Adrenaline junkies take note!
Australia is an adventure playground. It doesn't matter what your age, fitness level, or your particular bent in life; Australia has it all on offer. Whether you are into diving, rock climbing, backpacking, fishing, four wheel driving, or canoeing; whether you are a rank beginner or right up at the top end of your chosen sport; or, whether your kicks come from being in the most remote places on the planet or from being no further than a veritable stone's throw from the bright lights, the country 'Down Under' can supply an adventure a day for as long as you want to stay.
About the same size as the contiguous United States, Australia boasts a population of less than 20 million, with most of those around the east and south-east coasts, along with a tiny enclave on the south-western corner of the continent near Perth.
Brisbane in Queensland, Sydney in New South Wales, Melbourne in Victoria, and Perth in Western Australia, are not only the capitals of those States, but the favored entry points for travelers coming into Australia, with Sydney, the Olympic City, being the biggest and most well known.
Once people are in Sydney though it will be the city's great surf beaches, the fishing and the diving that will keep them in and around town, while the rugged sheer bluffs of the nearby Blue Mountains will win the hearts of rock climbers and backpackers.
The nearby islands of wave-washed sand will captivate those who land in Brisbane, along with the verdant jungle clad mountains inland. Melbourne destined travelers will be surprised at the closeness of the mountains and the snow fields and how easy it is to 'Go Bush' for a day or a week, while those adventurers who land on the other side of the Continent in Perth will marvel at the islands just offshore and the bush so close to the centre of town.
Adelaide in South Australia, Darwin in the Northern Territory and Hobart in the island state of Tasmania are the capitals of their respective states and, along with Cairns in the far north of Queensland, are lesser entry points to the adventures that await travelers in and around the wave-washed shores of Australia.
For those who arrive in Adelaide there's the closeness of the vast desert country and the unique Flinders Ranges, while Darwin travelers will be just a stone's throw from incredible Kakadu and some of the best barramundi fishing in the world. Tiny Hobart, nestling at the foot of Mount Wellington, is the gateway to some of the best, wildest country on the planet, while Cairns has the Great Barrier Reef right on its doorstep and to the north is the sparsely populated, dying-to-be-explored, Cape York Peninsula.
On arrival at any of those major cities it is relatively easy to move around. There are good road, rail, bus and air networks servicing places near and far and you can be literally up to your neck into an adventure within just a couple of hours of getting off an International flight.
Here is just a sample of what can be had once you've arrived in the land of sun and surf; of Ayers Rock and the Great Barrier Reef; of long distances and nearby hideaways; of green jungles and sweeping brown plains; of snow capped mountains and the delicate vastness of the Outback.
Enjoy the rush!
