Australia

Sydney Opera House

The 20th-century Expressionist masterpiece defined by its pre-cast concrete shells clad in 1,056,006 Swedish ceramic tiles; Jørn Utzon’s 1957 design anchors Sydney Harbour with a silhouette that shifts from matte white to pearlescent gold as the sun moves; walk the granite broadway at dawn when the sails are stark against the charcoal water; the harbour air carries a sharp; briny scent before the ferry traffic begins.

Uluru

A massive 348-metre arkose sandstone monolith rising abruptly from the Central Australian desert; the iron-rich surface has oxidised into a deep rusted crust that conceals hidden waterholes and ancient Anangu petroglyphs; stand at the Mutitjulu Waterhole at sunset; the stone transitions through a spectrum of incandescent violet and deep ochre; the silence of the Spinifex plains is broken only by the low whistle of the desert wind.

Royal Exhibition Building

The last surviving 19th-century Great Hall from the International Exhibition movement; featuring a soaring timber dome inspired by Florence’s Duomo; the interior is a riot of polychrome murals and stencilled motifs from 1901; visit the promenade deck at midday; the light filters through the high clerestory windows; illuminating the vast; echoing nave; the scent of old floorwax and polished cedar lingers in the still; cavernous air.

Great Barrier Reef

The world largest coral reef system spanning 2,300 kilometres of the Coral Sea; a kaleidoscopic marine architecture of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands; dive the Outer Ribbon reefs at 10 am; the sun penetrates 30 metres of crystal water; turning the staghorn corals into a neon-blue forest; the only sound is the rhythmic crackle of parrotfish grazing on the reef and your own regulated breath.

Bondi to Coogee Walk

A six-kilometre cliff-top trail carved into 200-million-year-old Hawkesbury sandstone overlooking the Pacific Ocean; the path snakes past sun-bleached limestone platforms and the moss-slicked walls of natural rock pools; walk from Tamarama to Bronte at sunrise; the first light hits the salt-crusted cliffs; turning the stone a brilliant honey-gold; the air is a constant spray of cold; atomised seawater.

Karijini National Park

A 2.5-billion-year-old landscape of deep; vertical gorges carved into iron-rich banded iron formation; the walls of Hancock Gorge are polished to a slick; purple-red sheen by millennia of flash floods; descend into 'Kermit’s Pool' at noon; a single sliver of light reaches the emerald water; the air is significantly cooler than the 40-degree desert above; smelling of ancient stone and cold; subterranean water.

Mindil Beach

The cultural intersection of the Top End where the aroma of laksa and grilled barramundi meets the salt air of the Timor Sea; the market operates under the high canopy of tropical palms; arrive on a Thursday at 6 pm; the sky turns a saturated; bruised purple as the sun sets over the water; traders bargain in five languages simultaneously while the sound of didgeridoos provides a low-frequency hum to the tropical heat.

St Peter's Cathedral

A 19th-century French Gothic masterpiece featuring twin spires and 13 bells; the nave is constructed from local sun-bleached limestone and brick; the west front is modeled on the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris; visit during evensong at 4 pm; the light through the stained-glass windows turns the stone interior a warm amber; the acoustics are sharp; carrying the choir’s voices into the high; vaulted shadows.

Australian War Memorial

A Byzantine-inspired sandstone shrine capped by a copper dome; housing the Hall of Memory where over six million mosaic pieces depict the soul of a nation; the Roll of Honour is lined with a permanent poppy-red stain; attend the Last Post Ceremony at 4:55 pm; the bugle call vibrates off the stone walls as the sun catches the Pool of Reflection; the atmosphere is one of profound; heavy stillness.

National Gallery of Victoria

Sir Roy Grounds’ 1968 brutalist fortress features a basalt facade and the world largest suspended stained-glass ceiling by Leonard French; the collection spans 70,000 years of indigenous and international art; stand in the Great Hall at noon; the 50-colour glass geometric roof casts a psychedelic; liquid light across the grey granite floors; the scent of filtered; climate-controlled air meets the faint metallic tang of the massive entry sculpture.

MONA (Museum of Old and New Art)

A subterranean architectural feat carved three storeys deep into a Triassic sandstone cliff on the Derwent River; the galleries are a windowless; labyrinthine space of raw stone and steel designed to provoke; descend the spiral staircase at opening; the clinical; directed light highlights the jagged texture of the excavated rock walls; the smell of industrial concrete and expensive espresso defines the underground atmosphere.

Port Arthur Historic Site

The grim 19th-century penal colony where 12,500 convicts endured the 'Silent System' within a panopticon-style penitentiary; the sun-bleached sandstone ruins of the massive flour mill and church sit in chilling contrast to the temperate Tasmanian rainforest; walk the Separate Prison corridors at dusk; the damp chill rises from the moss-slicked foundations; the sound of the Tasman Sea surf echoes through the roofless shell of the cathedral.

Sun Pictures

The world oldest operating garden cinema; built in 1916 with a corrugated iron facade and canvas deckchairs; the theatre was designed to withstand the tidal flooding of Roebuck Bay; watch a film at 8 pm; the tropical night air is thick and smells of frangipani and sea salt; the sound of the overhead projector whirring competes with the rustle of palms and the occasional distant call of a fruit bat.

Adelaide Botanic Garden

A 51-hectare sanctuary featuring the 1877 Palm House; a pre-fabricated iron and glass conservatory imported from Bremen; Germany; the Bicentennial Conservatory is the largest single-span glasshouse in the Southern Hemisphere; enter the Amazon Waterlily Pavilion at midday; the humidity is thick and smells of damp peat and chlorophyll; the massive; ribbed leaves of the Victoria amazonica float in a dark; silent pool.

Kings Park and Botanic Garden

A 400-hectare bushland plateau overlooking the Swan River; containing a massive collection of Western Australian flora including the ancient; bulbous Boab tree; the Lotterywest Federation Walkway is a glass and steel bridge suspended in the canopy; walk the bridge at dawn; the silver-green eucalyptus leaves sparkle with dew; the scent of lemon-scented gum and damp sand is pungent before the Perth heat rises.