Australia Travel Guide

What do you know about the biggest island in the world? That's Australia!

Symbols like the great red monolith known as Ayers Rock and sheep farms are the most frequent images associated with Australia but these images tell you little about what this continent is really about.

It might not seem a stone throw away but it distance is not a problem you just have to make up your mind to visit. There are many things that can help you decide to visit it.

Probably one of the most convincing is that it has 36,738 km of coastline, a place so rich in opportunities that it would take quite a few months to explore them all. Every type of water and beach activities imaginable await you to try them and the Great Barrier Reef has no equivalent in the whole world, 2 km of coral to be explored. Scuba diving and snorkeling are at the top here, but surfing is just as good.

Winters are mild and you can enjoy the beach the greatest part of the year. Autumn is perfect as the hot season is over and you can enjoy sunbathing for a longer period.

But Australia does not have only beaches, its landscape is quite various form desert to lush forest there is everything. And exactly this diversity attracts so many visitors you never get bored of one landscape as there is another and another just around the corner.

Australia is perfect for every type of holiday maker as the variety of landscapes, activities and cultures makes every visit a joyful and unforgettable experience, an experience you can only benefit from.

It is interesting to see the aboriginal's culture or what's left of it. There are still a few tribes living just as their ancestors used to. I think this would be the most interesting thing to see as it seems harder and harder to preserve the past with all the new developments rushing through. Getting in touch with such a way of life is like going back in time. Time travel is possible! You just have to hurry to be among the ones who can still experience it.

After Captain Cook discovered it Australia became a British colony that has done its part in destroying the aboriginals' way of life.

Being a land of opportunities lots of immigrants from all over the world came here to strike it big and what resulted is a colorful multinational nation that has little of the British conservationism, in fact it is a bit too liberal in my opinion, nothing seems too strange and this might be due to the many diverse cultures present and the tolerance led to a uncontested freedom of expressing yourself.

The most populated regions in the country are the eastern and the south eastern regions so there is all the lively entertainment, but you can escape the crowds quite easily. Just rent a car and roam the land and discover the beautiful flora and fauna of the country. Beware of crocodiles though, locals are used to these sleek creatures but for a foreigner they can turn to be pretty dangerous. So it is better to play it safe and not pretend to be Crocodile Dundee!

You can even visit crocodile farms and learn about the way they behave.

Koalas and kangaroos are much nicer animals and are better ambassadors of the country.

There would be so much more to be said about Australia but words will never be enough to express what you can experience by going there. Once you will be there the only regret will be that you haven't visited the place before!

When you are in a foreign country knowing where the nearest consulate is may prove to be very useful. So here is a list of the US consulates which can be found in the major cities of this country:

• Melbourne (address: 553 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 3004 , phone: (61) (3) 9526 5900)
• Sydney (address: 59th Floor, MLC Centre, 19-29 Martin Place , phone: (61)(2)9373-9200)
• Perth (address: Level 13, 16 St Georges Tce , phone: 61-8-9202-1224)
• Canberra (Embassy, link: http://usembassy-australia.state.gov/)
• (U.S. Diplomatic Mission, link: http://usembassy-australia.state.gov/)