What are the best adrenalin experiences in Australia?
The best adrenalin experiences in Australia include canyoning in the Blue Mountains, bungy jumping in Cairns and tandem skydives in Airlie Beach. Other options include the Sydney Harbour Bridgeclimb, Tiger Moth flights on the Great Ocean Road and white-water rafting on the Tully River in Queensland.
Tandem skydiving
In an era where flight is taken for granted, we get used to certain comforts and protocols. Therefore, to be in the back of an unfurnished aircraft, strapped to a stranger with a door wide open is understandably petrifying.
All the fear is in the anticipation though. Once out of the plane, you’re too busy whooping and hollering as you freefall at incredible speed towards the ground. You can skydive all over Australia, although popular spots include Cairns where Skydive Australia offers 15,000ft tandem skydives for from $309.
The company also offers tandem skydives in eleven other Australian locations. These include Noosa and Airlie Beach in Queensland, Newcastle and Byron Bay in New South Wales. Near Sydney, it’s possible to do a beach skydive in Wollongong.
You can also skydive on Rottnest Island in Western Australia and the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.
Bungy jumping in Cairns, Queensland
Bungy jumping may not be as high as a skydive, but the fear of death is much higher. You can see what you’re just about to crunch into, and it’s got to be your decision to leap off the ledge. There are two ways of doing this. The first is to make a heroic bound, flying through the air with confidence. The second is being a whimpering coward and just leaning forwards until you lose your balance and fall anyway.
Australia’s only commercial bungy jumping site is at Smithfield, just north of Cairns and south of Kewarra Beach. It is run by AJ Hackett and jumps cost from $99.
Canyoning in the Blue Mountains
Whilst the fun bits of canyoning seem like an acceptable adult version of a children’s water park, with water slides and plunge pools, the more skilled bits most certainly aren’t.
Canyoning is basically following a free-flowing river through caves, gorges, and whatever else nature has thrown in the way. This can mean anything from leaping into big pools of water off rocks to traversing across precarious ledges.
Australia’s main canyoning spot is the Wollemi National Park, an hour’s drive from Katoomba in New South Wales’ Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains Adventure Centre runs full day introductory and intermediate canyoning trips. These are some of the best river activities in Australia, and cost from $245.
Tiger Moth flights on the Great Ocean Road
Aerobatic flights in a Tiger Moth an option for those who break into a cold sweat at the sight of a rollercoaster that goes upside-down temporarily. But for a big adrenaline rush, it’s hard to beat rolling through the skies at high G forces.
It’s very much a case of the more you can stomach, the more you’ll get on an aerobatic flight. If you cry off scared during the first loop-the-loop then it’ll be gentle from then on in. At Tiger Moth World in Torquay, Victoria, a scenic flight over the Great Ocean Road costs from $250. The aerobatic add-ons setting you back another $50- $150, depending on how hardcore you’re feeling.
White-water rafting on the Tully River, Queensland
The Queensland town of Tully is the wettest part of Australia, and consequently the river there can become a raging, foaming torrent. Some people have decided that it would be incredibly entertaining to get shunted along the river in an inflatable dinghy.
Rafters are guaranteed to get soaked as they battle against grade four rapids, plunge down waterfalls and desperately try and steer the flimsy craft away from mortal danger.
Half day Tully River white-water rafting tours cost from $129 with White Water Rafting Cairns.
The Bridgeclimb, Sydney
Like a big slavering dog that constantly barks whilst straining at a leash, then rolls over as soon as it’s given a biscuit, the Sydney Harbour Bridgeclimb looks a lot scarier than it actually is. Everyone is connected to a railing, and even looking down, it doesn’t actually seem that far, as you’re looking at the road rather than the water. Having said that, there is an undeniable feeling of euphoria when you reach the top of the arc. The views out over Sydney Harbour are phenomenal. There are several Sydney Bridgeclimb options, costing from $198. The nearby Pylon Lookout is considerably cheaper…
More adrenalin experiences in Australia
Other adrenalin experiences in Australia include abseiling and rock climbing at the Kangaroo Point cliffs in Brisbane and caving near Margaret River in WA. You can also try downhill mountain biking tours in Adelaide, swimming with crocodiles in Darwin and shark dives on the Eyre Peninsula.