I've explored the great Aussie outdoors for 25 years - these are my 10 favourites

Not all Australian adventures are created equal. Of the countless possibilities across the wide brown land, a few stand tallest, beckoning to every lover of the outdoors. Here are nine of the country's finest.

The moods of a Franklin River rafting trip are many, from drifting almost motionless through the placid Irenabyss gorge to rumbling through a chain of furious rapids in the Great Ravine. This is Australia's greatest water journey, and perhaps my favourite world adventure. The eight-day paddle covers about 100 kilometres of unadulterated wilderness, plunging through and portaging around wild rapids. In between are moments where the river slows almost to a stop - a chance to lie back in the raft, grab a swim in the tannin-darkened waters, and paddle on.

HOW TO DO IT: Book a rafting trip with Tasmanian Expeditions. tasmanianexpeditions.com.au

Classic outback scenery equals classic outback hike on the Larapinta Trail, which stretches the length of the West MacDonnell Ranges outside Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. In the best of outback hiking ways, hot days on the 223-kilometre trail are blessedly washed away in nights camped by gorges and waterholes.

I've walked its length - a two-week immersion into Red Centre landscapes - and there's no greater feeling than a full end-to-end outing, but tour companies also offer shorter highlight hikes, picking and choosing from the Larapinta's most scenic sections.

HOW TO DO IT: Get the full Larapinta lowdown at nt.gov.au (search for "Larapinta Trail"). World Expeditions runs a range of guided hikes along the Larapinta Trail, from short samplers to end-to-end epics. worldexpeditions.com

Any island that's vehicle-free calls loud to cyclists, but even more so when that island is beach-lined Rottnest in Western Australia. With its sealed roads and predominantly flat terrain - its highest point is just 46 metres above sea level - it's a simple task to piece together a "Rotto" cycling lap, covering 22 kilometres along coastlines as attractive as any in the country. Along the way, there are 63 beaches and myriad fringing reefs, so pack a snorkel and mask, and turn the day into a triathlon event of bikes, beaches and reefs.

HOW TO DO IT: Rottnest ferry operators hire out bikes (and snorkelling gear), as does island-based Pedal and Flipper. ria.rentrax.io/nine

They're the four numbers every Australian walker wants on their hiking record: 2228. It's the height of the country's tallest mountain, NSW's Mt Kosciuszko (2228 metres above sea level) - stand on its cairn-topped summit and you get to declare yourself the tallest person in Australia. There are two main hiking approaches to "Kozzie". Most popular is the 13-kilometre hike from the top of Thredbo's Kosciuszko Express chairlift. Even better is the 22-kilometre Main Range walk from Charlotte Pass, crossing the Snowy River and passing the imposing cliffs of Blue Lake en route to the summit.

HOW TO DO IT: Catch the Kosciuszko Express chairlift in Thredbo, or drive to the road end at Charlotte Pass.

If you thought driving Victoria's Great Ocean Road was good, wait until you hike the Great Ocean Walk. Its entire 104-kilometre length is on the ocean side of the road, meaning more beaches, water views and cliffs, with not a traffic jam in sight. Along the way there are Great Ocean Road favourites such as Cape Otway, Wreck Beach and the Twelve Apostles, but there are also walker-only scenes and rewards - striding below the cliffs on empty Milanesia Beach is one of my favourite coastal walking moments in Australia.

HOW TO DO IT: Book campsites and find information at greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au. For guided walks, see thegreatoceanwalk.com.

There's no lack of boats and tours that can get you snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, but for something more immersive - literally - there's Reefsuites. Moored at Hardy Reef, offshore from the Whitsunday Islands, Australia's first underwater accommodation provides the chance to snorkel by day and then bed down in one of two underwater suites with floor-to-ceiling windows and glass-walled ensuites looking out onto mesmerising reef activity. It's like the best of aquariums turned inside-out.

HOW TO DO IT: Book online at cruisewhitsundays.com.

Australia's other great reef is Ningaloo, stretched 260 kilometres along the shores of North West Cape. Take to the waters along Ningaloo's edge and your favourite swimming buddy will soon become the world's largest fish. "Whale sharking", as they call it locally, is a sublime experience, rolling off the back of a boat into the silence of the sea, where the spotted fish, typically three to six metres long, glide along the surface. It's a simple task to keep pace swimming alongside, making this one of the planet's most exhilarating wildlife encounters.

HOW TO DO IT: Whale sharks visit the Ningaloo area from March to August. Book swim tours through ningaloocentre.com.au.

HOW TO DO IT: You'll need a well-fitted-out 4WD, and suitable driving experience. Find guided and tagalong tours at tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au.

Stare into the eyes of Australia's greatest ocean predator as you dangle in the sharky waters around the Neptune Islands, 70 kilometres south of Port Lincoln in South Australia. As the dive cage is lowered beneath the boat, steady your breaths and shut out the knowledge that footage for Jaws was filmed here. All you can do now is wait for the intimidating company of the ocean's most frightening set of teeth.

HOW TO DO IT: Calypso Star Charters runs day trips; Rodney Fox Expeditions operates multiday live-aboard tours. sharkcagediving.com.au; rodneyfox.com.au

The Laundry Chute inside Dove Canyon is well named, with water swirling and pouring over you as you slide down the water-scoured channel, wondering where your next breath will come from. A splash into the pool at its end, a deep gasp, and the journey downstream continues - it's just one moment of a canyoning trip through this deep and narrow chasm in the shadow of Tasmania's Cradle Mountain. It's an abseil in, and then a combination of wading, swimming, scrambling and leaping up to six metres from the tops of waterfalls into deep pools.

HOW TO DO IT: Sign on with Cradle Mountain Canyons. cradlemountaincanyons.com.au