Well, let’s go. Let’s start in New South Wales and Sydney, one of the most beautiful cities in the world with its Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and world-famous beaches Bondi and Manly. A day trip out? Blue Mountains National Park that offers great bushwalking is only one hour from the city. North of Sydney is Australia’s oldest wine district Hunter Valley, where hundreds of wine lovers cruise from cellar to cellar sampling the products of different vineyards. If wine is not your poison, go even further north, to Byron Bay and Nimbin – Australia’s answer to Amsterdam. But be aware that the smell of dope on the streets of these towns does not mean it’s legal.
Any further north from here – be warned – is the state of "hillbillies", "backwards" and "banana benders". But it’s only the jelaous southerners that have given Queensland this reputation. Queenslanders are in fact the luckiest people in Australia. No other state in Australia has got so many hot and sunny days, tropical cities, national parksand coral islands. Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns are top cities with everything you ever need. Surfers Paradise and the theme parks pull millions of tourists to the Gold Coast every year. Carnarvon Gorge, Lawn Hill, Wooroonooran National Park and Daintree rainforests beat any southern national parks. Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. Hinchinbrook Island is the world’s largest island national park. And the 2000 km long Great Barrier Reef, also world’s largest, offers endless snorkelling in turquoise blue waters around more than 600 islands surrounded by corals and 1500 species of fish, including our Hollywood star Nemo. Mate, can you hear that I am a Queenslander?? Phew! Let’s move on..
South of New South Wales (and Sydney), is the state of Victoria. It’s probably Australia’s densest inhabited state, although it’s way too cold here to my liking. The high altitudes and southern latitudes mean Victoria is a snowy place during the winter, and unless you intend to go snowboarding, I recommend you visit between October and April. Like many other states, Victoria has got some historical towns from the days of gold-rushes, and some good bushwalks in national parks like The Grampians and Wilsons Promontory. But what you should not miss are the famous rock formations Twelve Apostles on the beautiful Great Ocean Road.
And then of course, there is Melbourne. Australians from this part of the continent are divided into two groups: Sydney-lovers (and Melbourne-haters) and Melbourne-lovers (and Sydney-haters). The rivarly has been on for decades and went so far that they had to build Canberra in between the two, to become the capital of Australia. Having been living in Sydney myself, I gave my heart to Syndey, but Melbourne has some good things to offer: Australia’s most beautiful central train station, colourful Queen Victoria Markets, a famous cricket ground, and - trams that have caused some of Australia’s weirdest traffic rules.
Melbourne is the place to catch the ferry to Australia’s biggest island and a state for itself, Tasmania – a bushwalkers’ paradise. Most of the island is covered by national parks, the most famous being the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair. South of the state capital Hobart which has lately got famous for giving Denmark a princess, is the historic Port Arthur, known for its cruel convict history, a haunted prison, and a massacre in 1996 when a freak by the name of Martin Bryant opened fire and killed 35 people before burning down a local guesthouse and ending up in prison for the rest of his life. But despite its history, Tasmania is a beautiful place to visit.
ll the rest of Australian states contain a little bit of life around their capital cities, and then a great portion of what we call "the outback" (New South Wales and Queensland have an outback too but it’s not quite as empty as in west).
