Amazing Australian destinations
Australia has some great places to
visit, and below is a selection of them;
Queensland
Airlie
Beach - a colourful holiday town and the perfect mainland
base to reach the Whitsunday
islands.
This holiday playground of islands and pristine white sand beaches in
a turqoise blue sea is in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef and located
1125 km north of Brisbane and about 725 km south of Cairns, with a fantastic
year round sunny subtropical climate.
Brisbane
- by locals known as Brizzie or Bris Vegas, is the capital of Queensland
and has a population of 1.6 million people. It is Australia’s third
largest city after Sydney and Melbourne and used to be regarded as an
oversized country town by residents of the bigger cities but this image
has improved after hosting a multitude of international events, one of
them the 1988 World Expo.
Cairns
- the scuba diving capital of Australia and located at the end of the
Bruce Highway and the last city on the long trek up the east coast, further
north you'll find only a handful of small towns in the 1000 or so km.
to the top of Cape York.
It is the main arrival and departure point for north Queensland and a
base for exploring the region as Cairns is surrounded by attractions;
the world famous Daintree/Cape Tribulation rainforest (oldest in the world)
to the north, the Great Barrier Reef to the east, Misson Beach to the
south and the Atherton Tablelands to the west.
Cape
Tribulation / Daintree - one of only two places in
the world where two World Heritage areas meet; the Daintree National Park
and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The rainforest here is estimated
to be 120 million years old, 100 million more than the Amazon! The area
offers a variety of tours to explore the wilderness and also accommodation
right inside the rainforest. And if you're lucky you may even see the
endangered cassowary!
Cooktown
- one of Australia's most historically significant towns, in 1770 on the
banks of the Endeavour River pictured above James Cook and his crew managed
to fix his ship after their disastrous crash on the Great Barrier Reef.
They spent seven weeks here, discovered many species of flora and fauna,
most notably the kangaroo, and then managed to continue their journey
further north where they planted the Union Jack and claimed Australia,
otherwise this country might have still been New Holland today, which
was its name before Cook claimed it.
Fraser
Island - the largest sand island in the world and
is located approximately three and a half hours drive north of Brisbane,
ferries leave from Rainbow Beach and Hervey Bay.
The island is of breath taking unspoilt beauty and inscribed by UNESCO
on the World Heritage List. Natural featurs include rainforest, crystal
clear blue lakes, the Maheno shipwreck, sand dunes and Colored Sands.
North to south Fraser Island stretches for about 130 km, is between 7
and 21 km. wide. Most of its coastline is spectacular beach on the east
side and mangrove on the west side. It has an abundance of native wildlife,
including Australia's purest strain of dingoes.
Great
Barrier Reef - the largest living coral system in
the world, stretching 2300km along Queensland's coast from Bundaberg to
the top of Cape York it contains 1600 reefs and a 1000 islands and is
the site of the biggest orgasm in the universe; this is one of the terms
the North Queensland dive industry uses to describe the annual coral spawning
where three to five nights after the full moon in november or december
when the water temperature hits 28 degrees, the entire 2300 kms of Great
Barrier Reef lets go of zillions and zillions of brightly colored sperm
and eggs that float around for several days and fertilize eachother. Fish
go into a feeding frenzy and the ocean sometimes resembles an oiltanker
disaster site but all this is done to propagate new corals to ensure the
survival of the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef was the first
Australian site to be placed on UNESCO's World Heritage list, now there
are 15 Australian sites.
Magnetic
Island - a relaxed tropical lifestyle, quiet secluded
bays with pristine white sand beaches and abundant wildlife, it is located
8 kilometres off the coast in Cleveland Bay and only a 20 minute ferry
ride from Townsville. Although it is near the Wet Tropics, the Townsville
area is in a rain shadow which makes it the sunniest city on the Queensland
coast (Magnetic Island counts an average of more than 320 days of sunshine
per year, with an average maximum temperature of 28.7 C and a minimum
of 19.5C).
More than half of the island's 52 km² is National Park, with the
497 metre high Mt.Cook in the centre.
