 The landscapes of the Top End and the Gulf Country — with their tropical climate — include forest , woodland , wetland , grassland , rainforest and desert . At the north @-@ west corner of the continent are the sandstone cliffs and gorges of The Kimberley , and below that the Pilbara . To the south of these and inland , lie more areas of grassland : the Ord Victoria Plain and the Western Australian Mulga shrublands . At the heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia . Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru ( also known as Ayers Rock ) , the famous sandstone monolith , and the inland Simpson , Tirari and Sturt Stony , Gibson , Great Sandy , Tanami , and Great Victoria deserts , with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast . 
