Quick travel guide: Australia
Sydney, Uluru, Great Barrier Reef, Great Ocean Road, Nimbin and more
Facts for visitors on Canberra, Melbourne, the Opera House, harbour, beaches, Aboriginal languages, Bondi, Crocodile Dundee, the rainforests, the Whitsundays & outback.
Location: Australia is the only country that is also a continent. It is nestled between the Southern, Pacific and Indian oceans. Being an island, it has no borders, but the closest countries are East Timor, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in the north, and New Zealand and New Caledonia to the east.
Capital city: The capital of Australia is Canberra, which was built specifically to stop the rival big cities of Melbourne and Sydney arguing over the honour. Canberra has the unfair reputation of being a dull political town, but it is in a wonderful natural setting, and has a lot of high quality museums.
Other major cities: Australia’s other main cities include Sydney, famous for its beaches, Opera House and stunning harbour. It’s one of the most naturally beautiful city settings in the world. There is also Melbourne, which is regarded as the cultural capital. If you want great food and a thriving live music and comedy scene, then this is the place to go.
Population: For its size and global impact, Australia only has a small population of around 20 million. This is mainly due to the fact that most of the country is desert.
Languages spoken: Australia was formerly a collection of English colonies, and English is the language used here. However, there are also hundreds of Aboriginal languages, but these are only used for communications between indigenous people of the same grouping.
What we know it for: What don’t we know it for would probably be quicker to answer, but here goes… There’s Bondi Beach, sailing in the Whitsundays, the vast outback, hundreds of scary animals that want to kill you (although this aspect is rather exaggerated), great surfing, beer with breakfast, tropical rainforest, great wines, Crocodile Dundee and the Crocodile Hunter, the big red rock in the middle (Uluru) and the Great Barrier Reef (which, no matter how much you hype it up, is possibly the single most wonderful thing on the planet).
Why you should go: Despite all the famous aspects of the country, the iconic images are merely scratching the surface. There’s more to the country than one big checklist. There are great drives, such as the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, hippy towns like Nimbin in New South Wales, and rough and rugged landscapes like the Kimberley in the North-West. We could keep going for hours, but then it wouldn’t be a quick guide, would it?
Great place to visit: The Blue Mountains World Heritage Area outside of Sydney is stunning. If you like nature, and you like it on your doorstep, this is the place to go. With high waterfalls and brilliant walking trails, it can make anyone fall in love with the great outdoors. For the more adventurous, you can go climbing, abseiling and canyoning. The world’s oldest caves can also be found here.
MORE QUICK GUIDES: Andorra, Australia, Bolivia, East Timor, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Morocco, Spain, Paraguay, Portugal.