Mission
Beach - Mission Beach is an absolute must for nature
lovers, ancient rainforests run right down to pristine paradise beaches
and this is one of the few places in Australia where you can see the endangered
cassowary. The name Mission Beach covers not just one beach but a string
of beaches including Bingil Bay, Garners Beach, Mission Beach, South Mission
Beach and Wongaling Beach.
Palm
Cove - a beautiful beachside resort village only a
short drive from the centre of Cairns and international airport. Due to
the sad fact that there is no beach right in Cairns the northern beaches
of Cairns, and particularly Palm Cove have become very popular places
to stay.
Port
Douglas - one of north Queensland's most popular holiday
destinations, offering something for everyone; from the World Heritage
listed Cape Tribulation and Great Barrier Reef, to beach, shopping, bars
and restaurants. Add to this the proximity to Cairns airport and the long
stretch of magnificent Four Mile Beach and glorious north Queensland climate,
average temperatures range from 25 to 29C in the winter and 29-33C in
the summer.
Whitsunday
Islands - The Whitsunday islands at Airlie Beach are
a magnificent place for a holiday. This holiday playground of islands
and pristine white sand beaches in a turqoise blue sea is in the heart
of the Great Barrier Reef and located 1125 km north of Brisbane and about
725 km south of Cairns, with a fantastic year round sunny subtropical
climate.
New South Wales
Byron
Bay - located 800 km north of Sydney and 170 km south
of Brisbane, it has made an interesting transition in the past decade
from hippie haven to a trendy modern holiday destination, populated by
alternative lifestylers and cashed up crowd that got tired of city living,
like Elle Macpherson, Olivia Newton John and Crocodile Dundee.
The lighthouse on Cape Byron is the first place in Australia to see the
new day, it stands on the most easterly point of Australia’s mainland,
and is a great place to watch the sunrise.
Byron Bay's main attractions are the beach and its waves, it is a great
surfing spot, and its cafes and generally just hanging out enjoying the
scene.
Sydney
- the capital of New South Wales, is Australia's largest and most famous
city and well known for its landmarks; the Opera House, Harbour Bridge,
Bondi Beach and as the venue for the 2000 Olympics and the annual Gay
and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Sydney started out as a colony of prisoners in
1788 when Arthur Philip landed at Sydney Cove with a few hundred prisoners
and has since grown into a sprawling metropolis of around 4 million people.
It offers a huge range of attractions to the many visitors that land here
each year and even has excellent beaches, most famous of them all Bondi
and Manly. Also it has a few National Parks bordering the city so if you
want to escape the city the bush is never more than an hour or so away.
To the west of the city lie the Blue Mountains and a little further inland
you will find the Hunter Valley, famous for its wine growing and tasting.
Sydney offers something of interest to everyone, from history to a bustling
nightlife to nature based activities and general sight-seeing.
Victoria
Great
Ocean Road - An extremely popular scenic drive to
the south west of Melbourne that stretches for 300 km. and includes beaches,
patches of rainforest, sweeping views to a rugged rocky coastline with
steep cliffs and impressive 100 metre high rock formations like the Twelve
Apostles ( though there are no longer twelve as from time to time one
falls over and there are now eight left) . This place hit the national
news headlines when a rock formation known as London Bridge suddenly collapsed.
For many years day trippers had walked out along this natural bridge to
the big rock at the end but after sitting there for possible millions
of years the bridge spontaneously collapsed in January 1990 leaving two
people stranded on the rock who had to wait several hours for a helicipter
to arrive to ferry them back to the mainland. There is an urban myth that
these two people were not actually a couple but both cheating on their
repective partners and then got caught out getting their faces on national
television but we do not know if this holds truth or not.
London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road
Melbourne
- after Sydney Australia's largest city and home to over 3 million people.
It is the capital of the state of Victoria that is home to 26 per cent
of Australia's population. It is built on the the banks of the Yarra River
and the shores of Port Phillip. While also built around a harbour like
Sydney, unfortunately it has no famous land marks like Sydney's Opera
House and the Harbour Bridge.
Northern Territory
Alice
Springs - one of Australia's most remote and isolated
tourism destinations, an oasis in Central Australia's vast desert located
in the almost exact centre of the continent. Its nearest neighbouring
sizeable population centres are Darwin at 1600km away and Adelaide at
a similar distance. Although the small town is located in an extremely
remote place in the outback, it is a popular place to visit being an ideal
base to explore some of Australia's greatest natural wonders; Ayers Rock
or Uluru, the Olgas or Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon and the MacDonnell Ranges.
