Australia was first discovered by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606 who sighted the coast of Cape York in the north-east of Australia. In 1770 James Cook discovered the east coast and claimed it for Great Britain.
The first settlement of a new penal colony (yes Australia was first meant for prisoners) began at port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillips on January 1788. This date is now remembered as Australia’s national day; Australia day.
Australia could be the largest island in the world by definition (a piece of land surrounded by water) but it is large enough to be considered its own continent.It is the main land of the smallest continent on the planet; Oceania or Australasia.
Australia has 5 different climates, so you will be able to choose the one that suits you the most. Equatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate and desert.
Australia has 6 provinces: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
The Capital is Canberra.
Biggest City: Sydney
Main cities: Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Population: 21.468.700 (60% in and around main cities)
Calling code: +61
GMT: +9
Currency: AUD$ Australia dollar
1 USD$=1.59 AUD$
1 EUR€=2.02 AUD$
VISA
Tourist:
- You can get a visa ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) for short-term visits to Australia of up to 3 months. Available to passport holders of the following countries:
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherland, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United States, Vatican.
For more information and to apply for your visa ETA online you can visit: http://www.immi.gov.au/
- For the passport holder not on the list above you will need to get an entry visa in the Australian embassy in your country of residence.
Working Holliday Visa:
- This visa is for people aged 18 to 30 years of age, who are interested in a working holiday of up to 12 months in Australia.
- This visa allows you to supplement the cost of your holiday through short-term employment. If your primary reason for travelling to Australia is to participate in the work force, you should consider a visa designed for that purpose.
Available to passport holder of the following countries:
Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom.
For more information and to apply for your visa ETA online you can visit: http://www.immi.gov.au/
-The Great Barrier Reef (Coast of Queensland)
You can reach the Great Barrier Reef from many places along the Queensland coastline in the main center of Port Douglas, Cairns, Townsville, the Whitsundays, Gladstone, Bundaberg.
-Ayers Rock/Uluru (Kata Tjuta National park, Northern territory)
Once you are in Alice spring you can book a tour to Uluru from your hotel or from one of the travel agencies in town. It will take you around 3 hours to get to Ayers Rock.
-Fraser Island (Off the coast of Queensland)
To go to Fraser Island you have to catch a ferry from Noosa. The only way to travel in Fraser is by 4x4 so you can book a tour with one of the operators or you to rent your own 4x4.
-Harbor Bridge, Opera House (Sydney)
Most of you will be arriving in Sydney international airport. Depending where you will be staying you can either go by bus, metro or ferry. For more information about Sydney transport network you can access:
-The Blue Mountains (Sydney)
You can go to the Blue Mountain by bus or train. There is a train every hour leaving from Sydney central station.
-Melbourne (Victoria)
Depending where you are in Australia you can go to Melbourne either by train, bus or plane.
-Great Ocean Road (Victoria)
From Melbourne you can take a train or a bus to Warrnambool/Geelon.
For more information you can access: http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au/
TRAINS IN AUSTRALIA
- Australia is one of the biggest country in the world so the best way to appreciate its landscape is by train. Bellow you will find timetables and fares of the main route.
COUNTY LINK XPT
Sydney – Melbourne | |||
Sydney | Departure | 7:45/20:45 | Daily |
Melbourne | Arrival | 18:55/7:35 | Daily |
Melbourne – Sydney | |||
Melbourne | Departure | 8:30/19:55 | Daily |
Sydney | Arrival | 19:55/6:56 | Daily |
Sydney – Brisbane | |||
Sydney | Departure | 7:15/16:20 | Daily |
Brisbane | Arrival | 22:21/6:30 | Daily |
Brisbane – Sydney | |||
Brisbane | Departure | 7:30/15:08 | Daily |
Sydney | Arrival | 21:54/7:08 | Daily |
Fare:
One Way | Economic | Sleeper | |
Sydney – Melbourne | Low Season | 59 USD$ | 139 USD$ |
High Season | 88 USD$ | 175 USD$ | |
