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Australia & New Zealand

Australia / New Zealand

Australia
When flying to Australia, the foreign traveller is most likely to arrive in Sydney. The airport is located to the South of the city in Botany Bay, where Cook originally arrived. This bay was originally intended as the place for the city Sydney, but the subsequent fleet found an even more beautiful spot (this one even had fresh water - the Tank Stream, which now flows underground, its course now shown only by markers in city footpaths) in Port Jackson, also known as Sydney Harbour. The Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are located there.

And that is probably where you want to go after you arrive deadly tired in Sydney. It has been a long flight -- from where-ever you came from. Change some money on the airport and then jump in a cab. And let it drive you to your hotel 'downtown' (in the 'city' they say here). It's going to cost you approximately $35 Australian dollars ($23 US). You can also take the yellow-green airport-to-city buses, if you want to save money. Trains also run right into the city, but are a bit more expensive than buses....read more »


Sydney - The trip down the Freeway to Sydney's northern suburbs is very straightforward, make no turns, take no exits. Along the way there are some great views, particularly near the Hawkesbury River and through towering cuttings in solid sandstone with bridges built at seemingly precarious heights...read more about Sydney »


Albany Western Australia - Albany Western Australia is a city of approximately 30,000 people in the south-west corner of Western Australia, approximately 409km from Perth . The city is nestled between three large hills, Mount Clarence, Mount Melville and Mount Adelaide, facing the beautiful King George III Sound....read more about Albany Australia »


Mandurah - Western Australia - The town centre of Mandurah is situated around Mandjar Bay and it's foreshore is lined with wonderful parkways, barbeque facilities cafe's, restaurants and a great boardwalk, which is just one of the many other walks available. During weekends and holiday seasons the Mandurah foreshore is packed solid with visitor's enjoying the beautiful surroundings and watching the dolphins at play. At night the Foreshore lights up to produce a spectacular display of coloured lights which are reflected on the water. Its a fabulous lifestyle!...read more »


Australia's Wine Country -- In Adelaide Hills, you can enjoy the comforts and pace of the country, yet be close enough to one of Australia's major cities, Adelaide, with all of its attractions. The attractions of Adelaide Hills include plenty of vineyards to tour and wine to taste. It is close to the state of Victoria and you can even see some beautiful Victorian countryside.

Barossa. One of Australia's best wine producing regions, this valley is an absolute treat. Known throughout the world as a premier wine producer, Barossa's beauty and wine producing capabilities have attracted many European influences. Many of Barossa's villages resemble those found in Germany or England in terms of their architecture, tone and tradition. You can relax and enjoy an afternoon sipping local wine along with European specialties.

Clare Valley boasts Australia's Reisling Trail, dotted with cellars all the way. This 27 kilometer long trail is an extremely fine bike ride. You can stop and sample the local fare in the restaurants and hostels along the way, and complete the trail as quickly or as slowly as you like....read more about Australia's Wine Country


Australia's Gold Coast
One of the Gold Coasts greatest attractions is it's natural ones including 40km of golden sandy beaches, Eco tourism throughout the Hinterland and National Parks, onshore and offshore fishing, diving and sailing. There is also two wild life parks located at Currumbin and Burliegh. The Hinterland is also popular for it's growing wine and vineyard industry.

Adventure attractions include motor bike tours, parasailing, sky diving, hot air ballooning, jet skiing, power boating, helicopter tours, go karting and motor racing.

Four theme parks provide hours and hours if not days of entertainment value with something for everyone. The four theme parks are Movie World, Wet 'n' Wild, Sea World and Dreamworld located between Southport and Coomera. Dreamworld is also the home of Big Brother in Australia....read more about the Gold Coast


Australia is approximately the same size as Continental USA. But it only has the same population as Los Angeles. Lots of wide open spaces. Approx 66% of the country is desert so most of the population is located near the coast line. The east coast being the most highly populated. The weather is the opposite of the USA. Climate like Florida tropical and warm year round is in the northern areas like Darwin and Cairns. The more temperate and seasonal regions like Seattle are in the south like Tasmania. In the north east you get beautiful tropical weather, sandy beaches and perfect islands. Sydney is your classic sophisticated city experience with such icons as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Alice Springs is gateway to the desert region. Really the great thing about Australia is that you can really get everything!....read more about Australia


Fraser Island - Australia
Fraser Island isn’t just an island paradise. It’s a unique and luxurious combination of Australia’s rich natural heritage, its earthy roots, its wholesome majesty, and its refreshingly simple essentials. It’s a chance to touch the fine sands, to drift in the temperate water, to bask in the sun that seems all yours… It’s your chance to partake of a life that most Australians have forgotten.

