Visiting Awesome Australia

Article written by Patricia Cotti, Eastchester Travel.

Welcome to Australia, the largest island in the world and also a continent affectionately called the “Land Down Under” or “Oz.” The people call themselves Aussie and their friends are called Mates. They cook on a Barbie and play a game called Footy. G’day is a greeting. The native animals carry their babies in pouches. The coat of arms bears both an emu and kangaroo. Both animals can walk forward but cannot walk backwards, a symbol of the spirit of the nation.

No visitor can cover this vast country in one experience. There are probably very few Australians who have been able to accomplish this. So, abandon the idea of seeing it all at once.

Let’s focus on the two beautiful cities of Sydney, Melbourne and the surrounding areas. Sydney is all about its coastline, harbor and the brilliant blue sky. Sydney was the birthplace of Australia in 1788.

Start your Sydney tour with a historic stroll through the rocks where successive waves of convicts began building the city out of its bedrock. Old warehouses and merchant buildings have been reinvented as shops, cafes and restaurants.

Take a cruise to best experience the harbor or ride out to Bondi Beach, the surfer’s beach, to view the thundering waves.

Stroll the Royal Botanic Gardens to the water’s edge at Mrs. Macquarie’s Point to get a million dollar view of the Sydney Opera House. View the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, two iconic symbols of the city. Guided tours are conducted through the opera theater and concert hall.

Melbourne, a cosmopolitan city, is a center for fashion, theater, art galleries, restaurants and shops, public gardens and architectural masterpieces of the Victorian era. Unlike Sydney, Melbourne was established with the discovery of gold in1851 in nearby Ballarat.
In the heart of the city lies St. Paul’s Cathedral, Princess Theater and the Victorian House of Parliament. Fitzroy Gardens is the location of Captain Cook’s Cottage, brought to Melbourne from its original site in Yorkshire, England.

Adjacent to Federation Square in Center City is the museum of contemporary aboriginal art and a very unique --truly Australian cuisine--Tjanabi.

The people of Melbourne are fanatics about sports and especially about Australian football (footy). It is virtually unknown beyond Australia. The game is played with a ball similar to an American football but kicked to the goal like soccer. Melbourne seems to be the heart of “ footy fever,” a game that is the soul of the city. Attend a game, enjoy a meat pie, have a beer with the locals and experience the “ footy frenzy.”

Be sure to take an excursion to Phillip Island at dusk to view the penguin parade. Each evening at sunset, hundreds and even thousands of wild little penguins emerge from the sea and migrate across the beach to their sand dune burrows. It is a very popular tourist event. Visitors sit in viewing stands on the beach along the route as the penguins arrive, rest and then waddle in their “tuxedos” along the beach and up steep well worn paths in the hillside to find their burrows. The event begins very quietly and ends with a cacophony of sounds as the birds communicate with each other.

Quantas Airlines, known for its service and efficiency, flies to Australia with favorable air fares from the US. Although Australia is currently entering its winter season, be assured that the winter is much milder than experienced in the Northeast.

Travel is a life changing experience, so consider the possibility of a great adventure to the land called “Oz.” Who knows what experiences await you “over the rainbow”?