As a travel journalist I often get asked about good things to do. here’s some my top 10 about Australia.
1.The best departure 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 various operators that offer a wide variety of different kinds of trips out to the reef. You may choose between day-tours or extended cruises, which range widely in cost.If you aren’t yet qualified to dive, but can’t think of a daytrip to the Great Barrier Reef without doing so, just about all boats will give you the option to do a resort dive, with no certification necessary. Almost all boats now days have an green tourism rating, which means you don’t have to worry about damaging the great barrier reef while you are snorkelling.
2.Happening in February, the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has grown to be the biggest of its type in the world. Over a million people line the route to see floats so colourful, and outfits so outlandish that Brazilian carnevalists would blush with embarrasment. Streets are closed off, bars along the way are brimming, 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 queer culture. The event began in 1979 with a parade of 800 people celebrating International Gay Solidarity Day. These were much less open times and there were clashes with police that led to arrests for ‘lewd behaviour’. These days gay and lesbian police march openly – 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 festival. It’s an eyeful of a party and shouldn’t be missed.
3.Located south of Cairns<, Mission Beach is the closest mainland point to the Great Barrier Reef. The beach is a 14 km long, white sandy beach, with breathtaking views of Bedarra and a handful of other islands just offshore. There is a quaint town 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 Mission Beach, though many will be coming from Cairns. If you did not rent a car or RV for your [holiday|vacation|trip}, there is a company that offers a coach transfer service called Mission Beach Dunk Island Coaches, which takes the scenic road between Port Douglas, Cairns, and Mission Beach.
4.Created in 1850 to keep cricketers fit in winter, Aussie Rules is a mix of rugby, gaelic football and a charming Australian childish game called stacks on that involves gang-tackling the unlucky person who has the football. The game is played on an oval-shaped, cricket-sized ground between two teams of 18 players each. The idea is to kick the ball through two upright poles 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 ‘mark’ is taken, awarded when a kick is fielded before it touches the ground. This can be the most spectacular of sights, players ‘ride’ the backs of their opponents (and team mates) so high they often injure themselves when they fall back to the ground. The players pass the ball by hitting the ball with their clenched 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’s going on. Crowds routinely reach 100,000, most of whom are as knowledgeable about the history of their team as a history lecturer from Harvard knows about ancient Troy. That’s why, an Aussie Rules game is an absolute must see on a trip Downunder.
5.The Big Day Out is a summer music festival and Australia’s biggest travelling party. Like a mobile Woodstock the show has featured in recent years bands like Coldplay, and Placebo. In the past top acts such as Nirvana and Bjork have made the trip to Australia. From what started as a one day festival in Sydney on Australia day now travels all around the country and even to New Zealand. It’s a not to be missed activity for anyone under 30, local or tourist.
6.The thing to do at Ayers Rock – climb to the top of it. Located in Central Australia aka the Outback, Uluru, one of the World’s Heritage Sites, is a large sandstone formation standing over 1100 feet in height and turns different shades of bright red throughout the day, particularly so during sunrise and sunset. More importantly, Uluru is a sacred site for the Indigenous 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 exhibition of rocks that have been shipped back from tourists who took them home. There is a long chain extending along the side of the trail that acts as a handrail for the hike up and the views from atop this magnificent site are totally stunning. The local Aboriginal people do not like tourists climbing the rock, however this decision is your choice.
7.The largest continuous area of rainforest in the country, the Daintree National Park is a protected area of unbelievable rainforest two hours north of Cairns. The National 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 the endangered cassowary. Generally thought to be the oldest rainforest in the world, the Daintree forest is over 145 million years old and has more than 440 different species of bird, including 25 species found only there. There are some day bushwalks that allow adventurers to experience sections of this giant rainforest by themselves, as well as guided tours that can help teach you about the local history on your way.
8.Whitehaven Beach is set amongst the 74 Whitsunday Islands along the Central Queensland coast and can be reached by sea or air. I have been to many beaches in my travels and this is undoubtedly the most amazing, most beautiful stretch of sand I have ever visited. If you can think of the softest, whitest, cleanest sand, the clearest, lightest, bluest water that’s Whitehaven Beach. Airlie Beach is most often used as the base point to get to the Whitsunday Islands and Whitehaven Beach. The usual way to see Whitehaven is an overnight sailing tour. There are many sailing companies in Airlie Beach that take you there. There are also day cruises to just Whitehave or including a visit to another island such as Daydream Island.
9.Go to a surf school and experience the surfing lifestyle. Have you ever dreamed of riding the ocean swell? Well, now is your opportunity. Surfing is huge down under. Not just as recreation, 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 do it. The two seconds of elation while you stand on the board for the first time, with knees shaking like drumsticks will stay with you forever. At least long enough to recover from the wave that will try to try to kill you two seconds later.If you ever thought that surfing was easy, you were terribly wrong. Surfing is extremely hard, and can be near impossible, but highly worth the it.
10.Coober Pedy is most famous for the unusual homes of a significant portion of it’s local residents who live in converted mines. This practice came about when local resident sought escape from the oppressive heat before the days of modern air conditioning. Also famous as the the Opal Capital of the World, Coober Pedy was first established as an opal mine in 1915. Today tourists can visit the old opal mines, visit underground churches, and sleep underground in a motel. The local golf course, with sand instead of grass, is played at night with glow in the dark golf balls. The area served as the backdrop for the post-nuclear apocalypse film titled Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome starring Australian son Mel Gibson. Find a Underground hotel and experience this must see piece of Austraia.
I hope these help any future visitors to Australia.