Who doesn’t dream about having a gorgeous secluded beach all alone? Here is a guide to some of Australia’s lesser known but absolute spectacular beaches. Get there before your neighbor and the hordes of backpackers.

The beaches has all been carefully selected by news.com.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The largely granite shoreline along the Indian Ocean in Cape Le Grande National Park offers some stunning views and pristine white sand beaches with crystal clear water. An amazing 15 km coastal trail will lead you to Rossiter Bay, via Hellfire Bay, Le Grande Beach, Thistle Cove and Lucky Bay, and past the impressive granite outcrop Mt Le Grand (345m).

Cape Le Grand National Park is 631 km south-east of Perth and 56 km east of Esperance.

NEW SOUTH WALES

Bournda Beach

Bournda Beach is a bathers' delight. It is home to both salt and freshwater lakes and surrounded by a lush rainforest.

The beach was once a popular surf spot, but tracks leading to the beach have all been closed off, with only pedestrian traffic exploring the lagoon and a magnificent coastline.

The beach is part of the Bournda National Park located about 440 km south of Sydney.

QUEENSLAND

Springs Beach

Finding Springs Beach isn’t easy, but well worth the effort. It is tucked away behind white sand dunes and the only access to the beach is from a single 250m dirt track. Once through the clearing, you're treated to the deep blue waters of the Coral Sea and the perfect spot for beach lovers and board riders alike.

Springs Beach is located in Queensland, just a few kilometers south of Agnes Water.

VICTORIA

Waterloo Bay, Wilsons Promontory

The white sand and turquoise waters at Waterloo Bay can trick you to believe you are in the tropics, but a toe in the chilly water will immediately eliminate any such illusion. However the beauty of the glittering Waterloo Bay is not an illusion.

The bay is in Wilsons Promontory, one of Victoria's best-loved national parks 200 kilometers east of Melbourne.

The beach is well hidden and you’ll have to spend some time getting there. Leave your car at Tidal River carpark and start the 12 km trail to the sheltered eastern coast.

TASMANIA

Riedle Beach, Maria Island

Riedle Beach on the eastern side of Maria Island in Tasmania is stunningly beautiful. However you’ll hardly find another soul at the wide sandy 5 km-long beach with giant granite rocks at each end.

Once a convict prison, Maria Island is now a national park with historical ruins and remarkable wildlife and since it's also car-free, you'll need to either walk or bring a mountain bike with you.

To get to Maria Island you should take the ferry from Triabunna to Darlington. Riedle Beach is a 90-minute cycle (or 4½ hour walk) from Darlington. Remember to take plenty of food and drinks with you, as there are no shops on Maria Island

Believe it or not – Venice actually has local residents. About 60,000 people live in the city’s historical centre, where they encompass an exotic minority compared to the estimated 2 million tourists, who visit Venice every year.

Just as Venice’s tourism industry is booming, frustration grows among locals, who complain about being crushed by the hordes of tourists and backpacks in the local water-buses vaporetti.

"We get packed like sardines, and then fights break out”, Marina Vio ,72, says. “That’s if you manage to get on.”

To oblige the beleaguered Venetians and avoid a local revolt, the city officials have just opened a new water-bus line reserved for locals, who are holders of the Carta Venezia pass.

“It’s an extra service for residents who are forced to bear the brunt of mass tourism” said Mayor Massimo Cacciari, according to The New York Times.

The new No. 3 water-bus line follows the Canal Grande from Piazzale Roma to Piazza San Marco and has been launched just in time to ease public transportation during the Venice Carnival.
 

                                                                                                                               Photo Yann Audic                                     

Why wait for ages and pay tons of money to a become member of a golf club, when you can play golf in decayed industrial urban areas, on top of skyscrapers or in the streets of your local city?

Founded in Germany in the 1990’s, street golf (also known as urbangolf, or crossgolf) is bringing the expensive game of golf to the masses where it increases its popularity by the minute.

The sport is particular popular in Paris where you find street-golfers everywhere. They are having driving contests on the banks of the Seine (hitting into the river), and are playing in the city’s streets and parks (especially in Bercy). Last year the streets of the French capital even constituted the battleground of the Paris Pro Tour Master Classic ‘07.

                                                                                                                       Photo Matthieu Rondel                           

The game follows the basic rules of golf – just played at rather unusual locations. The holes are often outlined with chalk or can be trashcans, and the contestants have an unlimited amount of attempts to get the ball in the hole.

It sounds dangerous but street golfers are gentlemen and take safety seriously. They use a light version of the golfball (though not light enough to avoid breaking windows) and according to the strict rules they always have to make sure the area is cleared off before they hit the ball.

If you want to be up to date with, what’s happening in the streets of Paris from a street golfer’s point of view, then check out the site of local golf heroes Le 19ème Trou (nineteenth hole). Also check out the site of German street golf- pioneers Natural Born Golfers who has more than 150.000 members worldwide, and beyond their headquarters in Germany have departments in Paris, Warsaw, San Francisco and Shanghai.

When it comes to promoting environmentally correct city-transport, Paris is really on the forefront. In July 2007, the city introduced thousands of public rental-bikes known as Vélibs, which immediately became very popular among tourists and locals. Now Paris wants to follow up the successful formula and recently Mayor Bertrand Delanoë announced that the city is about to launch a similar program with electric cars called Automobiles-en-Libre-Service.

As was the case of the Vélibs, the so-called Voiturelibs will be placed at pick-up stations around town where tourists and residents can get a car 24-hours a day, drive off and leave it at another station in Paris. The fee for renting a non-polluting Voiturelib will be cheap (a few euro an hour depending on mileage) and there is no need to book ahead.

The plan is to start up the system with 2,000 Voiturelibs and see how it works out. The city is looking at two types of electric vehicles. A car known as the Blue Car project, which is a three-seater capable of travelling 250 kilometers between charges or the Cleanova (picture), developed by the Dassault aviation firm, which uses the body of the small Renault Kangoo van.

Mayor Delanöe aims to make Paris the world’s eco-capital, and to show an example he gets around the city in a tiny electric-powered Citroën Saxo. He is France’s most popular Socialist and is likely to run for president (after etablishing an eco-friendly image).

Author David Rich Momondo

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