Cooee Tours
Bucket List · The Big 100

100 Things to Do in Australia Before You Die

One hundred experiences that add up to the trip of a lifetime — grouped by region and theme so you can build your own Australian bucket list.

Words by Frank Adam Burns· Updated June 2026

Australia is too big and too varied for one trip, or even ten. This is our running list of the hundred experiences we'd put on any Australian bucket list — the reef and the rainforest, the red desert and the snow, the wildlife you'll see nowhere else on Earth.

We've grouped them by region and theme so you can pick a thread and pull it into a real itinerary. Plenty sit on our home turf in Queensland — the Whitsundays, K'gari, Hervey Bay's whales and the Scenic Rim among them. Tick off what you can; there's no wrong order. For the deeper dives, follow the links through to our things to do guides.

The Reef & the Tropical North

Far North Queensland
  1. 01Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef — off Cairns or Port Douglas
  2. 02Walk the ancient Daintree Rainforest — where the reef meets the rainforest
  3. 03Spot a wild cassowary — in the Wet Tropics
  4. 04Swim beneath Josephine Falls — at the foot of Bartle Frere
  5. 05Ride the Kuranda Scenic Railway — above Barron Gorge
  6. 06Chase the Atherton Tablelands waterfall circuit — Millaa Millaa and friends
  7. 07Snorkel with dwarf minke whales — on the northern reef in June–July
  8. 08Visit Mossman Gorge with Kuku Yalanji guides — a Dreamtime walk
  9. 09Spend a day on a reef pontoon — snorkelling and diving
  10. 10Watch turtles nest or hatch at Mon Repos — near Bundaberg

The Whitsundays & the Islands

Island Queensland & beyond
  1. 11Stand on the silica sand of Whitehaven Beach
  2. 12See Hill Inlet's swirling sands from the air — a Whitsundays scenic flight
  3. 13Sail the 74 Whitsunday Islands
  4. 14Fly over Heart Reef — the reef's natural coral heart
  5. 15Float down Eli Creek on K'gari — crystal-clear and cool
  6. 16Swim in Lake McKenzie's perched waters — on the world's largest sand island
  7. 17Bike car-free Rottnest Island — and meet a quokka
  8. 18Snorkel straight off the beach at Lady Elliot Island — manta rays and turtles

The Outback & the Red Centre

Northern Territory & South Australia
  1. 19Watch Uluru change colour at sunset
  2. 20Walk the full base of Uluru at dawn
  3. 21Explore the domes of Kata Tjuta — the Valley of the Winds
  4. 22Hike a section of the Larapinta Trail — along the West MacDonnells
  5. 23Swim in a desert gorge waterhole — Ellery Creek or Ormiston
  6. 24Stargaze far from any light — the outback night sky
  7. 25Sleep underground at Coober Pedy — in an opal-town dugout
  8. 26Fossick for your own opal
  9. 27Stand inside Wilpena Pound — the Flinders Ranges' natural amphitheatre
  10. 28Drive the historic Oodnadatta Track — past the mound springs
  11. 29See Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre from the air — when the rare floods fill it
  12. 30Walk the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

The Kimberley & the North West

Remote Western Australia
  1. 31Watch a Cable Beach sunset — with the camel trains at Broome
  2. 32Fly over the Bungle Bungle Range — at Purnululu
  3. 33See the Horizontal Falls by floatplane
  4. 34Cruise the King George River — to its towering twin falls
  5. 35Drive the Gibb River Road — and swim its hidden gorges
  6. 36Marvel at a pink lake — Hillier or a Kimberley salt lake
  7. 37Swim with whale sharks at Ningaloo
  8. 38Snorkel the fringing reef at Turquoise Bay — a drift straight off the sand

Wildlife You'll See Nowhere Else

Encounters across the country
  1. 39Watch humpbacks play in Hervey Bay — on our Fraser Coast doorstep
  2. 40Cuddle a koala at Brisbane's Lone Pine — the world's first koala sanctuary
  3. 41See kangaroos on the beach at Cape Hillsborough — at sunrise
  4. 42Find a wild platypus at Eungella — at dawn
  5. 43Watch little penguins come ashore — on Phillip Island
  6. 44Meet a Tasmanian devil
  7. 45Spot wild koalas at Kennett River — on the Great Ocean Road
  8. 46See sea lions on Kangaroo Island
  9. 47Snorkel with weedy sea dragons or cuttlefish — in South Australia
  10. 48Watch a mob of kangaroos graze at sunset
  11. 49See seabirds nesting on a reef cay
  12. 50Share a track with a wombat at Cradle Mountain

Wild Tasmania

The island state
  1. 51Look down on Wineglass Bay — from the Freycinet lookout
  2. 52Walk the Dove Lake circuit — beneath Cradle Mountain
  3. 53Hike the Three Capes Track — along the highest sea cliffs in the country
  4. 54Wander the orange boulders of the Bay of Fires
  5. 55Take in MONA in Hobart — Australia's most provocative gallery
  6. 56See glow-worms light a dark gully — Mole Creek or Mt Field
  7. 57Cross to Bruny Island — for its food and wildlife
  8. 58Tackle the six-day Overland Track

