Australia lingers long in every impression. From burning red desert to bustling metropolis, aboriginal lifestyles to surf culture, the land down under seems to serve up a feast of preconceptions. This vast island, cast adrift in the South Pacific, seems to ignite the imagination unlike anywhere else. Australia. Just picture it and it's impossible to focus on a single image; Sydney, Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, the desert, the beach, everything in between. We'll let you into a little secret. All that dreaming, all that unadulterated reverie of Australia...it's pretty much exactly what Australia is like when you visit.

Let's indulge a little on the country's appeal. Over 20,000 miles of virtually untouched coastline, a series of cities founded on ingenuity and intrigue, endemic wildlife skipping around all over... This is where you'll find the world's biggest monolith, it's longest reef, oldest rainforest, longest surviving culture, and a completely new definition of uninhabited wilderness. With Australia, there's never a debate about whether you want to go. It's hard to find a soul on the planet who isn't in-spired by the thought of this immense island nation.

The question is more about how to transform Australia from fantasy to reality. First up are the practicalities. Just flying across the country takes five hours, nothing but scorched landscape beneath the wingtips. Even on the ever popular East Coast you can drive for hours without seeing anything but sugar plantations and the odd kangaroo. Second up is cost. Australia's transformation from rugged hinterland into sophisticated nation knows no boundaries, and the spiraling costs have many visitors surviving off boxed wine and jam sandwiches. Finally, there's the dilemma of finding time. Such a vast far flung destination deserves oodles of time. So what can realistically be squeezed into an itinerary if you don't have three months to spare?

Consider the three questions and Australia can easily be left to rot in the annals of travel day-dreams. But as the Aussies would say, no worries. The locals' serene and easygoing attitude forms the paradigm for this guidebook. There's no need to completely overthink Australia. This is an indelibly easy country to travel in and this guidebook believes in giving you all the information and tools to turn a dream trip into reality. All the core practicalities are considered, helping you plan an itinerary regardless of how much time you have to spend. Costs are outlined, along with numerous ways to reduce them without reliving days of being a squalid student.

This guidebook is about all the essential information you need to plan and realize a trip to Austral-ia. Because once you've got it planned the country will do the rest. So jump forward into a nation of superlatives, into a mesmerizing concoction of escapism and adventure. Some people say that Australia is a country for finding yourself. We prefer to think it's a country for getting lost, amidst the finest landscapes and experiences on the planet.

Autorentext

A group of Authors, Graphic Designers and Technical Support Reps