Vast, diverse and enticing, multicultural Australia revels in a Pacific Rim location that drenches it in sunshine and an affable charisma.
Sydney boasts the finest natural harbour in the world, comprising sandstone headlands, white sandy beaches and endless surf. Melbourne's Victorian grace and easygoing charm belies a dynamic city that hosts the nation's premier sporting and cultural events. Brisbane, the river city, is gateway to the tropical northeast, Adelaide is an impossibly well laid-out city oozing grandeur, while Perth is young, brash and alluring.
Australia may be an island, but it is also the world's largest one, encompassing a range of stunning landscapes, from immense, barren deserts to tropical rainforests and rugged mountains. Isolated from other continents, Australia has an abundance of unique plant and animal life recognisable by cuddly koalas, bounding kangaroos and ungainly emus.
One of the country's greatest lures is its sense of space. A beach, patch of tropical forest or piece of sandy desert all to yourself is an easy reality. Watersports are ferociously popular, especially surfing. The hulking form of Uluru (Ayers Rock), an impossibly large rock plonked in the middle of Australia that soaks up the reds and oranges of the outback's fiery sun, is Australia's most iconic image.
Captain Cook stumbled onto Australian shores in 1770 to find an Aboriginal way of life that went back some 40,000 years. By 1868, Britain had sent more than 160,000 convicts to Australia.
Experiencing the culture of Australia's indigenous population is one of the great highlights of a visit. Many tensions still exist between mainstream Australia and its indigenous people. The first European settlers treated the Aboriginal population with appalling brutality, which gave way to racist and cruel policies from subsequent administrations. However, the slow march towards reconciliation was given a boost in 2007 with the new government's promise of a formal apology.
