Sydney is eye-catching. The busy harbour, flanked by the scalloped white roof of the Sydney Opera House and towering skyscrapers, is a study in contrast. Glass and steel monoliths share the skyline with the twin towers of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sailboats flutter on the bay, mere specks compared to the ferries and cruise ships that come to call. Sand-blessed beaches welcome the young and the old, equally entertained by the surfable waves and the near-constant parade of lightly-clad bronzed bodies. There is one attraction that lets you get a bird’s-eye view of it all, but it does take a bit of nerve. Alright, a lot of nerve. The Sydney Tower Skywalk gives you a panoramic view of the city from a walkway 879 feet in the air. The catch is, that walkway is outside the building. The bottom of the walkway is made of glass, putting the city literally at your feet. Participants don special jumpsuits and harnesses to take the 45-minute jaunt.
Amateur rock hounds and opal lovers, rejoice. In the heart of Australia’s desert is Coober Pedy, the self-proclaimed opal capital of the world. The town’s other claim to fame is that most of it is built underground -- a smart move in a land that regularly sees temperatures above the 110 degree Fahrenheit mark. Getting there means a ride on the Great Southern Railway or a Greyhound bus from either Adelaide or Alice Springs, or a small plane flight into Coober Pedy Airport. Once there, go local and spend the night underground in properties such as the Desert Cave Hotel or the Lookout Cave Underground Motel. The Comfort Inn Coober Pedy Experience Motel is one of the most upscale properties in town. It’s known for its Opal Room and the onsite collection of gems and opal-infused fossils. Even the walk to your room takes you through old mining tunnels, most still showing seams of the fiery stones. Visitors are welcome to do a bit of "noodling" to look for opals in the piles of earth left over from mining operations.
The Aborigines call it Uluru. The brick-red monolith towers over 1,141 feet above the red desert sands, an anomaly in this land of flatness. At sunset, Uluru glows in hues that rival erupting lava. Experience this sacred place with a guide from the Anangu people. Learn how the spirit ancestors pulled Uluru from the desert sands during the Dreamtime. Ayers Rock, the English name, is part of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Tours are available by motorcycle, all-wheel-drive vehicle and camel. Take to the skies in a helicopter for an aerial view of Uluru and Kata Tjuta, an older mound that rose from the desert sands more than 500 million years ago. The closest town is Alice Springs.
The Great Barrier Reef, stretching 1,615 miles along Australia’s eastern shore, is visible from space. The northern section runs along part of Queensland’s eastern shore from Cape York to Hinchinbrook, and has some 3,000 individual reefs of varying sizes. The center section fronts the city of Townsville, the largest tropical tourist magnet in the country. Part of the reef can be seen from shore. This is where you find Magnetic Island, a bit of land that gave Captain Cook’s compasses trouble while he was doing his own bit of reef exploring back in 1770. The reef’s southern end fronts central and lower Queensland, all the way to Fraser Island, a World Heritage Site. Scuba divers and snorkelers flock to Great Barrier Reef to explore its depths. Others take to the air to get an overall view of the size and scope of this marine habitat, either in hot air balloons or helicopters.
