Places to visit in Australia – Part 9

Australia is such a vast continent that most visitors will only ever manage to scratch the surface of what this country has to offer. As the oldest land in the world, what makes Australia unique is its Aboriginal culture, it’s wildlife (most of which you won’t find anywhere else) and some of the most amazing geographical landscapes and features. So, given the huge scale of the place, what are the best places to visit that will give you a flavour of what Australia is all about?

Must-see’s for the first time visitor

Australia’s best known icons are: Sydney (the Opera House), Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Great Barrier Reef. Sydney may be just like any other major city with great shopping, entertainment and restaurants but what makes it different is that it has views like no other. Set around a huge and fabulous harbour, it is so picturesque that everywhere you look there are vistas worthy of photographs. And, not only that, but in Sydney you can spend the morning pavement pounding around the sights of the city centre (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, The Rocks) and still have time to hit one of its beaches in the afternoon. Sydney will show you the modern metropolitan face of Australia but a trip to Uluru will show you the flip side. Out in the middle of the huge red desert you will get a sense of the vastness of the country and just how rugged and harsh it’s outback environment is. Also, if you spend some time in Alice Springs you will come in to contact with it’s indigenous people who account for less than 5% of the population and are therefore not very visible in the cities. The other major icon for first time visitors is the Great Barrier Reef, probably best accessed from Cairns where you can also visit World Heritage listed rainforest and other attractions. The Reef itself is over 1000-kilometres long so even if you’re an avid scuba diver you’ll only be able to see a small portion but you will be left thrilled by the coral and marine life/

Places to visit for returning visitors

Beyond these top 3 icons Australia has enough sightseeing to last several months of travelling but the most notable areas to see are:

1) Western Australia – Perth is the most isolated city in the world with beautiful beaches and lifestyle. Outside of the city you can take a culinary tour of the Margaret River vineyards and swim with dolphins or go diving on Australia’s less visited reef system.

2) The tropical Top End has jumping crocodiles and world-renowned national parks (Kakadu & Litchfield).

3) Melbourne & The Great Ocean Road – this is the nice and easy fly/drive choice with great cafes, restaurants and shopping followed by a scenic drive along the south coast to Adelaide

If after all that travelling you just want to laze about on beaches you’ve definitely come to the right place. Australia has an abundance of glorious white sandy beaches; some busy but most deserted. In fact, Australia has so many great beaches that you’ll definitely find one to suit all tastes ie. city beaches, surfing beaches, upmarket/resort beaches, off the beaten track beaches etc. You name it; they have it.