Australia is every traveler’s dream. After all, really many people want to see the largest island in the world, which is both the mainland and a single and unique country? National parks of Australia, its unique fauna, protected areas attract the attention of wildlife lovers. And good tourist infrastructure and hospitality of the far southern state create all conditions for visiting.

Capital – Canberra

Language – Australian English

Currency – Australian dollar

Time zone – GMT +8 …+11

Population – 24,067,700

Territory – 7 692 024 km²

Dishes you must try in Austalia:

Kangaroo – any dish, from roasts to meat soups, can include this ingredient.

Chicken Melbourne – chicken roasted in olive oil, tender meat served in a pink sauce.

Australian Meat Pie – pie with minced meat, occasionally with onions and vegetables.

Lemington – a sweet dish, dessert, an ordinary biscuit, covered with chocolate frosting and sprinkled with coconut shavings.

Sightseeing

The descriptions of Australia’s sights are impressive. Mountains, cliffs, gorges, deserts, amazing coasts and bays – the shortest list of names of Australia’s attractions could take a hundred pages. Most of them are parks and reserves. What sights in Australia are not related to nature? Here’s a short list of them:

Sydney Opera House.

It’s the most recognizable symbol, if not of all of Australia, then of Sydney for sure. The Opera House has much more in common with ships than it does with ordinary, earthly buildings.

Harbor Bridge was opened in 1932, March 19. The bridge connects Sydney’s downtown business district to the North Shore, crossing Port Jackson Bay.

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Sydney Tower is the tallest building in Sydney and the second tallest in Australia. Its height is 305 meters, and it is one of the most popular attractions in the city. The tower is open to the public, there is an observation deck with a restaurant.

The Sydney Aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in the world. It is incredibly diverse, and it is impossible not to be enthralled by its visit: even a simple walk along the aquarium route without stopping at the exhibits takes up to 3.5 hours – so big is this structure!

That is, perhaps, all there is to it. Really, you must be surprised. Of course, every city in the country can boast these or those sights. Visit Melbourne or Canberra. There are plenty of museums and galleries. But the country’s main attractions are the natural parks. There are hundreds and hundreds of them. We’ve compiled a pretty extensive list of the most interesting places.

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National Parks of Australia:

Blue Mountains National Park, New South Wales. This is the most picturesque part of the Great Dividing Range. Deep green valleys with rivers and lakes cover most of the park. Several observation decks offer views of the famous Three Sisters cliffs, Echo Gorge, and the Grand Canyon of Australia. At Katoomba near the park, you can ride the world’s steepest railroad or over the cliffs in a cable car cabin. Nearby are the Jenolan Limestone Grottoes.

Flinders Range National Park is surrounded by the majestic Flinders Range Mountains. The route to the park begins in Adelaide on the North Main Road, which cuts through the wine region that stretches widely around Clare. As you travel, take note of the historic towns, Laura, Melrose and Mintaro. The local provincial town of Quorn is notable for its vintage railroad. A rarity train runs from downtown to the Pichi Ritchie Pass.

Kosciuszko National Park is the largest in the state of New South Wales. This part of the Australian Alps is named after the mountain of the same name, which is the highest peak in Australia. There are huge lakes of glacial origin with calm water. The largest rivers in the region, Snowy River, Murray River, and Marrambidge, all have their sources in the park.

Purnululuna National Park in northeastern Western Australia, on the Kimberley Plateau. Purnulululu means “sandstone” in the Aboriginal language of the Kia tribe. The park is sometimes called the Bungle Bungle after the namesake of the mountain range that makes up the entire park. The mountains here are shaped like beehives, the result of 20 million years of erosion.

Uluru – Kata Tuta, Ayers Rock, Northern Territories. Mount Olga is a 1,069-meter high massif compared to Mount Uluru’s 348 meters, but is less popular for pilgrimage. Geologists say that Uluru and Olga are not separate elevations, but part of a single mountain range that lies beneath the thickness of the earth and breaks through only in two places.

