Desert landscapes in Oceania cover more ground than the classic red sand image suggests, and a few very different versions of that landscape show up on this list.
Uluru and the surrounding national park sit at the heart of Australia's Red Centre, the country's best known stretch of true arid desert, home to the sandstone monolith itself and the domed rock formations of Kata Tjuta nearby. Western Australia holds some of the country's largest deserts too, stretching across vast, sparsely populated interior country that ranges from red dune fields to pale limestone formations closer to the coast. Victoria's arid corner sits in the state's northwest Mallee region, semi arid scrub and salt lakes rather than towering dunes, but very dry country all the same. The North Island of New Zealand adds an unexpected entry, with a volcanic ash plain near Tongariro that looks like a desert without technically being one, shaped by poor soil rather than low rainfall.
