- For Sydney, a serene and fascinating city. Beautiful scenary of the bay with the amusement of the Opera House, the White Theater symbol of the city.
- For the desert, where suddenly you can see the Hyers Rock, a mysterious natural formation which has always been the sacred mountain of the aborigine.
- For the Tasmania Island, one of the less well-known and more charming angles of the world.
- For the kangaroos, the boomerang, the caiman and the whole adventure that its nature knows how to offer you at a Crocodile Dundee style.
GEOGRAPHY
Australia is the seventh country of the world for its extension with a surface of 7.682.300 Km., however the last one for its population density, with just two inhabitants a Kim. The interior of the country, called outback, is an immense plane desert, on which the wear formation of the Hyers Rock, sacred mountain of the aborigine rises to the surprise.
Time Zone: 8.0 (summer), 9.0 (winter)
Day’s Duration: maximum 14.5 hours (December); minimum 10.0 hours (June)
WHEN TO GO
Better Period: January, February, March Good period: November, December Worst Period: June, July, August September
WEATHER
The presence of a tropical and dry weather in to the north, from May to October, it is characterized by very hot days and fresh nights although it is a rainy station. To the occident the weather is also pleasant, with hot days and fresh nights. To the south and mostly to the Tasmania Island, winter is more rigid, with fresh nights, clouded sky and Antarctic winds.
CLOTHING
To the north part and from October to April, in the rest of the country you should take in the suitcase appropriate clothes and shoes, with some hot tee-shirt if your going a little bit more to the south. For the rest of the year, hot clothes and raincoat. To dive in the Corals seas do not forget the equipment for it, as well as plastic sandals to walk carefully and not be hurt.
CULTURE/MUSEUMS
Sydney Aquarius
Address: Pyrmont Bridge, Sydney
Schedule: 9.30-22
entered by payment
A true sea museum, with three big fishbowls dedicated to the oceanic life. In the first one sharks and big fish swim, in the remaining ones-two-seals and the smallest animals can live happily. The experience is absolutely fascinating. You may also walk under a submarine tunnel with windows that allow you to see the show closer.
Powerhouse Museum
Address: 500Harris St., Sydney
Schedule: 10-17
entered by payment, Free admission the first Saturday every month.
A deluxe rag dealer museum. Musical instruments, old trains, satellites pieces, and also paintings and statues, as a whole that can tell us something about our century. The exhibition is well studied and the nostalgic effect, insured.
Art Gallery
Address: MacQuarie St., Melbourne
Schedule: 10-17
entered by payment
Permanent collection of the art of North American, Australian, European and Asian, mainly contemporary. In a separated atmosphere there are also samples of the present time.
Victorian Arts Center
Address: St. Kildee Road, Melbourne
Schedule: Guided visit every other hour
entered by payment
It is a great center where galleries find place, rooms and theaters for different musical or figurative events. In its interior it is also housed the State Theater.
"Polly Woodside" Marine museum
Address: Porto, Melbourne
Schedule: 10-17
entered by payment
Polly Woodside is the name of the glorious sail ship built in 1885 in Ireland that afterwards, once setting in pension, became a museum of the sea. Around it there are other buildings that house part of the collection.
AUSTRALIAN CUISINE
The Australian cuisine is a mixture of different cuisine of the world, as part of the immigrants coupled in Australia. This way the Italian restaurants cohabit with those Chinese, the Hindu come closer to the Irishmen, the Thai are very close to the Lebaneses. The restoration level is high and therefore interesting ethnic-gastronomic experiences can be had. All the products come from the Island and almost anything is cared. which means a guarantee of quality, as the nature has particularly favored the great Australian island. Naturally fish and shellfish are the preferred plates in the coast, rich in each form of life. Don't forget to taste the marine plates at the Thai restaurants. Fish and shellfish cooked with yellow, green and red curry sauce. And mainly crabs an authentic delight. Or also lobster and crustaceans. The Australian meat is also of high quality-tendered and more pleasant than in Italy- where you may eat big beefsteaks, accompanied by potatoes enriched with butter or creams or sour creams. But it is Meat Pie the true institution of the Australian cuisine. Nothing more than a rich baked meat cake. It is served everywhere in the island. But the best thing would be to eat it at home. Actually the Australian wine should be tasted. Many of them have anything to envy to the European wines as of being cared to the Italian and French restaurants.
SHOPPING
Precious stones, wine, but above all the craft is in the Outback, the immense interior of the country, and the aborigine art, in its strange and mysterious way. In the free business at the airports is enough to show the passport and trip ticket to receive discounts in the prices and local rates.
The main textile for confections in Australia its call Oilskin. It takes this name due to the fantasy of the first colonists that cut the cotton sails and made with them coats waxed with paraffin, already common among the farmers, fishermen, the superintendents and all those who lived in open areas. There are also shirts, pants, and long hats and skirts at Crocodile Dundeei the style. In the town of the sheep the best acquisition cannot be other than naturally a wool T-shirt made with an adornment at thick point and of strong colors. Lovers of the sea will have the nuisance of choosing among surfing suit, T-shirt and pullovers.
Jewelers
Australia is famous for the opal, from which the 95% of the world production is sustained. The most beautiful are those extracted at the black style Lighting Ridge, in the New South Wales. But there are also the sapphire and the diamond. On the other hand the sea offers beautiful pearls cultivated in the water of Broome and the marketed with the South Sea trademark.
Art
In the last years the aborigine art has been imposed before to the attention of collector and passionates. Paintings on the eucalyptus bark, small rituals tables, boomerangs, and worked shells, paintings on linen which truly surprising as for their originality.
Food
The Australian wines have become a fashion, but they have got this position principally due to their quality. To taste them we have: Chardonnay from the Clare Valley, the so call "Tuscan Australian". But also the red wine Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, the Pinot Nero from the Leewin State and the Muscat from the Rutherglen region. Delicious is also the chocolate produced by the Factory Cadburu, and the smoky fish of Tasmania.