The Reptile Center is located within Ayers Rock Park. There are many species of reptiles that are protected in the park.

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Kakadu National Park, Northern Territories. Here are present amazing plants, many species of birds, fish and animals. Among them you can find a tree frog, an octopus, a kangaroo, a buffalo, a varan, a huge barramundi fish. The Alligator River Walk is an opportunity for the most adventurous traveler to see freshwater crocodiles. You’ll find cascading waterfalls, the large Ranger uranium mine, and high cliffs. See the rock paintings of ancient tribes. About half of the park is owned by the aboriginal tribes of the Northern Territory, and the Park Authority leases this land to manage the national park. The aboriginal people, about 5,000 of them, are descendants of the tribes that have lived here since ancient times.

Great Sands National Park, Fraser Island, Queensland.Much of the island, which contains intact rainforest (about 1,645 km²), is part of Great Sandy National Park.

Cradle Mountain National Park is Lake St. Clair. This is Tasmania’s most beautiful and famous national park, located in Tasmania’s Central Highlands, 165 km northwest of Hobart. The rugged contours of Cradle Mountain, ancient rainforest and alpine meadows, spectacular beaches and pristine wilderness are the park’s signature treasures.

Port Campbell National Park, 12 Apostles Rocks, Victoria. This park is located on the Great Ocean Road. It is located in the southern part of the state, 190 km southwest of Melbourne, extending in a relatively narrow strip along the ocean. The Twelve Apostles Cliffs, London Arch, and Loch Ard Gorge are examples of years of natural erosion.

Daintree National Park, Mossman River, Queensland. Here grows a unique rainforest that has retained its pristine appearance. The forest is over 110 million years old, making it the oldest forest on our planet. The heart of the park is the Daintree River, which rises in the mountains of the Great Dividing Range and flows into the Coral Sea.

Koala Sanctuary, New South Wales, four hectares of land where koalas, dingoes, echidnas, cockatoos, wombats and kangaroos roam freely.

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Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park offers wonderful views of the seashore and river valley where it is located. It is home to the skittish lyrebird.

The Australian National Botanic Garden is an integral part of the Australian capital city and a popular place for tourists who want to see the diversity of the continent’s flora. Located on the slopes of the Black Mountain, the 40-hectare garden has 6,800 species of flowers from all over Australia.

Hillsville Nature Reserve, Victoria, is one of the best wildlife parks in the country with more than 200 species of Australian birds, mammals and reptiles in their natural habitat.

The Grampian Mountains, Victoria’s national park, forms the southern tip of the Great Dividing Range. It’s dense rainforests, mountain peaks and waterfalls. The park is famous for its species-rich flora and fauna and aboriginal rock art. Of the thousands of plant species, about 100 species are orchids, of which 20 species are endemic.

The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, the world’s largest reef, is one of Australia’s most striking natural attractions. The reef is teeming with life, displaying all the diversity of the underwater world, and consists of 3,000 separate reef systems, coral caves and hundreds of picturesque tropical islands with beaches.

Cape Tribulation. Two World Heritage National Parks, Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, converge in this unique setting. It’s one of the only places in Australia where the rainforest comes straight down to the sea.

The Australian Butterfly Reserve, located in the lap of nature in the village of Kuranda, offers a view of 2,000 species of butterflies.

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is home to Australia’s wildlife. There are kangaroos, possums, Tasmanian devils, wombats, emus and lyrebirds. And its main pride is about 130 koalas. Here you can see animals and birds without cages or go inside cages with them and get as close as an animal will allow.

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Lamington National Park is a kingdom of subtropical jungle. It is a forest of lianas, palms and ancient ferns. The Oreilis Plateau, almost one kilometer above sea level, offers a beautiful panorama of mountains and valleys.

Carrambin Reserve – 27 hectares of beautiful scenery next to Carrambin Beach. Feed kangaroos, parrots and have a snake show in one of Australia’s largest parks.

