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5TH DEC 2008
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This is the prime student travelling haven, every year, students leave the comfort of college or university to travel around the world to put their next career step into perspective. Australia is a great location for the student community
 Most people harbour a particular image of Australia, such as the Opera House or blood-red Uluru (Ayers Rock). Yet these famous icons do scant justice to the richness of Australia's natural treasures and its cultural diversity. Australia offers a wealth of travel experiences, from the vastness and drama of the outback, to the spectacle of the Great Barrier Reef and its islands, the cosmopolitanism of Sydney and arguably some of the best beaches in the world. Visitors expecting to see an opera in Sydney one night and meet Crocodile Dundee the next will have to re-think their grasp of geography in this huge country. It is this sheer vastness, and the friction between the ancient land steeped in Aboriginal lore and the New World cultures being heaped upon it, which gives Australia much of its character.
Full country name: Commonwealth of Australia
Area: 7,682,300 sq km
Population: 19.5 million
Capital city: Canberra (pop: 313,000)
People: 94% European descent, 4% Asian, 1.5% Aboriginal
Languages: English, Aboriginal languages (plus numerous other European, Arabic and Asian languages)
Religion: 75% Christian, 1% Muslim, 1% Buddhist, 0.5% Jewish
Government: Independent member of the British Commonwealth
Prime Minister: John Howard
Governor-General: Dr Peter Hollingworth
GDP: US$418 billion
GDP per head: US$22,000
Annual growth: 4.5%
Inflation: 3%
Major products/industries: Minerals, oil, coal, gold, wool, cereals, meat.
Major trading partners: Japan, ASEAN, South Korea, US and the EU.
Facts for the Traveler
Visas: Every nationality except New Zealanders need visas. Tourist visas and Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) visas are valid for three months. ETAs are just under US$11; standard visas cost US$35. Longer-term visas can be applied for.
Health risks: Sunburn, heat exhaustion, drowning
Time: There are three time zones: Eastern Standard Time is UTC plus 10 hours; Central Time is UTC plus 9.5 hours; and Western Time UTC plus eight hours.
Electricity: 220-240V
Weights & measures: metric
When to Go
Any time is a good time to be in Australia. Summer (December to February) can get uncomfortably hot just about anywhere, even sometimes in Tasmania. If you're in the southern states during these months it's great beach weather and great melanoma weather. Up north, this is the wet season, when it's very, very humid and when the sea is swarming with box jellyfish. On the upside, the Top End is beautifully green and free of tourists at this time.
From June until August things have cooled down a little and dried up a lot up north. This is a good time to visit Queensland or the outback. If you're here for the skiing, now's the time to head for the snowfields of NSW and Victoria. Overall, spring and autumn are probably the safest bets - the weather is reasonably mild wherever you are, and spring brings out the wildflowers in the outback, while autumn is particularly beautiful around Canberra and in the Victorian Alps. If you want to avoid holiday road chaos, don't arrive in Australia at Easter or just before Christmas.
Provided by The Student Zone (United Kingdom) |
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