"A paradise for backpackers and train... " a Australia Travel Page by Rusket

Backpacking is well organized in Australia. Most places keep a high standard, and when you arrive somewhere by train, you will often find agents from different backpackers waiting at the station. That was the case when we arrived Alice Springs. Discounts are given if you have a VIP / YHA membership.

In larger cities there are tourist agencies on the railway stations, which are actually open when you arrive! You can often get a good bargain on hotel rooms with them, and since prices are higher and standard lower in hostels and backpackers in some cities, we often chose to stay in hotels. One of the reasons beeing that we had to pay for two in hostels / backpackers while my son (11 years old at the time) often went for free in hotels. Why pay AUD 70 for a shack when you can stay in a nice hotel for 80 - 100?

We tried them all! But we have to go back, they have finally finished the line from Alice Springs to Darwin since we were there!

Going through my pictures from our journey around the world 4 years later, I discover that most of them are of trains or animals, and very few from places we have stayed and sights we have seen. Hm, what does that say about me? A very sad thing is that a whole CD containing all my pictures from Alice Springs and most of the Sydney pictures was lost in the mail. I normally uploaded my pictures to a digital album on the web before I sent the CDs home, but in many australian internet cafes the transfer speed was very slow at the time, and at some places they did not allow us to insert our own CDs. And this one, which I had not uploaded, was the one to never appear back home :-( Pictures or not, I WILL create a page about our stay in Alice!

Australia has an agreement with several countries that people under the age of 30 can get a one year combined work and vacation visa. They are not allowed to work longer than three months at one place. A great way of seeing this gorgeous country! We met a lot of those in backpackers around Australia, and I must admit I was a bit envious, beeing 46 at the time ;-)