Australia

“In the end, it‘s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” -Abraham Lincoln

You know it's a hot day when all the sheep hide under the only tree available. I feel for you!

Country facts

Official Language: English
Population: ~25 million (2019)
Capital: Canberra
Main Religion: Roman Catholic
Currency: Australian Dollars (currency converter)
Time zone: UTC +8, +9, +10
Driving side: left
Plug types: Type I

Travel Info

When to go

Australia is huge so its climate varies a lot depending on where you go. In general, spring (Sep-Nov) and autumn (Mar-May) are the best. If visiting in the summer (Dec-Feb), prepare for sweaty hot.

Cost

I travelled for about 90$/day (2019). See my complete travel cost breakdown. For today's prediction visit this website.

How long do I need

Australia is huge. If planning to visit the entire country allow at least a couple of months. For regions like Queensland or Victoria plan 1-2 weeks per region.

Highlights

The Great Ocean Road: Obviously!
Phillip Island: Some great scenery and the well-known Penguin Parade
The Great Barrier Reef: Simply put... A must see!
The Whitsunday: Pristine water with some of the world purest sand
National Parks: Lots of cool ones like Daintree, Grampians, Kosciuszko, Wilsons Promontory, Tamborine, Blue Mountains, and a lot more.
Wildlife: Australia has some great and varied wildlife

Pictures

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: This is called Bells Beach, it is known worldwide for its surf competitions.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: A pathway making its way through thick vegetation.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: A lighthouse on the coast

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: More of the coast

Wildlife: A Koala... How can you not love those sweet and defenseless animals?

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: Some parts of Australia are greener than I expected.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: The Twelve Apostles is an iconic landmark of Australia. Imagine countless waves shaping the rock every day over thousands of years... The result is truly magnificent.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: Another Apostle, how many are there? Hmm... I guess 12? Wrong, only 8 are left resisting the erosion.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: Loch Ard Gorge is quite impressive. You can see its actual size in relation to the people in the picture.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: The Thunder Cave... I understand why it is called the “Great” Ocean Road.

Great Ocean Road, Victoria: Grotto Scenic Lookout

Culture: Most cars in Australia have light colours. When it is over 40 Celsius outside, having a less heat attractive colour makes sense.

Grampians National Park, Victoria: The Balconies... Living on the edge, why not?

Grampians National Park, Victoria: Mackenzie Falls

Grampians National Park, Victoria: The view from Mount Hollow

Grampians National Park, Victoria: Ngamadjidj rock art paint is over 20,000 years old! The First Nation of Australia have an awful past which is similar to the one in Canada; assimilation, murder, slavery, residential schools, stripped from their families, cultures, and land.

Wildlife: One of the most iconic animals of Australia... A kangaroo (this one carries a baby).

Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria: The view from Mount Oberon

Buchan cave Reserve, Victoria: Known for its fields and deep caves.

Culture: This year was one of the worst Australia had for bushfires (over 3,000,000 hectares and 700 houses burned). You can see how smoky it is around bushfire areas.

Narooma, New South Whales: The beautiful turquoise pristine water

Moruya, New South Wales: Some countryside

Jervis Bay, New South Wales: The Jervis Bay with some cool rock formation.

Sydney, New South Wales: Downtown (Australian white ibis is the name of the birds on the picture).

Sydney, New South Wales: The Opera and its well known architecture

Sometimes life is as simple as opening our eyes, witnessing the beauty, and taking it in.

Nimbin, New South Wales: A small hippie village frozen in time. Peace and love to you to.

Nimbin, New South Wales: A candle factory

Cape Byron, New South Wales: The sea in all its beauty

Cape Byron, New South Wales: The tip of that rock is the easterly point of Australia.

Springbrook National Park, Victoria: The view from the Best of All Lookout. This is literally how this lookout is called: “Best of All Lookout”. (I guess the one that gave it the name really liked that scenery.)

Bemerside, Queensland: A view over Hinchinbrook Island National Park.

Mossman Gorge, Queensland: A perfect place for a refreshing swim. On the forest walk, I had a close encounter with a snake. I didn’t think much of it until I saw that exact snake on a sign at the visitor centre with the following writing: “highly dangerous”. Besides the fact that Australia is the only continent that venomous snakes outnumber the none-venomous ones (I’m glad not to live here), snake bites stay one of the lowest causes of death.

Rocky Point, Queensland: A beautiful sunset at the beach.

Daintree National Park, Queensland: Those holes on the leaf might look like the work of some insect, but they are a natural way to provide light to its lower leaves. A great way to make sure everyone has a bit of sunshine.

Daintree National Park, Queensland: This simple plant might look armless (think again!). It is one of the world's most toxic plants. A simple touch to the “Dendrocnide moroides” can cause unbearable pain that can last years... Early settlers tell of horses being driven to self-destruction as a result of contact with the plant. No kidding!

Daintree National Park, Queensland: This is inside the trunk of a tree that grows like intertwined roots.

Wangetti, Queensland: How many Inukshuk can you count?

The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland: The outer reef is very impressive. In this snorkelling and diving paradise, you can see sharks, manta rays, huge turtles, colourful fishes, clams big enough for me to hide inside.

Whitsunday Island, Queensland: Whitehaven Beach is voted one of the Top 5 beaches worldwide and the #1 in Australia. It stretches 7km long.

Whitsunday Island, Queensland: Whitehaven Beach contains 98.9% of pure silica which makes it unusually cool to walk on.

Glass House Mountains, Queensland: A fun place to go for a quick hike or even a fun scramble.

Tamborine National Park, Queensland: These tiny lights are actually glowing worms. They glow to lure insects into thinking they are stars and trap them when they come too close.

Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales: A colourful sunset over the mountains.

Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales: A view over another valley

Jenolan Caves, New South Wales: These caves are the world’s oldest known caves. Happy 340 million-year anniversary, still looking young and strong!

Jenolan Caves, New South Wales: To give you an idea of the size, the white “angel wing” on the right side is 9m long!

Jenolan Caves, New South Wales: More of the underground beauty... the shinning sparks are crystal reflections.

Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales: The view from Australia’s highest peak (2228m), Mount Kosciuszko. (Why such a complicated name?)

Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales: More of the alpine landscape.

Lake Hume, Victoria: An artificial lake from a dam.

Phillip Island, Victoria: More of Cap Woolamai

Phillip Island, Victoria: What they call the Pinguin Parade is the return of nearly 3000 little penguins coming back from their hunt to feed their young at sunset. Phillip Island has the largest community of the world’s smallest penguin (30cm in height, 1kg in weight, 100% cute).

Melbourne, Victoria: Queen Victoria Market is the largest open-air market in the Southern Hemisphere (17 acres in size).