Australia Travel Guide A Vagabond Life
Australia Travel Guide
Australia is so diverse and has everything from dense rainforests to vast deserts, incredible beaches, and mountain ranges.
It is also one of the most urbanised countries on the plant with cities such as Sydney and Melbourne offering excellent food, entertainment and accommodation options.
Australia is also BIG and takes a long time to get around so consider this when travelling to the land down under.
Table of Contents
Australia Travel Guide
Australia
Top Things 5 Things To See & Do In Australia
Need To Know - Australia Travel Guide
Capital: Canberra
Language: English
Five Quick Facts About Travelling In Australia.
- Australia is BIG, it has the 6th largest country in the world.
- The majority of the Australian population lives on the east coast of the country.
- Australia vast – it takes a long time to get anywhere so give yourself enough time when planning a trip.
- The ‘outback’ and desert regions are beautiful but very unforgiving, if venturing into the remote parts of Australia this needs to be taken very seriously.
- Australia can be quite expensive to travel in with the dsily cost of living high especially in the main cities.
Australia has a diverse climate due to it sheer size.
To simplfy things here it is broken down by state.
Queensland
- Coastal Queensland is semi tropical to tropical with hot humid summers and relatively dry sunny winters. The further north you go the more tropical and humid it becomes.
- Inland Queensland (central and southern west) have extremely hot dry summers and cool to cold winters.
Queensland experiences cyclones every year with the cyclone season running from November to April.
New South Wales
Over half of NSW is arid or semi arid.
- Inland has extremity hot summers and cold to very cold nights.
- Coastal NSW is semitropical with warm to hot humid summers and cool sunny winters.
Australian Capital Territory
The ACT experiences a dry climate with hot to very hot summers and cold winters.
Victoria
Victoria has a varied climate despite its small size. It ranges from semi-arid and hot in the north-west, to temperate and cool along the coast. The Great Dividing Range, produces a cooler, mountain climate in the centre of the state.
Tasmania
Tasmania has a cool climate with mild summers and cold winters. Snow is common in the mountains.
South Australia
South Australia is the driest state in the driest inhabited country on the planet (Antarctica is the driest)
The majority of the state has the arid and semi-arid climates. The southern coastal parts of the state have a Mediterranean climate with mild wet winters and hot dry summers.
Western Australia
Most of Western Australia has a hot arid and semi-arid climate. The south-west corner of the state is heavily forested and has a Mediterranean climate.
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory has two distinctive climate zones.
The northern end, including Darwin, has a tropical with high humidity and two seasons, the wet (October to April) and dry season (May to September).
The rest of the territory lies in the desert centre of the country; it includes Alice Springs and Uluru, and is arid or semi-arid with little rain usually falling during the hottest months from October to March.
Australian Currency is the Australian Dollar.
ATM’s are widely available across the country. Currency exchange can be found at all major airports
Australia has several different types of visas depending on the visitors nationality.
Special Category Visa – (New Zealand)
eVisitor – Online application
The eVisitor is available to citizens of all 27 European Union member states and 9 other European countries.
The eVisitor is issued free of charge and allows the holder to visit Australia for unlimited times, up to 3 months per visit, in a 12-month period for tourism or business purposes.
eVisitor or Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) – Online application.
The ETA is available to citizens of 8 countries
The ETA is issued free of charge and allows the holder to visit Australia for unlimited times, up to 3 months per visit, in a 12-month period for tourism or business purposes.
Visa required – Application via Consulate of home country.
| Special Visa | eVisitor | ETA or eVistor | ETA | Visa |
What To Pack
Australia is a huge country and has a diverse range of climates from tropical in the north east, deserts in the central and west of the country to cool and temperate climates in the south.
Clothing
- 2 pants (or if it is hot during the day 1 pants and 2 shorts)
** I threw the second pair of pants in at the last minute and was glad I did as my original pair got wet and it was good to have a second pair.
- 1 pair track pants (or leggings) – can be slept in
- 1 shorts ** see pants
- 1 x singlets – good for layering and sleeping in
- 4 short sleeve tee shirts
- 1 x long sleeve sloppy joe or similar
- 1 x zip-up shell jacket
- 1 x lightweight windproof raincoat
- 3 x socks
- 5 x underpants
- 2 x bra
- 1 x Northface Dipsea (or similar)
- I x warm hat
- 1 x sun hat
Shoes
- 1 x pair walking or hiking shoes.
- 1 x pair flip flops (great for showers)
Toiletries
- Wet Wipes – with no water or showers these are essential
- Hand Sanitiser
- Toilet Paper
- Travel Towel
- Lush Bar Shampoo
- Bar of Soap
- Deodorant
- Brush / Comb
- Hair Ties
Electronics
1 x Earbud headphones. Light and small,
1 x 6S iPhone loaded with music and podcasts
1 x power bank
Photography
- 1 x GoPro Hero 5
- 2 x Spare GoPro Batteries
- 1 x LUMIX TZ80
- Spare micro SD Card
Other Stuff
- 1 x headlight or torch **essential
- 1 x Swiss knife
- 1 x medical kit
- Refillable water bottle
Australia Travel Guides
World Destination Guide
There are 195 countries in the world stretching across seven continents – so there is an awful lot to see.Where to begin? Many people are inspired by a movie they have seen or a story they have heard, or a desire to see the land of their ancestors.
Use the drop-down on the right to explore the world.