As a hotel reviewer I often get asked about the best things to do in Australia.. Here’s so my top ten.

1.The best jumping off point for those looking to snorkel and dive the Great Barrier Reef nike dunk high heels nz , Cairns is a favourite destination to catch a day tour to the reef. There are several operators that offer a wide variety of different kinds of charters to the Great Barrier Reef. You can choose between day-tours or liveaboard tours, which vary greatly in quality.If you aren’t yet qualified to dive, but can’t think of a daytrip to the Great Barrier Reef without doing so, you can easily pick up your qualification in a few days at Cairns Dive Centre. They offer a 5-day learn to dive course, which gives you your PADI certification and gives you the opportunity for several open-water scuba dives out on the reef. Virtually all operators have an ecotourism certification, which ans you don’t have to worry about damaging the great barrier reef while you are snorkelling.

2.Held every February, the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has grown to be the largest of its type in the world. Over a million people line the route to see floats so colourful, and outfits so outlandi that Brazilian carnevalists would be envious. Streets are blocked off, pubs along the way are brimming, and the gay and lesbian munity party for days. It’s their New Years. Straight folk are allowed along for the celebratory ride but this is a celebration of gay culture. The event began in 1978 with a parade of 1000 people marking World Gay Solidarity Day. These were much less forgiving days and there were disagreents with authority that led to arrests for ‘lewd behaviour’. These days gay and lesbian police march openly – in uniform – in the parade. The whole thing involves thousands of perforrs. Religious types are ever resentful of the wanton sexuality but are generally seen as part of the lunatic fringe during this miasma of colour. It’s a huge party and ouldn’t be missed.

3.An hour or so south of Cairns, Mission Beh is the closest mainland point to the Great Barrier Reef. The beh is a 15 km long, perfect sandy beh asics gel 33 womens , with aweso views of Bedarra and a handful of other islands just off the beh. There is a quaint townip here, where you can learn more about tivities like sea kayaking or skydiving, though many would be perfectly happy soaking up the sunlight and taking in the beautiful surrounding scenery.You can stay overnight in Mission Beh, though many will be driving from Cairns. If you did not hire a car or camper van for your trip, there is a pany that offers a coh transfer service called Mission Beh Dunk Island Connections, which takes the scenic road between Port Douglas, Cairns, and Mission Beh.

4.Created in 1850 to keep cricketers fit in the off season, Aussie Rules is a hybrid of rugby, gaelic football and a charming Australian childi tivity called stks on that involves gang-tkling the unfortunate soul who has the ball. The ga is played on an oval-aped, cricket-sized ground between two teams of 18 n eh. The idea is to kick the ball through two upright poles and earn six points. Miss and you get one point, or miss so badly the ball misses the smaller of the adjent goals and you get zero. A free kick is gained when a catch is taken nike free 3.0 v5 womens , awarded when a kick is fielded before it touches the ground. This can be the most amazing of sights, players ‘ride’ the bks of their opponents (and team mates) so high they often hurt themselves when they fall bk to the ground. The players pass the ball by hitting the ball with their bunched fist and can’t run without bouncing it every 10 tres. That’s about the extent of the rules. The rules are so hypocritical that it’s little wonder no-one on Earth bar Aussies know what’s going on. Crowds sotis reh 100,000, most of whom are as knowledgeable about the history of their team as a history lecturer from Harvard knows about ancient Ro. That’s why, an Aussie Rules match is definately a must see on a trip to Australia.

5.Try to play Didgeridoo and learn sothing about Aboriginal Culture. You will find out that blowing into the hollow tree is not as simple as it may seem (but you may have lot of fun, you or the guy selling it). Cultural centres of indigenous art and history are spread all around the land. You will learn stories about the Dreamti and learn about how people lived in the old days and their culture. It may change your thoughts of the locals you may et on your travels.

6.Dubbed ‘The re that stops a nation’, The Melbourne Cup does just that. At 3.30pm on the first Tuesday in November, everyone downs pencils and turns to a TV. People that have no interest in punting watch. School children are allowed ho early to watch it on TV. The entire state of Victoria has a day off. Flemington, where the re is held, is a heaving mass of partygoers. At least 150,000 people get to the trk, and the sa happens at every suburban and tropolitan re trk in the whole country. Aussies go crazy for ‘The Cup’ nike free 3.0 v4 nz , everyone bees an analyst and sweeps are held in clubs and classrooms everywhere. As a way of seeing how Australians tick, getting to Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day can’t be beaten.

7.The oldest continuous area of rarest in the country, the Daintree National Park is a protected area of lu rarest 120km’s north of Cairns Australia. The Daintree, which enpasses around 1200 square kiloters, is not only a World Heritage site, but is also ho to a large variety of plant and animal life-including marsupials, frogs, birds and more. Considered the oldest rarest in the world, the Daintree forest is over 140 million years old and has more than 435 different species of bird, including 21 species that are found nowhere else in the world. There are several day treks that allow adventurers to explore sections of this beautiful rares