Australia - Overview

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.

Sleek tour buses were already idling in the parking lot when we saw a handful of mud-caked camper vans pull up -- fuel cans and lawn chairs strapped to their roofs. We heard the motorcycles before we saw the riders climb off and straighten their jeans. But the noise didn't seem to bother the caravan of camels loping in the distance. We were all assembling for one of Australia's greatest shows: sunset at Ayers Rock. Yes, it's become something of a circus. But watching the scalloped monolith go from reddish-brown to a haunting burnt-orange against the desert sky is still a magical, some say spiritual, experience.

Much of Australia's vast "red center" has been tamed and put on a tour, but the Outback hasn't lost its frontier allure. The same can be said for much of the rest of this country that's also a continent. Sydney may have joined the ranks of the world's top cities, but its architecture, stunning harbor and electric, manic personality keep it singular: you won't mistake it for anywhere else. From the craggy peaks of the Blue Mountains to the lush tropics of Queensland and the coral treasureland of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia has something unusual, something special to offer visitors - even those traveling by tour bus.