Australia
The country that’s secretly a continent
The Red Centre | Alexandre.ROSA / Shutterstock
Although Australia is technically a country, the word continent would be more apt to describe the extreme diversity on show. One moment you’re sipping a flat white in cosmopolitan Melbourne, the next you’re snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef or dodging emus on a dusty outback road. It’s rare that you can experience so many different worlds without leaving a single country.
Most visitors will enter Australia via Sydney, the largest city with the best-connected airport. It’s a great starting point too, with icons like the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge filling out your Instagram page. However, the real experiences start when you wander out into the suburbs, with Surrey Hills, Bondi, Newtown and Manly all offering an ‘authentic’ side of Sydney.
Head North and you’ll hit Brisbane and the Gold Coast, paradise for surfers and offering almost year-round perfect weather. Keep going and you’ll leave the sun-baked coastline and enter a world of tropical rainforests and wetlands, with the city of Cairns at its centre. Alongside croc and kangaroo country, Cairns is also the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef. Just make sure your tour of it is ethical – a smaller operator like Ocean Freedom will ensure a minimal impact on the reef.
If you’ve got time, go further north to Port Douglas or Cape Tribulation where the Daintree Rainforest (the oldest on earth) runs unbroken until it hits the sea.
The Red Centre of Australia is the other end of the spectrum to the lush green of the North. Its most famous site, Uluru (your dusty old guidebook probably refers to it as Ayer’s Rock) stands monolith-like against the endless red sand, rock and scrubland. Don’t attempt to climb it; in fact, find an Aboriginal guide instead and take and interpretative tour that highlights the importance of this extremely sacred site – Uluru way more than a tourist attraction.
Hop aboard the Ghan, a long-distance train that connects Australia pretty much in a straight line north to south. Grab a bunk and slow travel your way through the desert, keeping an eye out for sleepy mining towns and feral imported camels that once trekked the same route.
To the southern end of the country-continent, you’ll find the other ‘big city’, Melbourne. Things feel a little different to Sydney, with food, coffee, art and music taken extremely seriously. Once you’re done finding the next big hole-in-the-wall cafe, take a vineyard tour through the Yarra Valley – just take it easy, mate.
Way out West lies Perth. Wander along Elizabeth Quay or through Kings Park, hit any of the endless miles of perfect beaches or take a trip out to Rottnest Island for a car-free escape. You can also try and spot the island’s famous quokka, a type of small marsupial.
You need to be curious to explore Australia properly, and good at managing your time too, such is the vast scale of the place. But whether it’s hopping the crags along Tasmania’s wild coastlines, or dipping your toes in Western Autralia’s pink lakes, the place is absolutely packed with unforgettable moments.
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