But it’s not just the B&B itself; it’s the experience you get there. When someone shares their personal space with you it’s more than a commercial transaction: it’s an opportunity to make new friends in a new place. Ok, you probably won’t be inviting every one of your B&B hosts to your wedding, but the relationship often outlasts your vacation.

Hosts can be useful too. There’s no better way to get the lay of the land before venturing out into a new city than a cup of coffee and a chat with the owner; a local in the city and usually a great font of information on what’s going on there, for example you have great offers in Berlin. Guide books are published once a year, and usually written from the perspective of a tourist. They’re great as far as they go, but every city’s a dynamic place. There’s nothing like the bespoke, real-time advice and guidance of a local to set you on a good track. And it’s not just that first chat when you arrive. Every morning with breakfast you can pick their brains, and as they get to know your personality, your interests, and what you enjoyed yesterday, their advice becomes better tailored to your needs.

The working holiday visa enables young adults, aged 25 years and younger to work and travel about the country experiencing the tourist attractions and cultural diversity of each state. The employment period for this type of work visa is limited to a period not exceeding 6 weeks. Seasonal work and temporary work in restaurants and bars is always available to back packers who take advantage of the many back packer hostels found in every state in the country. Many have formed social groups with other backpackers, traveling and finding work together.

High Quality Education in Australia

Australia’s skilled workers visa gives older workers an opportunity to live and work in the country, when sponsored by an employer. Workers from overseas employed under this scheme help fill positions in areas where there is a skilled labor shortage. Australian undergraduate and post-graduate educations are available to overseas students at very competitive prices. Australia’s reputation as a provider of high quality education attracts thousands of international students each year. Universities provide accommodations and support to students choosing to study in the Australia. Home stay options afford students the opportunity to experience Australian hospitality and to improve their English communication skills.

Australia is proud of its reputation as a country that supports and encourages diversity. People choosing to work or study in the country will experience a true cultural melting pot.

How to get a work and travel visa

Students taking advantage of these programs not only earn money during their vacations, but gain valuable work experience in the US to add to their resume. Students must travel with a minimum amount of money in the bank as detailed by the program but are not required to have employment confirmation prior to traveling. Students ineligible for the work and travel visa maybe qualify the internship visa that offers similar travel, study and work options to the work and travel visa, but requires an internship or trainee commitment prior to traveling.

There are other visa options for those wishing to travel the USA and work. The visa waiver programs and working visa commonly called the “Green Card”, both have their own requirements and limitations. Numerous internet sites provide specific information about these and other work and travel programs available to international visitors.

Home of the Daintree and Great Barrier Reef

Visitors to the tropical far north of Queensland can experience the beauty of the rainforests. They can explore the traditional Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal) lands, where they can get a taste of true aboriginal culture. A little further south, but still in the tropical north visitors can experience the adrenalin rush of diving with the sharks in the Great Barrier Reef or steer a yacht on the clear blue seas of the Whitsunday Islands.

Travelling to the inland regions of Queensland visitors can stop in the town of Winton with its Waltzing Matilda multi-media exhibition and experience life as Queenslanders knew it at the time the song was written by Banjo Patterson in 1895. Driving further west visitors will find themselves in the mining town of Mt Isa, affectionately referred to as the “Oasis of the Desert” by Queenslanders. Red iron ore rich boulders punctuate the landscape and create a brilliant contrast against the cloudless blue skies typical to this region.

The southern regions of the state are shining examples of modern urban cities and suburban towns. In the capital city of Brisbane visitors can enjoy shopping, great restaurants, and an exciting nightlife. Queensland is a great place to vacation for anyone who loves the outdoors. With its sunny white sand beaches and exotic tropical jungles, it is a nature lover’s paradise.

Tasmania – Home of the Tasmanian Devil

Tasmania is home to many rare animal and plant species including the nation’s largest meat-eating marsupial, the Tasmanian Devil. When visitors arrive in the capital of Hobart, they are greeted with the sight of Mount Wellington’s snow-clad peaks overlooking the city and the beautiful Derwent River. A visit to the top of the mountain will provide panoramic views and breathtaking scenery.

East of Hobart visitors can enjoy the tranquility of Tasmania’s long white sandy beaches and deep blue oceans. They can explore the national park’s magnificent river gorges and spectacular waterfalls. They can wander picturesque Coles Bay and Wine Glass Bay. Travelling west will lead visitors to the remains of volcanoes, tropical rainforests and the wilderness areas.

Driving north on the main highway visitors will experience the culture and diversity of Tasmania. Guided tours of the lands belonging to the Palawan people offer visitors a rare look at indigenous Aborigine customs and traditions. First settled in the early 1800’s by free settlers and convicts, the area also boasts of many historical buildings dating back to the 19th century giving visitors a contrasting perspective on Tasmania’s unique history.

Visitors taking advantage of the opportunity to travel the relatively short distance from the mainland to the beautiful island state of Tasmania will not be disappointed.

A State of Contrast

Most journeys about the state begin with its capital city of Adelaide. Built on the Torrens River, the city is ringed by the Adelaide Hills that together with the Flinders Ranges offer gorgeous views of the city and surrounding countryside.

Once travelers leave the coast and cross the hills, they find themselves in the outback, a flat, seemingly endless desert littered with islands of huge, brilliantly colored rock formations. This vast region is home to some of Australia’s most interesting wildlife and unique landscapes. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Tooling down Australia’s longest and straightest road, The Stuart Highway is also an interesting way to tour South Australia. The Stuart Highway covers a distance of 3200km (almost 2000 miles) and links Adelaide in the south with Darwin in the north. Riding on the historical “Ghan” railway line is another wonderful option. It’s one of the world’s great railroad journeys.