Spend a week on and in turquoise waters, a week without shoes with the sand between your toes, a week fishing and perhaps living off your catch. Your perspective can’t help but change....read more about Fraser Island Australia >>


Cairns and Surrounding Islands Restaurants
Cairns Attractions - provides information about a variety of things to see and do in the Cairns region of Tropical Far North Queensland, Australia. Attractions are divided into categories such as Adrenalin Travel, Soft Travel, Natural Attractions, Markets, Zoos, and Man-Made Entertainment.

Bondi Beach Homepage - The most comprehensive site on Australia's famous beach.

Western Australia Tourism Commission - The site features surfcams from Western Australian and other parts of the world. With links to weather, maps, brochures, photos and ePostcards.

Bedarra Bay:

Australian Resorts Queensland, Tasmania, Great Barrier Reef

Byron Bay
The town of Byron Bay is renowned for the rich diversity of its weekend markets, restaurants, shops and fashion outlets. The Byron Bay area including the hilly hinterland is also known as something of a mecca for alternative lifestylers who have enriched the local culture and economy with an enormous variety of small alternative food, art, craft, health and natural therapy industries. An area of spectacular natural beauty and glorious beaches, outdoor activities abound in Byron Bay, ranging from bushwalking and climbing in the nearby hills to surfing, diving, snorkelling, whale watching, gliding, hang-gliding, horse riding and bike riding...read more about Byron Bay Australia

Cape Tribulation
Billy Tea Bush Safaris - Tours to the rainforest area of Cape Tribulation and Cape York penisula.

Cairns
Cairns is surrounded to the north, west and south by magnificent rainforests, many of which are protected by World Heritage listings. To the east is Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. The wealth of natural beauty in the Cairns region provides the perfect setting for a huge range of activities including swimming, snorkelling, diving, sailing, jet-skiing, white water rafting, bushwalking, fishing, hot air ballooning or simply enjoying the fantastic scenery on a drive out of town to Mossman Gorge, Port Douglas, Kuranda or the Nandroya Falls...read more about Cairns Australia

Christmas Island
Christmas Island Tourism Association - If you love nature, you will love Christmas Island!
Christmas Island Visa Information
Christmas Island Speleology Cave Photos from an 1987 expedition

Dunk Island
Dunk Island Resort and Area information

Hamilton:
Hamilton Island
Official site of Hamilton Island
Hamilton Island Great Barrier Reef Australia
Hamilton Island Queensland Australia Waterside villa sleeps up to eight people.

Heard Island:
Heard and McDonald Islands - Country Profile and Map

Heron Island:
Heron Island - Great Barrier Reef Scuba Diving, Weddings, Resorts, Photo Gallery and information

Orpheusis Island:
Orpheuis Island Visitors Info

Poruma Island:
Poruma, Torres Strait

Phillip Island Penguin Park
The Phillip Island Penguin Park is a two-hour drive south-east of Melbourne. Fronting on Bass Strait, Summerland Beach, despite its balmy name, it is cold, windy and dismally wet. The inhospitable weather doesn't deter the thousands of tourists from all over the world, who arrive by car and tour buses each evening around dusk to watch the Penguin Parade.

The Australians have done an admirable job of respecting the environmental needs of the Little Penguins. The sand dunes, pocked with penguin burrows, extend a long way past the parking lot, but visitors are channelled along elevated board-walks towards the beach. The lighting along the beach is directed away from the water and flash photography is strictly prohibited because it damages the birds' eyesight. Plain clothes officials mingle with the crowd, and confiscate cameras from offenders....read more about Phillip Island

Port Douglas
The ideal location for relaxing time out, Port Douglas is an easy-going tropical paradise with a small friendly village atmosphere and sophisticated creature comforts. The warm reef waters of the Coral Sea, the glorious palm fringed sands of Port Douglas Four Mile Beach, and the crystal clear creeks of Mossman Gorge are the place to refresh, restore and revitalise both body and mind. Seductive, balmy days slip seamlessly into tropical evenings under a canopy of clear starry skies. The sights, sounds and tastes of the tropical environment are a feast for the senses; the stunning array of nature and wildlife is awe-inspiring.....read more about Port Douglas Australia

Queensland:
Great Barrier Reef Visitors Bureau - North Queensland
Heritage and Interpretive Tours - Daintree Rainforest walks and 4WD tours, Queensland - Port Douglas Map

Tasmania:
Tasmania Online - your comprehensive guide to Tasmania on the Web

Vava'u Islands, Neiafu, and Kingdom of Tonga:
South Long Island:
Wilderness Lodge
Australia/Oceania Map provided by MapQuest.com

