by feathers

Created on: May 29, 2008

Let's start with the obvious: Australia is big. Australia is very big and unless you have unlimited time, you're going to need to plan your visit carefully. What do you want from a visit to Australia? A feast of natural wonders? To see the "real" Australia? Shopping and culture? Despite what you might see in movies and on TV, you're not going to get the Sydney Opera House, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef all in one day. Well, not without a real fast jet and no time to appreciate any of them.

English is the main (and often the only) language spoken. We use the metric system and centigrade for temperature. Our currency is the Australian dollar. It comes in denominations of $1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. You won't get them confused: $1 and 2 are gold coloured coins. $5 is pink, $10 is blue, $20 is red, $50 is orange and $100 is green. The lower denomination notes are also smaller than the larger ones and they are made of plastic. Coins are 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c and $1 and 2. Amounts that aren't divisible by 5c are generally rounded down at the shops. The coins have different animals on them: 5c is an echidna, 10c is a lyrebird, 20c is a platypus but there are special coins minted for the 20c, so you might get an interesting collectible. 50c coins have 12 sides and while they usually have the coat of arms on them, are also frequently used for special minting and you'll undoubtedly find one with an interesting imprint.

Most of the people in Australia live on the Eastern seaboard. It's one of the most urbanised countries in the world and your "typical" Australian lives in a house on a block of land, has a couple of cars and a dog and cat. Not particularly daring or exciting, nothing in the way of Crocodile Dundee.

To get a feel for all those exotic places you've seen in the movies or read about, you're going to need to Go Bush and be a tourist.

If you only get to visit on place in the Outback, choose Uluru in Kata Tjuta National Park. This is the great iconic monolith, the heart of Australia. Sacred site for the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people, you will learn a great deal about the land, the heritage and the lifestyle of these people. You'll be able to go on walks, learn about the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and see the rock art. You'll learn a different way of regarding the land, and you won't be climbing the rock in the way of the dominating outsider, but you will get some awesome pictures of one of the best known landmarks in the world.

If wild places and fabulous

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