010—sign up now for a truly iconic Aussie experience.

For more information: Cattle Drive

The Great Ocean Road is one of the world's greatest scenic drives, an asphalt roller coaster that hugs the sea cliffs on the southern coastline of Victoria. To meander along the nearly 185-mile span between Geelong and the South Australian border is a visual smorgasbord of deserted beaches, ancient forests, undulating farmland and sleepy fishing hamlets. Alongside are scrubby headlands where lighthouses stand as silent sentinel to seafaring disasters of yesteryear. Pause in the Port Campbell National Park to ponder the elements at the Twelve Apostles, natural sculptures rising dramatically from the ocean formed by 20 million years of erosion.

For more information: Great Ocean Road

Considered the most scenic of all Australian walks, Tasmania's Overland Track has the mystique to incite even the laziest travelers to dust off their hiking boots and load up a backpack with all-weather gear. The 40-mile wilderness trail through the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park can take up to six days to complete, though shorter walks are available for those with limited time or endurance. Either way, your lungs will appreciate an injection of pure, unadulterated air as you feast on views of jagged glacial peaks, reflective lakes and dense Gondwanan rainforest unlike anything else on the planet.

For more information: Overland Track

If you splash out on just one fine dining experience during a visit to Sydney, make sure it's at a table with killer views. Fitting the bill very nicely is Guillaume at Bennelong, an award-winning restaurant located under the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer unrestricted views of the Harbour Bridge and the cheery ferry terminal while the elegant ambience admirably matches French chef Guillaume Brahimi's seductive menu of contemporary Australian cuisine. Sit back with a bottle of Australian wine and enjoy the show.

For more information: Guillaume at Bennelong

On this tiny coral cay, you literally step off blinding white sand into the midst of the Great Barrier Reef's underwater treasures. Manta rays approach like stealth bombers, moray eels pop their ugly noggins out of brain-like corals, and fish of every color and description zip between your legs. It's little wonder this paradise attracts return visitors year after year—and not just of the human variety. In some extraordinary evolutionary miracle, loggerhead turtles drag their bulk up the beach every summer to lay hundreds of eggs, returning to the very spot where they were born. Visit during hatching season (January to April) to watch the whole incredible cycle start again, tiny hatchlings running the gauntlet in their quest for survival.

For more information: Heron Island

The sight of Central Australia's famed rock looming on the horizon is enough to stop you dead in your tracks and utter superlatives reserved for the truly awesome. To learn more about this landform's spiritual significance, take a guided tour around its base with its Aboriginal custodians, the Anangu people. These informative walks provide an insight into "Tjukurpa," a complex belief system encompassing law, religion and a symbiotic relationship between nature and people, expressed through ancient traditions such as storytelling and interpretation of rock art.

For more information: Anangu

It's the silence that speaks volumes—nothing but the whisper of wind, the occasional whoosh of hot air and the click of cameras as the sun peeks over the horizon. Surely there is no more peaceful way to greet the dawn than in a hot air balloon—even more so when floating above one of Australia's premier wine districts. From 500 feet up, Victoria's Yarra Valley is a glorious patchwork of green shrouded in mist, with vineyards and elegant chateaus set among the meandering brown curves of the Yarra River. With stable weather conditions year round, this is the ideal place to experience hot air ballooning, enhanced by the prospect of a gourmet breakfast and a glass of the region's finest sparkling wine to celebrate the journey.

For more information: Hot Air Ballooning

Admiring the tanned and taut bodies on Sydney's Bondi Beach is one thing; grabbing a board and becoming part of the legend is another. If you don't know how to ride a wave, Australia's most iconic beach is the place to learn, as it's largely protected from prevailing winds and has a gentle year-round swell. There are private and small group classes available for both adults and children, and even special courses for budding surfer chicks determined to prove they can hang five with the best.

For more information: Let's go Surfing

Australian waters may hold the dubious honor as the preferred domain of the fearsome white pointer shark, but they also provide the opportunity for an intimate encounter with a less aggressive but equally awe-inspiring cousin—the whale shark. West Australia's Ningaloo Reef is one of the most accessible places on the planet where these passive spotted giants appear regularly and predictably, gorging on plankton and coral spawn between April and July each year. The experience of swimming alongside these behemoths is, in a word, exhilarating—the cold-eyed gummy beasts are seemingly oblivious to the presence of their wet-suited companions snorkeling alongside them.

For more information: Exmouth