Located halfway between the tip of Cape York and Brisbane, Townsville is a coastal city in northeastern Queensland with a population of 234,283, according to the 2021 census.
Townsville is a major service centre for northern Queensland and the main centre for government administration outside Brisbane.
Located only a short 20-minute drive northwest of Perth CBD, Roselea Boulevard Reserve is a small reserve surrounded by waterfront houses in the city of Stirling. This small reserve is located in a housing estate features a lake with a bridge and boardwalk and is surrounded by waterfront houses.
The between Newcastle Foreshore and Nobbys Lighthouse starts at the waterfront walking path alongside Wharf Road next to the 11-hectare Newcastle Foreshore Park, a popular venue for many community events. Following the footpath in the northeast direction alongside Wharf Road towards Nobbys Lighthouse, you will walk past Nobbys Beach on the east side and Horseshoe Beach on the west side.
Surrounded by mountains on all sides, Lake Wakatipu is beautiful and distinctly different in the 4 seasons of the year.
A good way to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the lake and the surrounding mountains is to take a cruise on TSS Earnslaw, which is a 1912 vintage steamship, or the Spirit of Queenstown cruise ship.
Another way to enjoy the beautiful Lake Wakatipu is to walk by the shoreline near Queenstown town centre, which is small and very walkable. It is an awesome free thing to do in Queenstown.
Kelvin Peninsula, located southeast of Queenstown town centre, extends into Wakatipu Lake. Kelvin Heights, located on the Kelvin Peninsula and is a 20-minute drive from the Queenstown town centre, is part of the Queenstown urban area. The section of Kelvin Peninsula Walk Trail around Queenstown Golf Club and near the Wakatipu Yacht Club at the tip of the peninsula offers the best lake and mountain views and popular picnic and swimming spots in the warmer months.
Bily Lake, located just outside Optus Stadium and adjacent to the Swan River, is part of Chevron Parkland which also includes BHP Boardwalk and Amphitheatre, walking trails, cycling tracks, picnic and barbecue facilities, children’s playgrounds, and public art displays.
The 1 km round Bily Lake walk offers walking on relatively flat walking paths and BHP Boardwalk with many seating and picnic areas, and views of the Swan River, East Perth shoreline, and Perth CBD skyline.
Just a stone-throw away from Wellington CBD, Wellington Waterfront is itself a tourist attraction. Wellington Museum, TSB Arena, Circa Theatre, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Max Patte’s “Solace in the Wind”, a bronze naked man sculpture, the “Wellington” Sign, and Waitangi Park are all located on Wellington Waterfront. Visitors can walk on walking paths, boardwalks, and pedestrian bridges from Wellington Museum to Freberg Beach on Oriental Bay, all times right next to the water away from vehicle traffic.
Auckland Botanic Gardens is approximately 25km, or a 35-minute drive, southeast of Auckland city centre, in Auckland’s suburb of Manurewa. Auckland is located in the North Island of New Zealand. Here visitors will find more than 10,000 plants of which many are self-sustaining and require minimal intervention in Auckland’s mild South Pacific climate without pesticides.
The 0.82-square-km Singapore Botanic Gardens was established in 1859. Although not huge by comparison with many others, Singapore Botanic Gardens is very compact, containing 3 water bodies, many walking paths, many themed gardens, and the very well-known and popular National Orchard Garden.
Singapore River is a 3.2 km long river that feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. Used to be an important hub of commerce, many warehouses by the banks of the river near the river mouth were built and were used to store spices and other produce. Today, some of these warehouses were restored and converted into entertainment and dining venues.
Marina Barrage is a 350 m long dam built across Marina Channel to keep out seawater to form the Marina Reservoir.
As well, Marina Barrage enables flood control to reduce flooding in low-lying areas around the reservoir. During heavy rain and low tide, gates at the dam can be opened to release excess stormwater into the sea. During heavy rain and high tide, pumps at the dam can be operated to drain excess stormwater into the sea.
The 5-square-km Sentosa Island, located just 15 minutes from Singapore CBD, is packed with many attractions and more attractions are being built to bring new and returned visitors to this island resort getaway. There are 2 golf courses, a deep-water yachting marina, resort hotels, sandy beaches, theme parks such as Universal Studios, Fort Siloso Skywalk, Bungy Jump Skybridge, and many more attractions, as well as many entertainment, dining, and shopping venues.
The 10 km-long Kallang River is Singapore’s longest river. Kallang River starts at Lower Peirce Reservoir in the centre of Singapore, and flows through several housing and industrial estates such as Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Toa Payoh, Bendemeer, and Kallang Bahru, before meeting Geylang River at Kallang Basin and Singapore River at Marina Bay in the south of Singapore.
Forster is a beautiful coastal town within the Mid-North Coast and the spectacular Barrington Coast region, a 3-hour-45-minute drive north of Sydney and a 35-minute drive from Taree Airport, the nearest airport. Tuncurry is Forster’s twin town located just across the other side of the Wallis Lake entrance from the Pacific Ocean.
A small coastal reserve surrounded by rainforest, Saltwater National Park is about a 30-minute drive east of Taree on the Barrington Coast 4-hour drive north of Sydney.
