Man-made wonders can sure catch our fancy but the experience of watching Nature put on a show is a surreal experience altogether. While you yearn to embrace the outdoors and be one with nature again, here are some phenomenal natural attractions that certainly deserve to be ticked off your bucket list as soon as it is safe to travel again.
Bioluminescent Plankton, Jervis Bay, New South Wales
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Known for its pristine white sandy beaches and oceans views fit for a postcard, Jervis Bay is even more wondrous at night when its shores come aglow. Due to a natural chemical reaction within plankton, they become luminescent and emanate a blue glow. Visible only in the dead of night, this is especially common in Australia’s spring and summer seasons when the water is warmer.
Australia’s Pink Lakes, South Australia and Western Australia
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Australia is home to many mesmerising natural attractions but its extraordinary pink lakes have to be seen to be believed. There are a plethora of beautiful hues to pick from. While Lake Hillier has a bubblegum pink hue that contrasts with the dark blue waters of the Indian Ocean, the Hutt Lagoon changes from red to pink and even lilac purple. And perhaps the most picturesque lake of them all, Lake MacDonnell, is an Instagram magnet owing to a road that separates its pink waters from the neighbouring blue-green waters of Cactus Beach.
Coral Spawning, The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland
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In simple terms, coral spawning is the reef reproducing. Coral polyps simultaneously release egg and sperm bundles that they’ve spent months growing into the ocean for external fertilisation. This happens in a mass event annually often affectionately named the world’s largest orgasm by locals. This rare phenomenon lasts only a few nights, but travellers can take a night time coral spawning dive trip or join an overnight vessel during the coral spawning dates for another chance to view this weird and wonderful sight.
The World’s Largest Dinosaur Footprints, Broome, Western Australia
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Australia’s very own Jurassic Park is anything but fiction. The world’s largest dinosaur footprints can be found on the north coast of Broome in Western Australia. At 1.7-metres long, these fossilised dinosaur footprints are 130 million years old and extend in patches for 80km along the coast. At the southern end of Cable Beach is Gantheaume Point, a scenic area of red sandstone cliffs where travellers can observe footprints of dinosaurs located on the flat rocks 30 metres out to sea and are only visible at low tide.
Morning Glory Clouds, Burketown, Queensland
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A rare meteorological phenomenon, the aptly named ‘Morning Glory Clouds’ roll across the Gulf and can be observed above the skies in Burketown. The cloud formation holds particular cultural significance to the Gangalidda Garawa people, one of the world’s oldest cultures and an integral part of the fabric of Australia’s cultural heritage. They believe that the clouds were a creation of Walalu, the Rainbow Serpent.
Aurora Australis, Tasmania
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Did you know the Northern Lights have an equally spellbinding partner that illuminate the Southern Hemisphere? The Southern Lights or Aurora Australis covers the night sky with magnificent natural hues of green, blue, purple and red. The Southern Lights can be viewed all year round, although most commonly during winter, May to August, and during the spring equinox in September.
Horizontal Falls, Western Australia
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Described by David Attenborough as “Australia’s most unusual natural wonder”, Horizontal Falls in the Kimberley region of Western Australia is a natural phenomenon that is as intriguing as it is beautiful. There are two horizontal waterfalls in and both can be found in Talbot Bay in the Buccaneer Archipelago. These incredible natural wonders are the work of some of the largest tidal movements in the world. The powerful tides in the Kimberley can reach more than 10-metres and the direction of the flow reverses ensuring the water flows two different ways each day, and a unique waterfall effect.