posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Oct 6
Being hotel reviewer I often get asked about good places to visit in Australia.. Here’s some my top 10.
1.The most popular jumping off point for those looking to snorkel and dive the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns is a favourite place to catch a day tour to the reef. There are heaps of operators that offer a wide variety of different kinds of trips to the Great Barrier Reef. You can choose between day-trips or extended cruises, which range widely in price, anywhere from around $100 to $200. If you aren’t yet qualified to scuba dive, but can’t possibly go on a chartered tour to the Great Barrier Reef without doing so, just about all cruises will give you the opportunity to do an introductory dive, with no qualifications necessary or you can easily pick up your certification in a few days at any Cairns dive school. They offer a 5-day scuba course, which gives you your PADI certification and gives you the opportunity for several open-water scuba dives out on the reef. Pretty much everyone has an green tourism rating, which means you don’t have to worry about damaging all the beautiful underwater scenery while you are snorkelling.
2.Held every February, the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is now the largest of its kind in the world. A million people line Darlinghurst’s streets] to see floats so colourful, and outfits so outlandish that Brazilian carnevalists would be envious. Streets are closed off, pubs en-route are full to capacity, and the gay and lesbian community party for days. It’s their Christmas. Straight people are allowed along for the celebratory ride but this is a celebration of gay culture. The event began in 1978 with a parade of 1000 people celebrating World Gay Solidarity Day. These were much less forgiving days and there were fights with the law that led to arrests for ‘lewd behaviour’. These days gay and lesbian police march openly – and even in uniform – in the parade. The whole thing involves thousands of performers. Religious types are always resentful of the wanton sexuality but are generally seen as part of the lunatic fringe during this miasma of colour. It’s an unforgetable party and not to be missed.
3.Located south of Cairns Australia, Mission Beach is the closest mainland point to the Great Barrier Reef. The beach is a 8 mile long, perfect sandy beach, with awesome views of Dunk and a handful of other islands just offshore. There is a small township here, where you can learn more about activities like snorkelling or scuba diving, though most would be perfectly happy soaking up the rays and swimming in the crystal clear water.You can stay in local accommodation, though most will be on a day trip from Cairns. If you did not rent a car or camper for your trip, there is a company that offers a coach transfer service named Mission Beach Dunk Island Coaches, which takes the scenic road between Port Douglas, Cairns, and Mission Beach.
4.Thought of circa 1850 to keep cricketers fit in winter, Australian Rules is a hybrid of rugby, soccer and a charming Australian childish activity called all in that involves gang-tackling the unfortunate soul who has the ball. The game is played on an oval-shaped, cricket-sized ground between two teams of 18 men each. The idea is to kick the ball through two upright posts and earn six points. Miss and you get one point, or miss so badly the ball misses the smaller of the adjacent posts and you get zero. A free kick is gained when a catch is taken, awarded when a kick is caught before it touches the ground. This can be the most amazing of sights, players ‘ride’ the backs of their opponents (and team mates) so high they often concuss themselves when they fall back to the ground. The players pass the ball by hitting the ball with their bunched fist and can’t run without bouncing it every 10 metres. That’s about it for rules. The rules are so strange that it’s little wonder no-one on Earth bar Australians know what they are. Crowds sometimes reach 100,000, most of whom are as knowledgeable about the history of their team as a history lecturer from Oxford knows about ancient Troy. That’s why, an Aussie Rules game is definately a must see on a trip to Australia.
5.Try to throw a boomerang and learn a bitsomething about Aboriginal Culture. You will find out that is not as easy as you may think Cultural centres of aborginal art and history are everywhere. You will hear stories about the Dreamtime and learn a lot of how people lived in the old days and their culture. It may change your perception of the locals you may meet on your travels.
6.The thing to do at Ayers Rock – climb to the top of it. Located near Alice Springs aka the Outback, Uluru, one of the World’s Heritage Sites, is a large sandstone formation standing over 1100 feet in height and turns brilliant shades of bright red during the day, particularly so during sunrise and sunset. More importantly, Uluru is a sacred site for the Aboriginal people who also believe that a curse is placed on anyone who takes rocks away with them. In the tourist information center, there is a display of rocks that have been shipped back from tourists who took them home. There is a long chain right along the side of the mountain that acts as a handrail for the climb up and the views from atop this magnificent site are simply breathtaking. The local Indigenous people do not like travellers climbing the rock, however this decision is up to you.
7.The oldest continuous area of rainforest in the country, the Daintree National Park is a protected area of thick rainforest located north of Cairns Australia. The park, which encompasses around 1200 square kilometers, is not only a World Heritage site, but is also home to a large variety of flora and fauna—including marsupials, frogs, birds and dropbear|more]. Considered the oldest rainforest in the world, the Daintree forest is over 138 million years old and has more than 430 different species of bird, including 13 species found only there. There are several day walks that allow travelers to see sections of this beautiful rainforest on their own, as well as guided tours that can help teach you about the local history on your way.
8.The coastline of Australia’s southern coast is absolutely awe inspiring. The Great Ocean Road runs right along the cliffs of the Southern Ocean where it kind of blew my mind that the next piece of land south is Antarctica. There are interesting sites to see like the Massive rock formations of the Twelve Apostles, volcanic craters that became lakes, waterfalls, and beaches. And there’s nothing like experiencing the lifestyle and culture of the quaint, coastal towns that have the privilege of being situated on this brilliant coast.
9.Treat yourself to a surf school and experience the surfing lifestyle. Have you ever dreamed of surfing the waves? Well, now is your chance. Surfing is huge down under. Not just as a sport, but also as a lifestyle. There is something special about the people that live and breath surfing. They have a natural ease and calm for lifelust for life, that is impossibel to find elsewhere. And it’s difficult to understand it until you actually try it. The two seconds of glory when you stand on the board for the first time, with knees shaking like an old man will stay with you always. At least long enough to recover from the wave that will hit you two seconds later.If you ever imagined that surfing was easy, you were definately wrong. Surfing is extremely hard, and can be near impossible, but totally worth the it.
10.Port Arthur is a great tourist destination full of Australian history. Founded as a convict settlement in 1830, Port Arthur originally served the British Empire as a timber station. Industry in the area soon followed and by the 1840s Port Arthur had a convict population of over 1100. However, by the 1870s the convicts were gone and left the buildings of the period that stand to this day that weren’t destroyed by fires in the late 19th century. Tourists soon followed with an interest in viewing the “horrors” of a British penal colony. Protection of Port Arthur as a cultural site was established with the creation of the Scenery Preservation Board in 1916. Today, ongoing archeological studies continue to dig up the penal colony past. Don’t miss the night ghost tours.
I trust these help any prospective visitors Downunder.