Sydney – Brisbane | Low Season | 59 USD$ | 139 USD$ |
High Season | 88 USD$ | 175 USD$ | |
THE OVERLAND
Melbourne – Adelaide | |||
Melbourne | Departure | 8:40 | Tue, Thu, Sat |
Adelaide | Arrival | 17:45 | Tue, Thu, Sat |
Adelaide – Melbourne | |||
Adelaide | Departure | 7:40 | Mon, Wed, Fri |
Melbourne | Arrival | 18:40 | Mon, Wed, Fri |
Fares:
Melbourne – Adelaide | Seat |
One way | 57 USD$ |
Return | 96 USD$ |
THE INDIAN PACIFIC
Sydney – Adelaide – Perth | |||
Sydney cent. | Departure | 14:55 | Sat, Wed |
Broken Hill | Arrival | 06:40 | Sun, Thu |
Adelaide | Arrival | 15:05 | Sun, Thu |
Adelaide | Departure | 18:40 | Sun, Thu |
Kalgoorlie | Arrival | 19:10 | Mon, Fri |
Kalgoorlie | Departure | 22:40 | Mon, Fri |
Perth east | Arrival | 09:10 | Tue, Sat |
Perth – Adelaide – Sydney | |||
Perth east | Departure | 11:55 | Wed, Sun |
Kalgoorlie | Arrival | 22:15 | Wed, Sun |
Kalgoorlie | Departure | 01:40 | Thu, Mon |
Adelaide | Arrival | 07:20 | Fri, Tue |
Adelaide | Departure | 10:00 | Fri, Tue |
Broken Hill | Arrival | 18:30 | Fri, Tue |
Sydney cent. | Arrival | 10:15 | Sat, Wed |
Fares:
One way fare | Seat | Sleeper |
Sydney – Adelaide | 190 USD$ | 318 USD $ |
Adelaide – Perth | 254 USD$ | 648 USD$ |
THE GUAN
Adelaide – Alice Spring – Darwin | |||
Darwin | Departure | 12:20 | Sun, Wed |
Alice Spring | Arrival | 13:45 | Mon, Thu |
Alice Spring | Departure | 18:00 | Mon, Thu |
Darwin | Arrival | 18:30 | Tue, Fri |
Darwin – Alice Spring – Adelaide | |||
Darwin | Departure | 10:00 Wed | 09:00 Sat |
Alice Spring | Arrival | 09:10 Thu | 11:15 Sun |
Alice Spring | Departure | 12:45 Thu | 15:15 Sun |
Adelaide | Arrival | 13:10 Fri | 13:10 Mon |
Fares:
One way | Seat | Sleeper |
Adelaide – Alice Spring | 229 USD$ | 442 USD$ |
Adelaide – Darwin | 457 USD$ | 909 USD$ |
QUEENSLAND RAILWAY
Brisbane – Townsville – Cairns | ||||
Train | The Sunlander | The Sunlander | 100 mph Tilt train | |
Brisbane | Departure | 8:55 Tue, Sun | 12:55 Thu | 18:25 Mon, Wed, Fri |
Townsville | Arrival | 8:20 Wed, Mon | 11:50 Fri | 13:00 Tue, Thu, Sat |
Townsville | Departure | 8:45 Wed, Mon | 12:15 Fri | 19:20 Tue, Thu, Sat |
Cairns | Arrival | 16:00 Wed, Mon | 19:15 Fri | 19:20 Tue, Thu, Sat |
Brisbane – Townsville – Cairns | |||
Train | The Sunlander | 100 mph Tilt train | |
Cairns | Departure | 8:35 Tue, Thu, Sat | 08:15 Wed, Fri, Sun |
Townsville | Arrival | 15:30 Tue, Thu, Sat | 14:20 Wed, Fri, Sun |
Townsville | Departure | 15:55 Tue, Thu, Sat | 14:35 Wed, Fri, Sun |
Brisbane | Arrival | 15:25 Wed, Fri, Sun | 09:10 Thu, Sat, Mon |
For more information about time table and fares you can access the following websites:
BUSES IN AUSTRALIA
If you are a bus traveler type, you can also enjoy your trip with Greyhound, which offer more than 1100 destinations in Australia daily. The buses are very comfortable, even after a long journey you won’t feel exhausted.
Sydney – Melbourne | Price | |||
Sydney | Departure | 9:10/15:00 | Daily | 54.80 USD$ |
Melbourne | Arrival | 21:30/6:15 | Daily | |
Sydney – Adelaide | Price | |||
Sydney | Departure | 16:00 | Daily | 127.20 USD$ |
Adelaide | Arrival | 14:40 | Daily | |
Sydney – Brisbane | Price | |||
Sydney | Departure | 14:00/19:00 | Daily | 91.85 USD$ |
Brisbane | Arrival | 6:00/11:00 | Daily | |
Melbourne – Adelaide | Price | |||
Melbourne | Departure | 20:15 | Daily | 45.70 USD$ |
Adelaide | Arrival | 6:00 | Daily | |
For more information you can access: https://www.greyhound.com.au
PLANE IN AUSTRALIA
Since Australia is a huge country some of you won’t have the time to travel by train. Travelling by plane can help you to save time and give you more time to enjoy the beach.
If you need information or if you want to book a ticket, click on the window bellow.
PLANE TO AUSTRALIA
If you still don’t know which airline you want to fly with, click on the window above to compare the price.
If you live in central Europe I recommend you to take easy jet or ryanair to London because the price of the ticket is cheaper.
HOTELS & ACCOMMODATION
For hotel reservation you can access Hotels combined which offers more than 200.000 hotels in 20.000 thousands destinations across 195 countries. Click on the window bellow to check the price for hotel across Australia. Many languages are available on this website.
BACKPACKER'S HOSTELS
If you are a budget traveler you can still find the price that will suit your budget. Hostel world offers you a search over 17.000 hostels in over 168 countries. To check the prices or make a reservation click on the window below. Many languages are available on the website.
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