People may not be aware that in both New Zealand and Australia the seasons are reversed when compared to the United States. June in the eastern U.S. is similar to December in Melbourne. Conversely, December in New York is akin to June in Sydney. Spring and fall are reversed and both are good times to travel to Australia and New Zealand. Queensland, in the far northeast, Darwin in the north central area and Broome in the west, all in Australia, are tropical. In other words, for North Americans, north is south and south is north!....read more »

Gledswood
Although the estate still consists of 64 acres of rolling countryside in the Camden valley of New South Wales (the birthplace of the Australian wool industry), Gledswood is no longer a working sheep farm. Instead it celebrates its heritage by delighting visitors with an opportunity to experience typical Aussie occupations first hand. The day's activities include learning to crack a drover's whip, and watching a rangy brown Australian sheepdog corral a flock of alarmed looking sheep across a paddock and into a pen. Some of the "jumbucks" escape through a break in the fence, rushing blindly into our midst, followed by a determined Jock, who nips at their heels, and causes some of us humans to dodge nimbly out of the way....read more about Gledswood

Cairns
Beyond the corals and the sea is another, altogether different aspect of Tropical Queensland and Cairns. To the west of Cairns lies the World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest, a 135 million years old jungle with the largest variety of plant species in the world. Situated in one placid corner of the rainforest is Kuranda, 'the village in the rainforest', a charming small town with its own tradition and history. Kuranda has cultural centers, museums, and is also the terminal for both the SkyRail and Kuranda Scenic Railway, two of the most charming rides that are sure to captivate all hearts, young or old. River rides on the Daintree and Mossman rivers course through tumultuous waters that are infested by crocs in places. Many of these areas are under the protection of indigenous Aborigines and you may meet them at many points. Full of waterfalls, gorges and flora of a thousand and more varieties, the jungle offers various trekking opportunities.....read more about Cairns

Palm Cove Australia
Palm Cove is a wonderful tropical beach in North Queensland, and like other places in this glorious northern state, comes chock-a-block with natural wonders, adventure activities and culture treat. Here is a retreat where you can indulge your desires - work yourself to frenzy, or listen to the crashing waves while you enjoy timeless leisure.....read more about Palm Cove

Melbourne
Think of Melbourne, and chances of most will think of a hep and happening city, a huge cricket stadium, one or two lovely beaches and a wonderful population. The fact that it has been voted as the best place to live in many times draw focus to the concrete infrastructure. Yet, hidden from the knowledge or itinerary of many who visit Melbourne for a day or two, are a whole host of spectacular charms. Melbourne's geological position presents it with an astonishing variety of landscapes and rockfaces. Built on the confluence of lava flows and Silurian mudstones, it follows the Yarra River and the Dandenong Ranges, spreading into a flat country later on.....read more about Melbourne


Australia Adventure
In Australia, the notion of adventure in travel is inextricably linked to that of the Outback. This means that true adventure travel is more likely to be found away from the comfortable, urban east coast, and in particular away from the area located south of the Brisbane-Adelaide line where over 80% of Australians live in urban and suburban settings oblivious to the geographic, climatic and cultural realities of the majority of the Australian continent. High on the list of authentic Australian outback adventure travel destinations therefore are Central Australia and the Northern Territory, far north and western Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia. The island of Tasmania also provides many exciting opportunities for adventure travel in unique wilderness areas......read more about Australia Adventure


Hunter Valley
The Hunter Valley stretches from the Goulburn River and Wollemi National Park in the south to the Barrington Tops National Park in the north. Most of the Hunter Valley's many vineyards are located in the Lower Hunter Valley, with the centre of grape and wine production being Pokolbin, located north west of the town of Cessnock. Although some wineries specialise in particular wines, Chardonnay, Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Verdelho can be found at most vineyards. The best vintage years for both red and white wines in the Hunter Valley include 1979, 1983, 1996 and 1999, although several other good years were seen during both the 1980s and 1990s. Great wine is accompanied by great food in many restaurants, including a selection of fresh local grown vegetables, locally bred game, delicious seafood from Port Stephens, bread and pastries, cheeses and chocolates......read more about Hunter Valley Australia


Australia Islands
You've not experienced the world until you've seen the wonders of Australia. Have you ever imagined what it would be like to swim in crystal clear water, sit under a palm tree while sipping on some exotic drink or laze about beside a pool on a balmy night ? If you have, then Australia's exotic islands are for you. They're just irresistible !

However, it's a big country consisting of some 8,000 islands, including the island State of Tasmania Australia's island resorts and exotic island getaways offer a richly rewarding experience and are great romantic places for that exotic vacation....read more about Australia Islands