This is a protected reserve off the coast of Perth, an eco-friendly area where cars are banned. It is home to ancient forests of cypresses and tea trees and is home to the unique little short-tailed kangaroos the Quokka, mistaken for rats by the Dutch explorers who named the island Rottnest, which means ‘rat’s nest’.

Kimberley-region of Western Australia, located in the north of the state. The Kimberley is three times the size of the whole of Great Britain. It is a land of stark contrasts. You’ve got the swanky beaches of Cable Beach in the west and the rugged red ridges and gorges of the east. The Kimberley is home to some of the world’s oldest landscapes, millions of years old.

Geikie Gorge National Park. The gorge is more than 14 km long and was formed by the waters of the Fitzroy River, which for years has been pushing its way through an ancient coastal limestone barrier reef.

Windyana Gorge National Park. East of Derby lies Windyiana Gorge, a 3.5 km long gorge formed by the Lennard River in a 350-million year old limestone reef. The river bed fills with water only during the summer season, from November to May.

The Northern Territory Wildlife Park offers an immersive experience of wildlife and the diversity of tropical Australia. The park pays special attention to the recovery of native species on the brink of extinction.

Lichfield National Park is one of the most beautiful parks in the Northern Territory. The park is located 140 kilometers south of Darwin and is famous for its rainforests, natural ponds, and scenic cascading waterfalls, the most famous of which are Wangi, Tolmer, and Florence.

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Nitmiluk National Park is home to the Javon Nation. Over millions of years, the rains have carved 13 separate gorges of incredible beauty out of the sandstone. Not only can you take a boat ride on the river that runs through the gorges and swim in it, but you can also hike the scenic trails to the Saventin Miley Crystal waterfalls, the Catta Catta caves and the Mataranka hot thermal springs. The park has the beautiful Catherine Gorge.

Arneland is in the northeast of the Northern Territory and is bordered by Kakadu National Park, the Coburgi Peninsula by the Arafura Sea. The vast expanse of the park is occupied by tropical savannahs, wild sea beaches, desert islands, rivers teeming with fish, lush rainforests, and huge white sand dunes. These lands belong to the aborigines, so you can get here only by special permit or with a tour group.

West McDonnell National Park is a scenic nature preserve west of Alice Springs. The parallel ranges of McDonnell are among the oldest mountains on the planet. Home to many endemic plant and animal species, the gorges are of extraordinary beauty. Simpson Gap Gorge is located 20 km from Alice Springs. Part of the West MacDonnell Ridge is a sacred Aboriginal gorge and rainwater lake.

Tasmania is an island off the southeast coast of Australia, separated from the mainland by Bass Strait. Tasmania is named after the navigator Abel Tasman who discovered the island. It is the smallest state in the country. There are mountains and hills, valleys with historic towns, plateaus, volcanoes, rainforests, hundreds of lakes and snow-white beaches.

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Mount Wellington is 1,270 meters high. The top of the mountain is often snow-covered in almost all seasons except summer. The mountain offers great views of Hobart and the surrounding area, including Bruny Island, the Huonie Derwent Valleys, and the national park areas west of Hobart.

Southeast National Park is Tasmania’s largest national park. It’s a land of majestic mountains, lush forests and green plains. On Sarah Island in Macquarie Bay, a convict settlement was established in 1821.

The lush rainforest on Gordon, with its rapid, rushing rivers, majestic mountain peaks, and dense forests, is at the center of Tasmania’s region of world-class nature reserves.

Lake St. Clair National Park. This part of the nature reserve is home to Mount Cradle, Tasmania’s highest mountain Ossa and Lake St. Clair, Australia’s deepest freshwater lake.

Port Arthur is a former penal settlement, the largest in Australia, which from 1830 to 1877 held more than 12,500 convicts. There are regular boat tours to the Isle of the Dead where more than 2,000 people are buried. Port Arthur is on the Tasmanian Peninsula, famous for its extraordinary rock formations: the Tasmanian Arch and Devil’s Kitchen.

