With more than 50,000 kilometers of white sand beaches, visitors to Australia's coastal regions can enjoy world-class swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving and surfing, in addition to sea kayaking and canoeing. Off the beach, a wide variety of nearby attractions can be found, including nightlife, theme parks, wine tasting, mountain climbing and wildlife viewing. Some of the most popular coastal areas to visit include: Byron Bay, known for its new age culture and surfing; the islands of Whitsunday along the Great Barrier reef; the theme parks and nightlife of the Gold Coast, the vineyards of Margaret River, Mornington Peninsula and Fleurieu Peninsula; and Wineglass Bay, known for its mountain climbing and surfing.
Major cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane, are centers of culture, history, arts and entertainment. From the Sydney Opera House to a tiny jazz bar in Melbourne, Australia caters to the most discriminating of tastes. For those looking for more eclectic fare, check out Melbourne's graffiti murals, buy organic fruits and vegetables at the Adelaide Central Market or go ski-biscuiting in Perth. Visit art galleries or a fossilized dinosaur skeleton in Brisbane, visit Chinatown in Melbourne or even float over Canberra in a hot air balloon. Australia's cities are filled with modern architecture and skyscrapers, but they are all only a short drive away from wilder, natural spaces.
The Outback is a wild, uncultivated region in the central portion of the country. This area will appeal to the more adventurous tourist, who doesn't mind leaving the comforts of their hotel behind. The terrain of the Outback is varied, from scorched deserts to green waterholes and oases. Visitors to the Outback can dine on such local delicacies as mud crab while drinking bush tucker at a local pub. In the more populated areas, tourists will find rodeos, museums and paddleboat or hot-air balloon tours. For those looking to learn more about Aboriginal culture, the Outback is the place to start, with cultural centers dedicated to preserving Aboriginal history in Longreach and Mildura.
The Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants of Australia, dating back at least 50,000 years. Visitors to Australia can learn about Aboriginal Australia at cultural events, such as dance performances and storytelling workshops, in major cities across the country. Aboriginal culture can also be explored at Coorong, Gippsland, Uluru-Kata National Park; Daintree Rainforest and the Kimberly region of western Australia, where the camel is a viable mode of transportation. In many of these locations, members of local Aboriginal tribes serve as guides and take visitors to traditional villages and sites of interest to the tribes, as well as teaching about tribal culture, beliefs and traditions.
