Sacred Places in Oceania

Uluru rises 348 m above the desert in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and its caves, waterholes and cliffs are tied to Tjukurpa, the Anangu law and creation stories. The way to see it is the 10.6 km base walk, about three to four hours on flat ground, with the Mutitjulu Waterhole and the Kuniya rock art on the south side. The free ranger-guided Mala walk explains the stories that can be shared with visitors. Some stretches of the rock are sensitive sites, and signs ask you not to photograph them; follow them.

Thirty kilometres west, the 36 domes of Kata Tjuta hold men’s law, so the Anangu share very little of their meaning. The 7.4 km Valley of the Winds loop threads between the domes, and the section past the first lookout closes on very hot days. Start at dawn in summer.

A three-day park pass costs 38 Australian dollars (about 25 USD) for adults, and under-18s enter free. Buy it online from Parks Australia or at the entry station. The Cultural Centre near the base of the rock explains Tjukurpa and sells Anangu art.

Australia holds some of the oldest continuous cultural sites on earth. In western Victoria, Budj Bim preserves stone channels and weirs the Gunditjmara people built to farm eels more than 6,000 years ago; local Aboriginal guides run tours. In Kakadu National Park, the galleries at Ubirr and Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) show rock paintings of spirit beings, animals and early contact with Europeans; Ubirr at sunset, over the Nadab floodplain, is the classic visit. On the Pilbara coast, Murujuga has one of the largest collections of rock engravings in the world and joined the World Heritage list in 2025.

In outback New South Wales, Mungo National Park is where the remains of Mungo Lady and Mungo Man, buried around 40,000 years ago, were found on the shores of dry Lake Mungo. In the north of the state, the Bundjalung people ask visitors not to climb Wollumbin (Mount Warning); the summit track has been closed since 2020, with the closure currently extended to June 2027, and the rainforest walks at the base remain open. Our Historic Sites in Australia guide has more rock art and cultural sites.

At the northern tip of the North Island, Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga Wairua) looks down on the meeting of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific. Maori tradition holds that the spirits of the dead travel here and leap into the sea from the roots of an old pohutukawa tree on the headland, on their way back to the ancestral homeland. A paved path leads to the lighthouse; the drive from Paihia takes about three hours each way, and many visitors come on a day tour along Ninety Mile Beach.

In Paihia, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds mark where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840. The carved meeting house Te Whare Runanga, the war canoe Ngatokimatawhaorua and the museums tell the story, and guided tours and cultural performances run daily. Our Historic Sites in New Zealand guide covers it in more depth.

Nan Madol, off the east coast of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia, is a ceremonial city of nearly a hundred artificial islets built from stacked basalt columns, the seat of the Saudeleur dynasty. It is a World Heritage Site, overgrown and quiet. You pay a few US dollars in cash to the local landowners at the path or to the boat operator, and the canals are easiest to explore at high tide by boat from Kolonia.

In French Polynesia, Taputapuatea on Ra’iatea was the central marae of eastern Polynesia, where voyagers from across the region gathered, and it is now a World Heritage Site; stone platforms also stand on Huahine. In Tonga, the coral trilithon of Ha’amonga ‘a Maui on Tongatapu dates to about 1200, and the royal tombs stand at Mu’a nearby. In Samoa, the domed Baha’i House of Worship sits in gardens above Apia and welcomes visitors of every faith.

Living Christianity is the Pacific’s everyday faith. A Sunday service in Tonga, Samoa or the Cook Islands means unaccompanied choirs and the whole village in white; visitors are welcome if they dress modestly. In Tonga, Sunday is a legal day of rest, so most shops, tours and flights stop.

Politically part of Chile, Easter Island is the eastern corner of the Polynesian triangle. Nearly all of its moai were carved at Rano Raraku, a volcanic crater whose slopes are still scattered with hundreds of half-finished and half-buried figures. On the crater rim at Orongo, stone houses and petroglyphs mark the birdman cult, and the sand beach at Anakena has a restored row of moai. All the sites sit in Rapa Nui National Park, which needs a ticket bought in Hanga Roa, and most sites must be visited with a licensed local guide.

The Red Centre is best from May to September, when days are around 20°C and nights are cold; summer days often pass 40°C and some walks close by late morning. Kakadu’s rock art sites are easiest in the dry season, May to October, when roads are open. New Zealand’s sites suit any season, though Cape Reinga and Tongariro are clearer and the Alpine Crossing safer from November to April. Pacific islands are drier and cooler from May to October, outside the cyclone season.

Take sacred-site requests literally. Do not climb Uluru or Wollumbin, photograph signed sensitive areas, or take rocks or sand. On a marae, wait to be welcomed in the powhiri, remove your shoes before entering the meeting house, and do not sit on tables or pillows. In the Pacific, cover shoulders and knees in villages and churches, and ask before photographing people or graves. Park and site fees are modest: 38 Australian dollars for Uluru, a few US dollars for Nan Madol, more for Rapa Nui. See also our Sacred and Spiritual Places in the World guide.