The Trans-Australian Railway has transported passengers across the wild deserts of the Outback since 1912. The journey begins in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, and ends in Port Augusta, South Australia, just north of Adelaide. It was built to cross the Nullarbor Plain, a barren area of flat terrain. The route features a nearly 300-mile-long stretch of straight track which is the longest straight section of railway in the world.

The world’s longest fence, the Dingo Fence spans 3,488 miles of the southeastern Australian desert. It was originally built in the 1880s to deter not dingoes, but rather the wild rabbit population. It was renovated in the early 1900s to prevent dingoes from entering the southeastern portion of the country, which was notorious for its sheep farms. The fence is still maintained today to help modern farmers keep their animals safe from these endemic predators.

K’gari, also called Fraser Island, is known for its scenic beaches and wilderness campsites. The largest island on Earth that is made entirely of sand, it is located just north of Brisbane on the eastern coast of Australia. The island’s Aboriginal name, K’gari, means “paradise.” Fraser Island boasts unique wildlife viewing opportunities year-round, from whale watching in the winter to dingo pup encounters in the summer and fall.

This tiny island off the coast of Perth is home to some of the friendliest macropods in the world: quokkas. The island was mistakenly named “Rotte Nest” (Rats’ Nest) by Dutch explorers when they first mistook these tiny animals for rats. Quokkas are macropods, part of the same family as kangaroos and wallabies. Today, most of Australia’s quokkas — around 10,000 — live on Rottnest.

No Aussie holiday would be complete without a spongey, chocolatey slice of lamington, a dessert that has long been considered Australia’s national cake. Dipped in chocolate and covered in coconut, the dish was invented in Queensland — possibly by accident by one of governor Lord Lamington’s employees, from whom the dish gets its name. The cake even has its own holiday — National Lamington Day is held annually on July 21.

Although 91% of the world’s glaciers exist in Antarctica, every other continent besides Australia has glaciers. This is because of Australia's flat, mostly desert-like terrain, which isn’t conducive to glaciers — they form in areas that remain snow-covered all year. The closest glaciers to Australia are found in the Southern Alps of the nearby island country of New Zealand.

Located off the Great Ocean Road near Port Campbell, the Twelve Apostles are a series of massive sea stacks. Though their name suggests that there are 12, only eight “apostles” remain standing due to erosion from the salty sea and South Pacific winds. Despite the erosion, the tallest of these limestone formations is nearly 150 feet tall.

There’s no shortage of shiraz or chardonnay in Australia’s wine country in the state of South Australia. The city of Adelaide is the hub of this region and is located a stone's throw away from Barossa Valley, home to some of the oldest living vineyards in the world. Wine enthusiasts flock here to experience the rich history of the trade and taste Australia’s best varietals.

Mount Kosciuszko rises to an elevation of 7,310 feet, towering over southeastern New South Wales in the Snowy Mountains, which is part of the Australian Alps. It was named by Polish explorer Paul Strzelecki in 1840 after Polish patriot-hero Tadeusz Kościuszko in 1840. Kosciuszko National Park encompasses this massive peak — popular among seasoned hikers — and the surrounding wilderness.

In 1956, Melbourne, Australia, became the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to host the Olympic Games. Because the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere occur in opposite months as the Northern Hemisphere, the summer games were held in November and December of 1956. The summer games returned to Australia in 2000, this time in Sydney. In 2032, the summer games will be held in Brisbane, a coastal city in the state of Queensland.

The Outback is home to some of the world’s most unique animals. One rare group of mammals that has made a home here are monotremes — ones that lay soft shells, a very unusual trait within the mammal classification. The two types of monotremes are platypuses and echidnas (which look like spiny anteaters). The platypus is also the only known Australian animal that is venomous — males have venomous spurs above their heels.

Road trippers along the southwestern coast of Victoria can take in breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean from the Great Ocean Road. This windy highway is flanked by green countryside to the north and seaside cliffs to the south. Along the way, tourists will find ample hiking and biking trails, as well as opportunities to surf, watch the local wildlife, and soak in natural hot springs.

Arguably Australia’s most famous resident, kangaroos number in the tens of millions Down Under. The most abundant species are the eastern gray, western gray, and red kangaroos. Red kangaroos are the largest of any species of kangaroo or marsupial in the world. Male red kangaroos can weigh over 200 pounds, while females grow to about 85 pounds. They prefer to live in arid, sparsely wooded open plains.

The Bondi Icebergs have been open to the public year-round for over 100 years. The unique atmosphere allows swimmers to take a dip in the calm salt waters of the enclosed pool or ride the ocean waves — all in the same afternoon. Bondi Beach itself is a major attraction; the picturesque crescent-shaped beach is also one of Australia’s busiest thanks to its proximity to Sydney.

The Northern Territory is located in north-central Australia. Its capital, Darwin, was founded as a port city in 1839, and was eventually named after famed scientist Charles Darwin in 1911. The city’s founder, John Stokes, was a surveyor who was onboard the HMS Beagle — the ship Darwin took to South America, a trip that played a crucial role in his theory of evolution by natural selection.

Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, is one of the Northern Territory’s most recognizable natural landmarks. The massive sandstone monolith rises 1,142 feet over Australia's desert plains and features shallow caves around its base that are sacred to several Aboriginal tribes. The carvings and paintings in these caves (and the rest of the site) are now protected thanks to the area’s UNESCO Heritage Site designation.

Australia is a commonwealth country and recognizes the British monarch as the constitutional head of state. The late Queen Elizabeth II was invited to the grand opening of Australia’s most recognizable architectural landmark, the Sydney Opera House, which took place on October 20, 1973. The queen remarked that the opera house had “captured the imagination of the world” and was ushering in a new era of performance art in Australia.

Cities like Sydney and Melbourne are indeed major Australian cultural hubs, but it is Canberra that is home to the nation’s capital. Just as Washington, D.C., has a separate distinction for the area comprising the capital, Canberra has its own territory called the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The ACT is surrounded by New South Wales and is located southwest of Sydney.

Not only is Tasmania the largest Australian island, but it’s also ranked among the top 30 largest islands in the world. Tasmania is a rugged, mountainous island state located off Australia’s southeast coast. It is the only Australian state not located on the mainland. Tasmania is known for its namesake marsupial, the Tasmanian devil, and is also home to the Tasman Wilderness UNESCO site, a vast conservation area.

The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral deposit, spans over 130,000 square miles in the aptly named Coral Sea, a marginal sea of the southern Pacific Ocean. The reef is found just off of Queensland along the northeastern coast of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef National Park, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to over 450 species of coral and other native wildlife.