Australia
Australia is not only a country but also a
continent and an island. Australia is home to some of the liveliest
cities and a number of tourist attractions that have considerably
boosted the Australian tourism and helped Australia emerge as a favorite
tourist destination. One remarkable aspect of the Australia tourist
attractions is that besides playing host to the inquisitive tourists and
travelers, they also guard the unsullied beauty of unexplored regions
from the rest of the world.
Australia is fondly called 'Down Under' as
it lies in the Southern hemisphere. The continent of Australia, with the
island state of Tasmania, is approximately equal in area to the United
States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Mountain ranges run from north to
south along the east coast, reaching their highest point in Mount
Kosciusko (7,308 ft; 2,228 m).
Australia clubs in mountains, sea, rivers,
lakes, plateaus, plains, valleys, forests and much more and offers the
ultimate tourist package that any traveler can expect. Sydney,
Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane rank high in terms of the
tourist value. Opera House in Sydney features at the top of the
Australia tourist attractions. You will surely be floored by its
impressive structure. Sydney Harbor Bridge is one of the most famous
man-made structures in the world, and is undoubtedly one of Sydney’s
most famous icons.
Kata Tjuta National Park is an area, which
is well known for the native culture. You can have a wonderful
experience about the native culture it you visit Kata Tjuta National
Park. In native Australian Language Kata Tjuta means "many heads". This
place is adorned with bottomless ravines and amazing valleys. The place
is enrolled as a World Heritage site because of its natural as well as
ancient cultural splendor.
The peak travel season in the most popular
parts of Australia is the Aussie winter, the most pleasant time to
travel is April through September, when daytime temperatures are 66° to
88°F (19°-31°C) and it rarely rains. June, July, and August are the
busiest months in these parts; Avoid visiting November till march as it
is just too hot, too humid, or too wet.
The duty-free allowance in Australia is
A$900 (US$720) or, for those under 18, A$450 (US$360). luxury items such
as perfume, watches, jewelry, furs, plus gifts of any kind are dutiable
goods. Keep this in mind if you intend to bring presents for family and
friends in Australia; gifts given to you also count toward the dutiable
limit. Australia is an island, free of many agricultural and livestock
diseases to maintain it, strict vigilance is on importing plants,
animals, and their products, including food.
Touring about Australia is nothing short of
extreme temptation - so you may appreciate a little lesson in its
geography. For instance, if you plan to rent a car and create your own
personal excavation, understand that most cities are situated around its
coast. As you travel inward, toward the center of this continent, you
enter areas that are less populated and the more inward you go - the
more remote things.
Australia's main cities can be well traveled
by buses, as they frequently tour these areas on a regular basis. Moving
about within urban and rural cities (up to 30 miles from city limits),
you can visit some of the popular tourist attractions with discount
tickets or ticket purchased directly from the bus driver. Traveling by
taxi provides an extremely convenient way to move about when traveling
short distances to important centers and residential districts.
You can flag down a taxi anywhere in
Australia including airports, train and bus stations, or even on the
street. Traveling by car rental in Australia is an inexpensive mode of
traveling around the cities - especially since some car rental services
in the area discount rentals that are arranged for three days or more.
Rentals require a driver's license and a credit card that's issued to a
driver between the ages of 23 to 70.
The infinite variety of foods in Australia
reflects the diversity of its land and provides for a rich cuisine. In
the South, dense pine forests and lush green pastures cover the land
that is used to grow cattle and prime lamb, whilst its cold, clean
southern waters provide delicious lobster and scallops. Grazing gives
way then to the vineyards growing on the Terra Rosa soil of the
Coonawarra, and cropping lands of the upper south east with their
majestic red gums.
The mighty River Murray turns red desert
sand into a market garden and orchard as it wends its way from our
northern border to the sea on the south coast at Goolwa. Along its
length grow citrus, grapes, stone fruits, melons, tomatoes and a
cornucopia of vegetables crops for local, interstate and international
markets.
World class wines grow in the slightly
cooler climate of the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley.
Sharing the lower slopes of the hills are apple and cherry orchards,
berry farms and almond orchards, whilst the west coast has a wealth of
seafood such as whiting, oysters and tuna.
There are many different species of wildlife
in Australia. Marsupials are the most successful group in Australia.
This group includes kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, Tasmanian wolves,
Tasmanian devils, wombats, and many others. The platypus and the echidna
are egg-laying mammals. There are also numerous different species of
birds. Some of them are cockatoo, kookaburra, lyrebird, the flightless
emu, and several types of parrots.
Before the arrival of European settlers,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples inhabited most areas of
the Australian continent, each speaking one or more of hundreds of
separate languages, with distinctive lifestyles and religious and
cultural traditions in different regions. Adaptable and creative, with
simple but highly efficient technology, Indigenous Australians had
complex social systems and highly developed traditions reflecting their
deep connection with the land and environment.
The quality and variety of Australian
Indigenous art produced today reflects the richness and diversity of
Indigenous culture and the distinct differences between tribes,
languages, dialects and geographic landscapes. Art has always been an
important part of Aboriginal life, connecting past and present, the
people and the land, and the supernatural and reality
Bark Painting, Evans Collection, Northern
Territory Library. Image courtesy of the Northern Territory Library and
the National Library of Australia. Australian Indigenous art is the
oldest ongoing tradition of art in the world.
Dance is a very dynamic part of Australian
performing arts culture. It can provide a rich performance experience,
merging the imagination and skill of choreographers, dancers, designers,
composers and musicians. Classical and contemporary dance performances
are enjoyed across Australia. Australian dance draws on many influences
including the traditions and history of dance as an art form, as well as
the different cultures and trends in society.
Dance is increasing the prominence of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as it is transferred from
communities to public theatres and transformed from ceremony to
spectacle. Different forms of dance came to Australia with the first
European settlers. Dancers visited colonial Australia from other
countries, and danced as part of pantomime, opera and other theatre
performances.
Festivals have become ubiquitous in
Australia, with hundreds held each year. Some are as small as the
community-based Apollo Bay Music Festival and Thirroul Seaside & Arts
Festival, while others afford the opportunity to bring international
performers to Australian audiences and showcase Australian works, such
as the Falls Festival and Woodford Folk Festival. Each capital city has
a festival.
Major festivals are Sydney Festival
(January), Perth International Arts Festival (February) ,Adelaide Bank
Festival of Arts (March), Ten Days on the Island, Tasmania (March),
Brisbane Festival (July), Darwin Festival (August), Melbourne
International Arts Festival (October).
There are also other major national
festivals based on themes such as film, jazz, music, folk, digital media
and writers festivals.