"Welcome to Australia" Australia by Kate-Me

Australia Travel Guide: 49,475 reviews and 104,485 photos

Welcome to my Australia Pages

The major focus of my Australia pages is on the state of Victoria, since it is my home state and also especially because I believe it is the state with the widest variety of landscapes. The good thing is, they're all within reach in a day from a central point (unlike some of the larger states which can take days to cross)
To give you an idea of distance: it's about 72 hours non stop by train from Perth to Sydney!

We've got it all in Victoria:
From the famous coastal road of The Great Ocean Road (see Geelong travelogue)
to many beautiful soft sandy beaches with bright turquoise waters (Eden pages)
to rainforests (eg see Healesville-Yarra Valley on Melbourne pages)
to Alpine ski resorts (Mt Buffalo), Limestone Caves (Mt Gambier pages) volcanoes, rocky mountains to rolling hills, National Parks (Tasmania and others), Lakes and wilderness (see Lakes Entrance pages), waterfalls (Grampians), wildflowers, huge variety of wildlife, deserts (Broken Hill), rich gold mining history (Ballarat & Maldon pages) pine plantations and native eucalypt forests, mighty rivers, historic towns and more......

Road Rules/Speed Limits
In the "Getting There" chapter of these pages, I've included a section on Road Rules/Speed Limits especially to try and help right-hand drivers who might be a bit uncertain of driving here.

My "Australia-Oceania" pages have shifted focus to concentrate on Aboriginal culture/travel. Other travelogues there are taking a quirky look at Australia - including an Australian Slang page to give you some inside info on the language if you're planning to come here.

My "In the Middle of Nowhere" travelogue is meant to be a little quirky (though it's also true!) and has some normal road sign pics added in...more to come.

Here is a pic of Melbourne, which is a great city with so much to offer the visitor, especially great food from a myriad of different cultures, and at great prices too.
Besides being a good tourist city, it's also a very livable city.

Facts and Figures

Population Map

Australia in area is almost as great as that as of USA (but with a far greater % of unusable land)

It is 4/5 the size of Canada

Nearly 3/4 of the whole area of Europe.

It is bounded on the North by the Timor and Arafura sea and the Torres Strait, on the East by the Pacific Ocean, on the South by the Southern Ocean and the West by the Indian Ocean.

To help you with an idea of Australia's distribution of it's 20 million inhabitants, here's a map.
It's not large enough to read, so I'll explain the colour coding.
The really dark areas stand for over 45 people per square km
the slightly paler are 10 to 20 people per sq km or so....and the pale colour throughout the rest of the map, stands for less than 1 person per square kilometre! Yep, pretty uninhabited interior.
And if you can see some huge interior lakes in the centre of the country...like Lake Eyre...those aren't really lakes, they're dry salt beds/plains or basins.

Major Roads

Roads/highways

Now here's a map of the Major roads of Australia (don't worry, in reality, NSW, Vic and Tasmania have a LOT more roads than that...but as for NT, and especially WA...that gap between Alice Springs and W.A. is just that...the only roads are cross country tracks, 4WD only.

Pros and Cons

Pros:A very inviting country where tourists are still welcomed
Cons:The country is so huge it's hard to know where to start exploring.
In a nutshell:Australia has a great lifestyle and friendly people.

Last visit to Australia: Feb 2003
Intro Updated May 22, 2003
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Reviews (21)

Not exactly strictly aussie... Restaurants (5)

While not strictly an Aussie food, more and more of these are finding their way onto our supermarket shelves, and this... more travel advice

and here they are, cooked and ready to eat - Australia

Banana Bran Muffins e Restaurants (5)

Bake (approx 20-30 mins, till golden) Makes 12 muffins. Can be served with cinammon sugar or cream cheese as a topping... more travel advice

Banana Bran Muffins 2 Restaurants (5)

Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake at 180 deg C. more travel advice

mixture before going into pans - Australia

Aussie Recipes Restaurants (5)

Thought I'd use this section to share a few Aussie recipes - some traditional, some more modern. The first one will be... more travel advice

Local Customs (1)
Anzac biscuits
Transportation (2)
See All Road Rules/Speed Limits
Warnings Or Dangers (4)
See All Bushfires
Favorites (2)
See All Gay Website Information
Things to Do (1)
Victor Harbour

Off The Beaten Path (1)
More to see than just the city
Shopping (2)
See All Opal Buying
Tourist Traps (2)
See All Credit Card traps
Nightlife (1)
All the entertainment you could want
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Travelogues (5)

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Comments (32)

KiKitC Sep 6, 2007 at 3:18 AM Report Abuse

We've camped in many areas here in the US...love it. We'd love to pack our 4WD and caravan Australia ourselves.
Stephen-KarenConn Mar 14, 2005 at 4:40 AM Report Abuse

Your camping and holiday parks travelogue is very informative and helpful. Karen and I love camping here in the USA, and hope to do an Australian tour in the next year or two.
deecat Feb 24, 2004 at 9:25 PM Report Abuse

Outstanding pages, even without photographs. Helpful, useful tips. Thanks for info about spiders, especially. Also the information of gays is important and helpful to many who need it. Details and personal opinions are great and make your work worthwhile.
aussiedoug Feb 21, 2004 at 6:56 PM Report Abuse

Growing up in a little mid north coast (NSW) beach town I never got to do the camping thing as a kid, but became friends with lots of recurring visitors who did. Gr8 page Kate, very informative & helpful!
quartinb Dec 16, 2003 at 2:21 AM Report Abuse

a diferent view from downunder... only possible here om VT:))
XenoHumph Jun 26, 2003 at 2:21 PM Report Abuse

Very nice introduction to Australia! Cute animal picts!! Thanks for the vistual trip!
cosmopolit Jun 14, 2003 at 11:27 AM Report Abuse

Very interesting page lots of good tips n nice pics. Yeah the bush fire problem's bad. I saw last years near Sydney.
belgianchocolate Jun 14, 2003 at 9:39 AM Report Abuse

I found the koala. :-))
colin_bramso Apr 17, 2003 at 1:36 AM Report Abuse

Great stuff! So much info I'll have to keep coming back...
mr.jacob Apr 14, 2003 at 5:44 PM Report Abuse

very helpful tips, thankx