The town of Woomera is always a fun stop because of its role in the tracking spacecraft, including the Apollo missions and the deployment of long range missiles during the Cold War. In mining towns like Coober Pedy families mine opals in the countless deep holes that dot the landscape. Many of them also live underground seeking relief from the hot desert sun.

From Adelaide on the coast to its inland border with the Northern Territory, South Australia is a state of diverse people and sights that is sure to provide an unforgettable holiday experience for visitors of all ages.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!
 

The words of the second verse of this ode to the landscape of Australia not only describe the awe inspiring panoramas of the actual landscape and climate, but give the reader a sense of the emotional affect experiencing the terrain and seasons of Australia has on its inhabitants and visitors.

Unique Nature

Each Australian state has its own unique landforms which have become major tourist attractions. Every year thousands of Australians choose to drive around the country visiting these natural wonders in preference to travelling overseas.

The coastal regions are divided from the country’s interior by a series of magnificent mountain ranges. The largest of these is the Great Dividing Range, which extends from North Queensland on the East Coast to central Victoria in the South.

Australia’s tallest mountain “Kosciuszko” is located in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. More snow falls annually in the Snowy Mountains than in the entire country of Switzerland, yet there are areas like Alice Springs in the middle of the country that may not see rain for two or three years.

Once the mountains are crossed the fertile greenery of the coast is replaced by red dust and sand. The landscape largely becomes plains and desert. Northeastern Australia is predominately lush green tropical rain forests. The south it is mostly temperate forests and bush land.From its northern most coasts to its most southern regions, from its eastern reefs to its western shores, Australia's landscape is as diverse as the people who call it home.

What happend throughout the 17th to 20th centuries

A clearly defined set of laws created the framework for society. Traditional ceremonies provided explanations for everything in life. Food and indigenous implements such as the didgeridoo and boomerang were traded along traditional trade routes known as “song lines". Indonesians visited the north throughout the 17th to 20th centuries and there are reported marriages between indigenous women and these visiting fishermen. Good relations existed with the visitors and life didn’t change until the settlement of the southern regions was subsequently followed by expansion north. Traditional lands were used by the settlers and the essential trade routes were blocked. Entire tribes were killed and land dispossessed as settlement continued.

Many children from mixed backgrounds were born during this period and government policy of the 20th century demanded that the children be taken from their indigenous mothers and placed in the care of orphanages. This “Assimilation policy continued throughout the mid 1900’s and created the infamous “Stolen Generation” In 1972, Aborigines achieved self determination and many areas of land were returned to their traditional owners. In 2007, the “Sorry Day” was proclaimed. On this day, the Australian Government gave formal apologies Australia’s indigenous people for all past atrocities and particularly to the stolen generation who had been so traumatized by their experiences.

Today, the indigenous population of Australia is increasingly appreciated for its rich culture, its heritage, its dreaming stories and its timeless knowledge of the environment which continues today in many parts of the country. Ownership is recognized at all official gatherings and indigenous people are provided with equal opportunities in every aspect of Australian life.

Many of these foods, mainly from the Mediterranean, Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, are much more suited to the Australian climate and many of them are now favorite meal choices for Australian families.

Australians generally eat plenty of vegetables and much less meat than their overseas counterparts. Obesity has been a huge health problem for the country and many Australians are now seeking to lose weight by focusing on changing their lifestyle and diet choices. With focus on outdoor bbq’s, salads, steamed and grilled foods, most meals cooked in typical homes and restaurants are low in fat and increasingly vegetable and lean protein based.

Australians still love to eat meat, but are increasingly swapping traditional meats like beef, pork and lamb with native meats like kangaroo. Other meats like emu and crocodile are still considered gourmet meats, but are popular if they can be commercially bought.

Barramundi as a tasty meal

Seafood, particularly barramundi and oily fish like Spanish mackerel are popular and the lobster or crayfish industries provide a thriving local market with plenty of produce. World famous wines are locally produced and enjoyed by the locals. Foods such as damper (a type of scone like bread made from flour and water) and Anzac biscuits continue to be popular with families as does the famous breakfast spread vegemite which many Australians must eat every day on their toast. Australian traditional desserts include the famous lamington cake and the Pavlov made from egg whites.

Visitors to Australia are sure to enjoy the food diversity offered throughout the country reflective of the history and multicultural diversity that has influenced traditional Australian food.

British explorer James Cook is credited with discovering Australia in the 18th century. Britain decided to make the territory a penal colony. The first English settlement was established by convicts, their guards and a small group of free settlers in 1788. More settlements followed, primarily along the coast in what are now Sydney and Melbourne. There are however, some colorful accounts of European settlers crossing the mountains that divide the coast from the interior.

Australia’s history is both a tribute to the courage of the settlers as they coped with the enormous hardships of wilderness life, and a condemnation of the atrocities they committed against the indigenous people as they dispossessed them of their ancestral lands.

The Gold Rush

In the late 1800’s Afghan Cameleers helped open up the Australia’s interior. Railways and cattle stations rapidly spread into the outback. The discovery of gold attracted many ambitious men to the gold fields hoping to make their fortune as miners but the interior continent remained relatively unsettled.

Australia became a separate self governing nation in 1901. The population did not increase significantly until the post World War II government provided cheap passage to European immigrants. This open invitation ended in the 1970’s. Immigrants from all over the world continue to pay their own passage to Australia.

In 1972 “Sorry Day” was proclaimed and Self Determination for the indigenous Aboriginal people was adopted. Many of their traditional homelands and sacred sites were returned to them.

Modern day Australia is melting pot of peoples and cultures. Despite being one of the world’s youngest nations, Australia has enjoyed a colorful and fascinating history.