Perth

Rottnest Island is the sort of place you'd suspect was dreamed up by an overly caffeinated tourism board intern: glorious turquoise waters, postcard beaches, and-above all-quokkas, the absurdly photogenic marsupials that look like tiny kangaroos who spent their youth attending charm school. Historically, Rottnest wasn't always paradise-named "rat nest" by Dutch explorers who mistook these delightful fuzzballs for oversized rodents, demonstrating once again Europe's long and storied history of getting things spectacularly wrong upon arrival. Today, travelers trek across the Indian Ocean ferrying from Perth, usually arriving early while the Instagram hordes are still nursing their hangovers; plan ahead at least a week or two in peak season and set aside about 80 Aussie dollars for the roundtrip ferry and park entrance. Pack sunscreen, drinking water, and your cheekiest grin-quokkas have a knack for photo-bombing selfies with A-list enthusiasm that's equal parts endearing and shameless. Go partly for the pristine scenery, partly to witness tourists contorting themselves absurdly for a picture, but mostly because where else on Earth can you experience a fluffy marsupial mugging for your camera, securing your claim to legendary social media fame (or at least semi-envy from your coworkers)?

Only a couple hours north of Perth awaits the Pinnacles Desert, an otherworldly spectacle where nature seems to have spent a few million years sculpting its own bizarre, minimalist sculpture garden. Jutting abruptly and enigmatically out from the mustard-colored sands of Nambung National Park, hundreds of limestone pillars-some as tall as a basketball hoop, others vaguely resembling petrified alien chess pieces-stand proudly as if daring tourists to decode their secret geological drama. Aim for early morning or, better yet, late afternoon if you prefer photographing eerie shadows rather than sweating tourists; budget about $15 AUD for entry, plus a tank of petrol and perhaps a strong coffee from Cervantes, the sleepy fishing town nearby named nostalgically after a shipwrecked American whaler, because of course it was. Bring sunscreen, water, and sturdy shoes-the desert is no respecter of flimsy sandals or delicate skin. And even if geology isn't your thing, the Pinnacles are undeniably Instagram gold. Trust me, someday at a cocktail party you'll thank yourself for having visited this beautifully surreal monument to geological stubbornness; if nothing else, your tale of wandering among these ancient rocks as the sun disappeared might just become your go-to anecdote to outshine your friend's boring cruise stories.