Tasmanian Devil’s Park is located near Port Arthur and the small town of Tarana. Every morning at 11, the Tasmanian Devils are fed here. You can also see typical Tasmanian animals such as wombats, marsupials and others up close. The park is also a haven for all wounded animals.

Mount Field National Park is one of Tasmania’s oldest national parks near Hobart. Trails among the eucalypts and ferns take you to scenic Russell Falls.

Cataract National Park is one of Tasmania’s best parks. There’s a canal-chairway and a suspension bridge.

Tours to Australia

A distant continent attracts tourists to its location alone. It is interesting to tour the other side of the globe, where it snows in summer and is hot in winter.

Plus, where else can you get your picture taken with a kangaroo or koala? The best local nature parks are always crowded with tourists coming on sightseeing tours. Along with the parks, vacationers are taken to the local desert to explore the huge dunes and learn about the traditions of the local natives.

Fans of ultra-modern attractions buy a trip to Melbourne or Seattle. At one time these two cities were in a long fight for the right to be called the capital of Australia. As a result, this status was obtained by the city of Canberra, and in these cities to the delight of onlookers have remained stunning buildings.

Few people know, but in winter in Australia buy ski tours to local winter resorts. True, the cost of such a holiday is not insignificant. Mainly due to the high flight costs.

Where to go in Australia

In Australia you will not find outstanding monuments of architecture of the Middle Ages, ancient temples and castles and other things that attract us in Europe. But there is plenty of space for extreme recreation, sightseeing tours and exploring the distinctive history of the Australian tribes. As well as attractions of an entirely different kind. And, of course, diving and seaside recreation await you, as well as hunting.

Holidays in Australia are primarily associated with sightseeing tours. To see all the wonders of the country in a short time is unrealistic, so tours and excursions to Australia usually choose a couple of destinations. There are also islands that belong to this country, and for which separate tours are filed.

But such options can be very expensive. For example, a cruise to the Australian islands for twelve days will cost no less than 10000 USD, though you will be provided with the most luxurious liner and the most interesting excursion. But it is assumed that even this ticket will be just in addition to a trip to the country itself.

Reviews about excursions to Australia mention that you can come here all year round. Interesting tours are offered in Sydney. The architectural masterpieces like the arched bridge, the Opera House, the TV Tower are known all over the world.

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The underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef can amaze any diver. There are tours that allow you to fly over the reef on a helicopter. Tours to national wildlife refuges can help you see kangaroos, koalas, possums, Tasmanian devils, emus, and cazoars.

You can travel to the desert areas of the Red Centre and experience the culture and traditions of Australia’s Aboriginal people. Or visit the Blue Mountains with their eucalyptus groves. April to November is a good time to explore the north and center of the mainland, when Darwin’s rainy season ends and the Red Centre is less hot.

All of the above attractions have their own sightseeing programs. Prices for excursions in Australia are quite high. The easiest cruise to the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns costs from 100 AUD. A tour of Melbourne and Sydney with a visit to the city center, museums, major attractions costs from 20 AUD in a medium and large group, and up to 100-200 AUD for a private walk or in a small group. A visit to Ayers Rock deep in the desert costs from 70 AUD in a group.

But all sorts of botanical gardens within cities are slightly cheaper. For example, the botanical garden in Brisbane costs from 10 AUD. In this case full guided tours to see, for example, the reef or jungle, crocodile or kangaroo hunting, desert safaris, are much more expensive, from 3000-5000 AUD for the tour, though with a flight and accommodation.

When to go to Australia

Australia is considered a very hot country. Its northern part has a tropical climate. Whereas in the south, the seasons reverse ours quite successfully. The good months to visit anywhere in Australia are April, May, September and October, the off-season. The weather is nicest in November. But you should know that each region of the country has its own peculiarities.

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