Australia Showcased in Lonely Planet’s Secret Marvels of the World

• 360 extraordinary places and how to find them.

Published this month, Lonely Planet’s Secret Marvels of the World reveals weird and wonderful sights that the crowds don’t always reach.

From eerie natural wonders to historical oddities and unusual architecture, Secret Marvels of the World is a travel companion for the incurably curious — featuring communist bunkers, burning gas craters and at least one sponge-rock fluorescent grotto built by Polish monks.

Australia is represented in the book by multiple entries, including:

• Australian Capital Territory: Futuro House, Canberra.
• New South Wales: Giant Pink Slugs of Mount Kaputar; SS Ayrfield; Big Golden Guitar; Big Banana; and The Big Merino.
• Northern Territory: Devils Marbles; and Henley on Todd Regatta, Alice Springs.
• Queensland: Big Pineapple; and Golden Gumboot.
• South Australia: Coober Pedy's Grassless Golf Course; Whispering Wall; The Big Rocking Horse; and Big Lobster.
• Victoria: Solar System Trail, Melbourne; Cow Up a Tree Sculpture, Melbourne; Big Pheasant; Big Ned Kelly; and Giant Koala.
• Western Australia: Hutt River Principality; Cocos Islands Golf Club; Cape Leeuwin; Gnomesville; Gloucester Tree; Lake Ballard; and Lake Hillier.

“This book celebrates under-the-radar places, from the mysterious and the mesmerising to the downright bizarre,” Lonely Planet says. “In these pages are rainbow eucalyptus trees, a stomach-churning cocktail, ghost towns, a bridge made of trees, an underwater museum, a town called Hell and a band of Caribbean swimming pigs.”

“Because these marvels don’t pay much attention to country borders, nor have we,” Lonely Planet explains. “The places in this book are arranged not by continent or country, but loosely by their line of longitude. It’s a hat-tip to the way our planet resists attempts to impose order upon it, with the most surprising and wonderful of results.”

“In a time when technology has given us a better understanding than ever before of the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of life,” Lonely Planet adds, “these places show us we don’t know the half of it.”

LONELY PLANET’S SECRET MARVELS OF THE WORLD

320pp, full colour; H240mm x W185mm, hardcover; AUD $34.99