Visiting the Land Down-under

If you have ever fancied taking a vacation that is literally jam-packed full of variety, you might be wise to think along the lines of the country of Australia. This is by far the largest nation in the continental region known as Oceania, and is actually considered to be a separate continent in its own right. Stretching thousands of miles across and incorporating the large island of Tasmania, this is a land that will have something to appeal to everyone.

If you love city breaks, you will find some fantastic destinations at both ends of the country. In Western Australia, you have the large city of Perth, but when you are there, it feels difficult to believe that more than one million people live within the conurbation—Perth definitely has a rather small-town-feel about it. Nevertheless, everything you could ever need on vacation is here for you: from a good central shopping area, great parks and plenty of recreational facilities to keep you busy for the duration of your stay.

At the other end of the country, you have Australia’s largest city of Sydney and this truly is a cosmopolitan metropolis – which is very rare in this country. All the world-famous tourist attractions are waiting to be enjoyed here: including The Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Bondi Beach and Taronga Zoo. Shopaholics will be in their complete element here and the choice of restaurants and cuisine is probably the very best in the Southern Hemisphere. Some other cities you might like to bear in mind include Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Moving away from the cities, Australia offers even more when you venture out into the bush and rural areas. For a start, if you want pristine and honey-hued sandy beaches, you are falling over them in this vast country. However, just one word of warning, you would always need to be vigilant of sharks at many Australian beaches and saltwater crocodiles can pose problems in the far north of the country.

Much of the interior of the country consists of deserted bush-lands with little or no real features. Nevertheless, you will still find that some of the hardiest Australians make their homes in these rather inhospitable regions. One popular inland tourist destination that you should definitely set time aside to visit is Uluru Rock (formerly known as Ayers Rock). This natural topographical feature is known to have connections with the Aborigines for many thousands of years and this is perhaps the best place to visit in Australia if you are keen to learn more about this country’s original people.

One state of the country people tend to overlook, when booking a vacation to Australia, is the island of Tasmania which can be found to the south-east of the nation. If you thought the flora and fauna of the mainland were different in Australia, you will be filled with even more wonder and awe at the unique land mass that is Tasmania. From duck-billed platypuses to the infamous Tasmanian devils, the animals here are absolutely awesome and proof of the fact that these areas of land have been separated from other main continents for many millions of years—allowing such weird and diverse species to evolve independently over time.