The National Gallery of Victoria
Surfers Paradise
An enduring family holiday favourite, Surfers Paradise and its long stretch of beaches just keeps popping up on Instagram feeds year after year. With theme park attractions nearby and high-rise accommodation just metres from the sand, this glitzy gem offers an array of opportunities for that ‘wish you were here’ shot. But nothing beats the quintessential Gold Coast walking-into-the-sunset-surfboard-inhand beach silhouette.
St Kilda Beach
As any Melburnian knows, summer isn’t summer until you’ve taken the tram to St Kilda and spent the afternoon enjoying the rays at the beach. The foreshore is a hustling hive of walkers, runners, roller skaters, skateboarders and musicians. Don’t forget to walk out to the end of the pier to peer between the rocks and say hello to any resident penguins flapping about and to take a picture with the creepy big-toothed clown at Luna Park. Surprise, surprise… the oldest and most visited gallery in Australia is also the most Instagrammed! Spread over two magnificent buildings, the National Gallery of Victoria is host to a bit of this and a bit of that, from contemporary art to major international history exhibitions, fashion and design to sound dance, architecture to kids’ workshops. Since the current gallery opened in 1968, the total collection has doubled in size to more 70,000 works, so all ages are bound to get lost among the many hallways and galleries.
Taronga Zoo Sydney
Just 12 minutes from the CBD by ferry and boasting breathtaking views of the harbour (and let’s not forget all those cute creatures great and small) it’s little wonder Taronga Zoo Sydney is an Instagram super star. With over 4000 animals to see and over 20 keeper talks and shows a day, little ones will run wild in this animal kingdom. Of course, the obligatory photo of the giraffes standing in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is an absolute must!
The Twelve Apostles
If you find yourself driving along the Great Ocean Road then it is essential to visit the Twelve Apostles. The erosion that started around 10 to 20 million years ago created a tourist hotspot that hosts hundreds of visitors every day. Changing colour throughout the day, from a brilliant sandy yellow midday to shades of pastel orange and lavender as the sun goes down, it’s not hard to see why this majestic place is an Instagram celeb.
Uluru
Drawing in 400,000 visitors yearly, rising 318 metres above the ground and over nine kilometres in circumference, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park plays home to the largest sandstone formation in central Australia and one of our most important natural landmarks. Considered to be a sacred place to Australia’s Indigenous population, a picture with the big red rock is definitely a must if you are exploring the country’s most wild and off-the-beatentrack destinations.