Aborigines make up 20% of the town's population of roughly 28000.
Darwin
- lies at the northern end of the Stuart Highway and is the capital of
the Northern Territory, it is named after the English naturalist Charles
Darwin. Nowadays it is a modern city but not so long ago it was still
a large outback town with, due to the hot climate, the highest beerconsumption
of any city in the world. It is very cosmopolitan though there are no
ghettos of certain nationalities like in some of the bigger cities and
the international mix of people becomes evident at the many markets in
Darwin where you can find cheap eats from almost any country you can think
of. The city is also surrounded by beautiful beaches and enjoys spectacular
sunsets. Within a few hours drive of Darwin you find spectacular national
parks like Kakadu, Litchfield and many other attractions.
Kakadu
- an awesome National Park filled with scrub, floodplains teeming with
birdlife, ancient Aboriginal rock art, rivers full of crocodiles, waterfalls
etc.
Litchfield National Park
- Northern Territory outback filled with awesome termite mounds and waterfalls,
ideal for those with not enough time to see Kakadu. . Info
on how to see this place....
Uluru
/ Ayers Rock - Giant rock ( referred to by many Aussies
as 'the rock') in the middle of Australia that has significant meaning
to Aborigines, they nowadays own the rock again after the government handed
it over to them in he 1980s on the condition they lease it back to National
Parks.
William Gosse was the first white man to spot and climb the rock and named
it after a former South Australia premier Sir Henry Ayers, Aborigines
refer to it as Uluru.
Geologists refer to this rock as both a monolith ( it is the largest monolith
in the world measuring 3.1km. in length) and a monadnock (isolated rock
sticking out above surrounding country).
Photo by Rob Lapaer of Rainforest
Hideaway B&B, Cape Tribulation, N.Qld.
Tasmania
Hobart
- the capital of the island state of Tasmania, located at the mouth of
the Derwent River on the south-east coast. It was established in 1803
and early in its history it was a major whaling port and shipbuilding
centre. More recently the city has come to function as the main administrative
and commercial centre of the State. It has a population of about 130,000,
which is about 40 per cent of Tasmanians. The small size of the city,
the riverside location, the busy harbour and the beautiful historic buildings
all add to its charm.
Western Australia
Broome
- has transformed from a small isolated outback frontier town to a more
modern resort town and holiday playground. Its location is quite remote,
about 2200 km. from Perth and about 1500 km. from Darwin. Main attractions
are Cable Beach, the town's colorful history, and nearby attractions like
Windjana Gorge and other wilderness areas accessible by four wheel drive.
Perth
- has a population of around 1.4 million people and enjoys more hours
of sunshine than any other capital city in Australia. It is the world's
most remote city ( it is closer to Singapore and Jakarta than it is to
Canberra!) and is well laid out and easy to get around,also it has a warm
sunny climate and clear blue skies.
In the city you will find riverside and beachside restaurants and cafes,
free inner city public transport, colourful port city of Fremantle and
a ferry to Rottnest Island.
Around the city, within a couple of hours drive, you can visit the famous
Margaret River wine region, see massive trees in forests, see surfies
in action on the waves, swim with dolphins in their natural environment,
or see some desert at The Pinnacles.
South Australia
Adelaide
- the capital of South Australia and has a population of just over a million
people. It is a clean and friendly city and well located with beautiful
beaches in Glenelg, plenty of parkland, some beautiful green hill country
inland and also the famous Barossa wine growing region nearby.
Canberra
Canberra
- was started in 1911 when arguments between Victoria and New South Wales
on who should house the Australian government and be the nation's capital
could not be resolved so a third place was chosen, the first parliamentary
meeting in the new capital city was held in 1927. This city houses the
government and is best known for public servants, the 2003 bushfires,
relaxed drug laws and being the base of the nation's porn industry, due
to legislation they find this the easiest place to operate from. There
is no other industry to speak of here so anyone you meet from Canberra
will either be a politician or a pornstar.
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