In need of a pause from their working lives, Caroline Clements and Dillon Seitchik-Reardon dreamed up a unique travel quest: to spend a year exploring and documenting the most remarkable swimming spots of their home country. After what they imagined was a far-fetched pitch was accepted by a book publisher, the duo quit their jobs and promptly hit Australia's wide open roads.

Their mission was no small feat on a landmass roughly the same size as Europe, yet it was precisely this geographic spread that provided such abundant material for their travels. They traversed great distances, traded a surfboard to a mechanic in lieu of payment along the way, and cataloged their experiences in Places We Swim.

The vividly photographed book contains sixty-five standout waterfalls, hot springs, beaches and rockpools of Australia’s great outdoors, and man-made pools and ocean baths of its coastal cities. Moreover, it speaks to the identity of water-loving nation in which swimming is one of the great democratizing traditions.

Here, they share five of their favorite locations.

Merewether Ocean Baths

A two-hour drive north of Sydney, Newcastle is the discreet, under-appreciated and under-celebrated swimming capital of Australia. It possesses all the style and flair of Sydney’s coastal landscape with only a fraction of the population. But the crown jewel of the city and, in our opinion, the best ocean pool in the country, is Merewhether Baths.

The surrounding neighborhood wakes up at first light, and on any day of the week, rain or shine, you can find people running, swimming, pramming, surfing, training or latte-ing. Merewether Baths is the nucleus of it all, with beaches and cafes radiating outwards.

Like many ocean pools in the region, it was built as part of a Depression relief scheme and opened its lanes in 1935. The largest ocean baths in the Southern Hemisphere, it was, and remains, a grand monument to Australia’s vision of itself as a water-loving culture.

Best time to visit: You cannot beat the morning vibes around here. Water is warmest from December to May.