Coast & Beaches

The Australian shoreline
  1. 59Walk the Bondi to Coogee coastal path
  2. 60Watch the surfers (or paddle out) at Bells Beach
  3. 61Drive past the Twelve Apostles — on the Great Ocean Road
  4. 62Swim the natural pool at Greens Pool — in WA's south
  5. 63Camp beachfront at Lucky Bay — among the kangaroos
  6. 64Find the Figure Eight Pools — in the Royal National Park, at low tide
  7. 65Snorkel the clear water of Jervis Bay
  8. 66Walk to the Cape Byron lighthouse — the mainland's most easterly point
  9. 67Watch the sun rise over the Pacific — from a Queensland or NSW headland
  10. 68Stroll Burleigh Heads to Tallebudgera — on our home Gold Coast

Cities & Culture

Urban Australia
  1. 69Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge
  2. 70See a show at the Sydney Opera House
  3. 71Watch New Year's Eve fireworks over the harbour
  4. 72Catch an AFL game at the MCG
  5. 73Watch the cricket on a hot summer's day
  6. 74Get lost in Melbourne's laneways and coffee
  7. 75Ride a Brisbane CityCat down the river — on our home turf
  8. 76Visit the Australian War Memorial — in Canberra
  9. 77Wander Vivid Sydney's winter light festival
  10. 78Graze the Adelaide Central Market

Great Journeys

Trains, drives and crossings
  1. 79Ride The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin
  2. 80Cross the continent on the Indian Pacific
  3. 81Drive the Pacific Coast Way — Brisbane to Cairns, from our home city
  4. 82Cross the treeless Nullarbor Plain
  5. 83Take a scenic flight over the Whitsundays — from our home reef
  6. 84Ride Puffing Billy through the Dandenongs
  7. 85Make the drive to the tip of Cape York
  8. 86Sail the Spirit of Tasmania across Bass Strait

Adventure & Adrenaline

For the bold
  1. 87Skydive over a beach
  2. 88Ski the Australian Alps in winter
  3. 89Sandboard towering coastal dunes — Stockton or beyond
  4. 90Drift over the country in a hot-air balloon — the Gold Coast hinterland or Yarra Valley
  5. 91Dive a shipwreck or a reef bommie
  6. 92White-water raft the Tully River — in tropical Queensland
  7. 93Abseil into a Karijini gorge
  8. 94Cross a treetop canopy bridge — in the Otways or Lamington

Food, Wine & First Nations

Taste and tradition
  1. 95Taste your way through the Barossa or Margaret River
  2. 96Hear Dreaming stories with Traditional Owners — and learn to throw a boomerang
  3. 97Eat fresh seafood on a wharf — in Sydney or Tasmania
  4. 98See ancient rock art — at Kakadu or the Grampians
  5. 99Join a Quandamooka cultural tour on Minjerribah — in our home Moreton Bay
  6. 100Toast a Top End sunset at Darwin's Mindil Beach markets

Start ticking off the list with us

Cooee Tours has been showing travellers the best of Australia since 1974 — let us help turn a few of these bucket-list moments into a real Queensland itinerary.

Plan a Queensland adventure

Frequently asked questions

What should be top of an Australia bucket list?

The classics for good reason: snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, watching Uluru at sunset, standing on Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays, and a wildlife encounter you can't have anywhere else — whales at Hervey Bay, a koala at Lone Pine, or kangaroos on the beach at Cape Hillsborough.

How long do you need to see Australia properly?

Far longer than most trips allow — Australia is roughly the size of mainland Europe or the continental United States. Rather than rush, most travellers pick one or two regions per trip and return for more. This list is designed to be tackled a thread at a time.

What is the best time to do an Australian bucket list trip?

It depends on the experiences. The tropical north and outback are best in the dry season (roughly April to October), the south and Tasmania in spring through autumn, whale watching in winter and spring, and the snow in July and August. Many bucket-list items are seasonal, so plan around them.

Which bucket-list experiences are in Queensland?

A huge share of them — the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays and Whitehaven Beach, K'gari (Fraser Island), Hervey Bay's whales, the Daintree, the Atherton Tablelands and the Scenic Rim's rainforest are all in Queensland, much of it on Cooee Tours' home turf.

Can a tour help me tick off bucket-list experiences?

Yes — a guided tour takes care of the driving, timing, permits and logistics, which matters for the harder-to-reach items. Cooee Tours runs guided touring across Queensland and can help build a bucket-list itinerary.

Building your own bucket list

No one ticks off all hundred in a single trip — and that's the point. The smart approach is to pick a region or a theme, build a realistic itinerary around it, and come back for the next thread another year. Many of these experiences are seasonal, too: the whales, the wildflowers, the reef and the snow each have their window, so check timing before you lock anything in.

Several of the most accessible entries sit on our home turf in South East Queensland — the Whitsundays, K'gari, Hervey Bay's whales, the Scenic Rim's rainforest and Moreton Bay's islands. Browse our full set of things to do in Australia guides to turn any line on this list into a proper plan.

Cooee Tours acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and recognise that the places described here hold deep cultural significance for the First Peoples who have cared for them for tens of thousands of years.