Saltwater headland, just north of Saltwater Lagoon, has an interesting headland walking track where walkers can take a short, leisurely 300 m stroll through the thick rainforest to reach the headland lookout at the end of the track. The lookout has magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean, Saltwater Beach, and Khappinghat Creek river mouth, and is a great place to go whale watching.
Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney located between 2 other coastal suburbs – Darling Point and Piper Point and is just about 4 km east of Sydney CBD. These beautiful coastal suburbs have some of the most expensive multimillion-dollar apartments. You can visit Double Bay by a 20-minute scenic ferry ride from Circular Quay.
Herdsman Lake and Herdsman Lake Regional Park are surrounded by the suburbs of Woodlands, Churchlands, Glendalough, and Osborne Park, and are popular among the residents for leisure activities such as picnics, birdwatching, cycling, hiking, walking, and jogging.
Herdsman Lake is a 15-minute drive from the Perth CBD. The lake is roughly circular and is encompassed by Herdsman Lake Regional Park. Herdsman Lake and Herdsman Lake Regional Park are popular for leisure activities such as picnics, birdwatching, cycling, hiking, walking, and jogging.
Located within the suburb of Glendalough and is just a 15-minute drive from Perth CBD, Glendalough Open Space is open grassed parkland with 3 small lakes.
Glendalough Open Space is less than 30m from the southeast of Herdsman Lake separated by Jon Sanders Drive.
The 2 km one-way walk between Elizabeth Quay and the Old Swan Brewery by the Swam River foreshore takes you through the well-landscaped David Carr Memorial Park. You will walk underneath the Narrows Bridge where you can have a close-up look at the Narrows Bridge’s structural details from underneath.
You will enjoy seeing people doing all kinds of sea sports, and boats and ferries moored or on the move on the Swan River. South Perth foreshore is on the other side of the Swan River connected to the Perth city via Narrows Bridge.
John Oldham Park and David Carr Memorial Park are located just a stone’s throw from Perth CBD and right next to the very busy Narrows Interchange but when you are in the parks, you don’t feel like you are next to high-traffic roads. These parks seem to be able to shield their visitors from traffic noise.
John Oldham Park and David Carr Memorial Park are part of Narrows Interchange parklands which were constructed on reclaimed land from Mounts Bay more than 60 years ago to build Narrows Bridge and Interchange to connect South Perth to Perth city centre.
The walk between Forrest Hall and the Old Swan Brewery, with a one-way distance of 2.1 km, allows walkers to walk on flat riverbank walking paths alongside Mounts Bay Road and the Swan River, and visit three of Perth city’s iconic landmarks – Blue Boat House, the Eliza Sculpture, and the Old Swan Brewery.
Denham is the westernmost town in Australia. Located on the western shore of Peron Peninsula in the UNESCO Shark Bay World Heritage Area, Denham is within Western Australia’s 1,100 km breathtaking Coral Coast which stretches from Cervantes, a 2-hour drive north of Perth, to the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef.
Monkey Mia, a 9-hour drive north of Perth or a 4.5-hour drive if you drive north from Geraldton, is not a town but a huge Conservation Park located on the eastern shore of the Peron Peninsula in the UNESCO Shark Bay World Heritage Area.
Monkey Mia is famous for its RAC Monkey Mia Resort, located right within Monkey Mia Conservation Park, and its wild dolphin experience.
City Beach is the closest beach to Perth’s city centre. Located at just a 15-minute drive west of Perth CBD, City Beach is so accessible that you can have your morning swim or morning walk there and be in your Perth CBD office by 8 am.
White sand and big waves along with lifeguards all year round make Scarborough Beach a favourite location for surfing, swimming, and water sports. The revitalised Scarborough foreshore has added a beachfront swimming complex (Scarborough Beach Pool), an amphitheatre (Scarborough Amphitheatre), a skate and BMX facility (“Snake Pit”), a bouldering wall, a new playground and play space for families (Whale Playground), huge grassed areas including Sunset Hill where visitors can enjoy watching the sun setting into the Indian Ocean, lookout platforms to look out over the Indian Ocean and Scarborough Beach, a new square ideal for markets and public events (Scarborough Square, where the Clock Tower is located), public toilets, showers, drinking fountains, picnic shelters, public BBQ’s, fitness/exercise equipment, plenty of car parks, and a new transit hub.
By the end of 2023, the Ocean Reef waterfront will be dramatically transformed by the Ocean Reef Marina project which is now in progress of construction. Ocean Reef Marina project will create a waterfront precinct consisting of a mix of waterfront cafes and restaurants, retail, hotel, and short-stay accommodation, as well as Perth’s first coastal pool, new protected beach, and community parklands.
Palm Beach Parklands is a beautiful open space overlooking Currumbin Creek at the south end of Palm Beach. Palm Beach Parklands and the popular Gold Coast surf spot Currumbin Alley is separated by Currumbin Creek.
Jackadder Lake is very much smaller than other nearby lakes such as Herdsman Lake and Lake Monger. So small that, unlike Herdsman Lake and Lake Monger, you can see what is on the opposite side of Jackadder Lake while you walk.
Mullaloo Beach is an ideal swimming beach for children of all ages with its refreshing shallow waters and soft clean white sand.