Amazing Australian destinations

Queensland destinations

Airlie Beach - a colourful holiday town where backpackers party, people rent sailing boats and go scuba diving, 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 sunny capital of the sunshine state of Queensland and has a population of 1.6 million people.
It is Australia’s third largest city after Sydney and Melbourne and once 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.
Within easy reach of Brisbane you will find the beaches of the Gold Coast to the south, and the Sunshine Coast and the wilderness of Fraser Island to the north.

Cairns - the scuba diving capital of Australia, is 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.

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Daintree Accommodation

Cape Tribulation / Daintree - one of only two places in the entire 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 there is some amazing accommodation in Cape Tribulation right inside the rainforest. And if you're lucky you may even see the endangered cassowary!
Although there are bus services, driving your own car or rental car is without a doubt the best way to explore the Cairns to Cape Tribulation / Daintree area, there are many interesting and scenic places along the way, and as the highway runs right along the coast in many places you will see how the two World Heritage areas (the Daintree National Park and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park), meet eachother. You can rent your car in Cairns or Port Douglas and enjoy one of Australia's most spectacular coastal drives up to your accommodation in the Daintree

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 nowadays, which was its name before Cook claimed it for the King of England.

Fraser Island - the largest sand island in the world, 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 real beach right in the city centre of 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.
Scuba diving, snorkelling and sailing are some of the most favorite activities here.

New South Wales destinations

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 destinations

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.

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 banks of the Yarra River and the shores of Port Phillip. While also built around a harbour like Sydney, it unfortunately has no famous land marks like Sydney's Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

Northern Territory destinations

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 World Heritage listed National Park filled with scrub, floodplains teeming with birdlife, ancient Aboriginal rock art, rivers full of crocodiles, waterfalls etc.
There is a variety of tours available of varing lenghts to give you the opportunity to explore and discover this amazing wilderness.
You can also rent a campervan to explore it on your own as there are plenty of camping spots around this National Park, just be careful where you swim!

Litchfield National Park - Northern Territory outback filled with awesome termite mounds and waterfalls, ideal for those with not enough time to see Kakadu.
Litchfield also has some great camping spots so an ideal place to cruise around with a rented camper van or a tent. Here there are more places to swim safely than Kakadu.

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).

Tasmania destinations

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 destinations

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 destinations

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 destinations

Canberra - this city 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.