Australia has come a long way since the days when Captain Cook stumbled ashore to find an Aboriginal way of life that went back some 40,000 years. Indeed, Australia must really be divided into 'modern Australia' and 'indigenous Australia', since there is a wealth of disparate elements that constitute this compelling country.
The continent was first known to Europeans as Terra Australis. The first European settlements were initiated by the Dutch East India Company in 1606. By 1868, Britain had sent more than 160,000 convicts to Australia and several of modern Australia’s biggest cities around the coast grew from the penal settlements. Eventually, the British crown claimed the entire continent. The colonisers unfortunately treated the Kooris, the indigenous population, with appalling brutality, which only worsened following the gold rush and the first wave of voluntary migration that spilled into the interior, where many Kooris had fled to.
The inaugural National Sorry Day was held in 1998 and has become an annual fixture on the Australian calendar. The day is a symbolic event that heralds modern Australia's willingness to face its inception. The didgeridoo and the boomerang have become modern Australian icons. Tourists flock to the breathtaking, epic monolith of Uluru (Ayers Rock) to watch the sun soak it in reds and oranges. This assimilation of Aboriginal culture has both negatives and positives, and the aim must be to harmonize rather than homogenize.
Many struggle to reconcile Aboriginal Dreamtime with the stereotype of carefree people in cork hats, swigging beer around a barbeque. But it is not difficult to 'take it easy' amidst miles of sun, sea and sand. You could even do the Aussie thing and ride some waves, with surfing schools on offer all over the country (website: www.surfingaustralia.com). Nevertheless, Australia may be an island, but it is also the world's largest one, and its size encompasses a range of stunning landscapes, from vast, barren deserts, where kangaroo and emu bound through the arid surroundings, to tropical rainforests and rugged mountains. Isolated from other continents, Australia has an abundance of unique plant and animal life.
Just as the surroundings surprise, so too may the people. Crocodile Dundee types have long been replaced by fashionistas browsing for bargains in Australia's world-renowned cities. Australia embraces its Pacific Rim location, with multicultural influence throughout, from Sydney's great harbor that welcomes worldwide visitors, toMelbourne's European ambience and lively Chinatown. Australia is a real hotchpotch of elements, catering for every kind of holidaymaker. This is the perfect time to discover the 'real' Australia, whatever you may find that to be.
Geography
Australia is bounded by the Arafura Sea and Timor Seas to the north, the Coral and Tasman Seas of the South Pacific to the east, the Southern Ocean to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the west. Its coastline covers 36,738km (22,814 miles). Most of the population has settled along the eastern and south-eastern coastal strip. Australia is the smallest continent (and the largest island) in the world. About 40% of the continent is within the tropics and Australia is almost the same size as the mainland of the United States of America. The terrain is extremely varied, ranging from tortured red desert to lush green rainforest. Australia’s beaches and surfing are world-renowned, while the country is also rich in reminders of its mysterious past. These range from prehistoric Aboriginal art to Victorian colonial architecture. The landscape consists mainly of a low plateau mottled with lakes and rivers and skirted with coastal mountain ranges, highest in the east with the Great Dividing Range. There are rainforests in the far northeast (Cape York Peninsula). The southeast is a huge fertile plain. Further to the north lies the enormous Great Barrier Reef, a 2,000km (1,200 mile) strip of coral that covers a total area of 345,000 sq km. Although Australia is the driest land on Earth, it nevertheless has enormous snowfields the size of Switzerland. There are vast mineral deposits. More detailed geographical descriptions of each State can be found in the individual State entries.