In a small town in South Australia, the exterior walls of a public restroom are wrapped in vivid landscapes hand-painted on to tile. In the centre, a windmill stands tall above a river that spills into rolling, rust-coloured paddocks. Beside it, a bird nests atop a sign reading “Carrieton”.

“It is a mural depicting the history of the town,” travel blogger Marion Halliday says. “You look at it and go, oh my God, that’s amazing.

“Then you realise it is the wall of a toilet.”

Halliday, who is known online as Red Nomad, has spent almost 30 years travelling around Australia; her book Aussie Loos with Views documents the rest-stops.

“Sometimes you just need the loo. You stumble across these quirky places in the outback where you think, there shouldn’t be a loo here, but there is. And it looks bizarre!”

The federal health department’s National Public Toilet Map displays the location of more than 19,000 public bathroom facilities across the country – a true gift in this pandemic, as Australians make plans to spend more time outdoors.

Approved in 2000, the map came about “at a time when getting information on where there are toilets was almost impossible,” says Michael Radford, who worked on the map.

“The longevity of the project is an indicator of how valuable it is.”

With each bathroom location, information is included on accessibility features including baby care, sharps disposal and showers. As “standards for accessibility change,” so does the map, Radford explains.

“Some toilets become too antiquated. Toilets might have a ramp, but doorways to the toilet are too narrow for motorised access.”

So what makes a great public loo? A toilet so pretty you took photos? A room with a view? One you stumbled upon just in time?

“No one has ever identified the most scenic toilet ever,” Halliday says. “But there’s certainly a few contenders.”

One might be at Kata Tjuta, a group of rock formations in the Northern Territory. “There was an area where you can park, picnic, walk around and visit the toilet,” Halliday recalls.

“I came out of the loo, and suddenly there are these beautiful red rock domes, a blue sky and outback greenery. I thought, this has got to be one of the most scenic views from a toilet ever.”

In Point Quobba, Western Australia, a narrow structure “you can only describe as a dunny” sits alone on a vast, sandy plane near the ocean.

“It is a raised up toilet in this little wooden structure that faces out over some of the wildest seas I’ve ever seen,” Halliday says.

“If you left the door open, which you’re probably not going to, you would be able to see a spectacularly wild part of the Australian coast from the toilet.”

For Halliday, all a toilet needs to be memorable are the basics.

“It has got to be clean,” she says. “And there has got to be toilet paper.”

But she says “it doesn’t necessarily have to be a flushing toilet”, explaining that water conservation efforts in rural Australia sometimes rely on composting toilets that “do the job”.

Others might be in it for the architecture and design.

In 2019, a public bathroom in western Sydney took out the Total Facilities annual Australia’s best bathroom competition. The luxe bathroom at the Westpoint shopping centre in Blacktown boasts warm wood and clean marble finishes, suspended greenery, unintrusive hand dryers and mosaic art that pays homage to the area’s history. Beyond the aesthetics, it has been heralded for its inviting parents’ room and dedicated space for people with carers.

Another beloved restroom in New South Wales sits on Rawson Pass near the peak of Mount Kosciuszko – the highest public toilet in Australia. Halliday describes the bathroom facility as “dug into the side of a mountain like a bunker”.

On a Sydney beach, North Bondi Amenities is a popular modern outdoor toilet block bathed in natural light from skylights, with cascading greenery from succulents growing on the roof. Designed by Sam Crawford Architects in 2016, the concrete and terrazzo-tiled space elegantly suits the needs of a barefoot beachgoer needing to change into swimmers, take a toilet break or wait for the next bus in the shade.

And in Wycliffe Well, a “quirky little roadhouse” between the NT’s Darwin and Alice Springs “claims to be the place with the most UFO sightings in Australia,” Halliday says.

Each building at the roadhouse caravan park and campground is painted with murals of extraterrestrial activity. Halliday calls this “the alien pit stop”.

With celestial splashes of purple and blue paint, humanoid silhouettes and “Maliens / Femalians” bathroom signage, Halliday says “the toilets are specifically built for them”.

• Guardian Australia is on the hunt for Australia’s best public loo. Do you have a favourite? Share it in the comments