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05_040769 ch01.qxp 10/27/06 10:24 AM Page 5 1 The Best of Australia by Marc Llewellyn & Lee Mylne Maybe we’re biased because we live here, but Australia has a lot of bests—world bests, that is. It has some of the best natural scenery, the weirdest wildlife, the most brilliant scuba diving and snorkeling, the best beaches (shut up, California), the oldest rainforest (110 million years and counting), the oldest human civilization (some archaeologists say 40,000 years, some say 120,000; whatever—it’s old), the best wines (come see what we mean), the best weather (give or take the odd Wet season in the north), the most innovative East-meets-West-meets-someplace-else cuisine—all bathed in sunlight that brings everything up in Technicolor. “Best” means different things to different people, but scarcely a visitor lands on these shores without having the Great Barrier Reef at the top of the “Things to See” list. So they should, because it really is a glorious natural masterpiece. Also high on most folks’ lists is Ayers Rock. This monolith must have some kind of magnet inside it designed to attract planeloads of tourists. We’re not saying the Rock isn’t special, but we think the vast Australian desert all around it is even more so. The third attraction on most visitors’ lists is Sydney, the Emerald City that glitters in the antipodean sunshine on—here we go with the “bests” again—the best harbor, spanned by the best bridge in the world (yes it is, San Francisco). But as planes zoom overhead delivering visitors to the big three attractions, Aussies in charming country towns, on far-flung beaches, on rustic sheep stations, in rainforest villages, and in mountain lodges shake their heads and say sadly, “They don’t know what they’re missin’.” Well, that’s the aim of this chapter—to show you what you’re missin’. Read on, and consider taking the road less traveled. 1 The Top Travel Experiences • Hitting the Rails on the Indian just do a section. See “Getting Pacific Train: This 3-day journey Around Australia” in chapter 2. across the Outback regularly makes it • Experiencing Sydney (NSW): Sydney onto travelCOPYRIGHTED magazines’ “Top Rail Jour- is MATERIALmore than just the magnificent Har- neys in the World” lists. The desert bour Bridge and Opera House. No scenery ain’t all that magnificent—it’s other city has beaches in such abun- the unspoiled, empty vastness that dance, and few have such a magnifi- passengers appreciate. It includes the cently scenic harbor. Our advice is to longest straight stretch of track in the board a ferry, walk from one side of the world, 478km (296 miles) across the bridge to the other, and try to spend a treeless Nullarbor Plain. Start in Syd- week here, because you’re going to ney and end in Perth, or vice versa, or need it. See chapter 4, “Sydney.” 05_040769 ch01.qxp 10/27/06 10:24 AM Page 6 6 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF AUSTRALIA Australia 0 500 mi Thursday MMelvilleelville Island N BBathurstathurst IIslandsland IIslandsland 0 500 km DDarwinDARWINAaRrWwINin G Coral r KKAKADUAKADU e TTimorimor SSeaea a Sea rte NATIONALNATIONAL t napa 1 BBonaparteo lago PARKPARK B hipe Arnhem CAPE a AArchipelagorc r r Land Gulf YORK i KatherineKatherine e r r of PENINSULA R S O U T H e o e g e n la e IINDIANN D I A N ca e . Carpentaria f c ip wy P A C I F I C u h ria H Cooktown M BBuccaneerrc Victo AArchipelago KKununurraununurra KATHERINEKATHERINE a OOCEANC E A N DAINTREE r O C E A N LLakeake i GORGEGORGE NATIONAL n AArgylergyle S e Y NATIONALNATIONAL Port Douglas E OOrdrd t PARK L u P R RRiveriver PARKPARK a a E r r B t k DDerbyerby H M I w Cairns K y BroomeBroome PURNULULUPURNULULU . Mission 1 NATIONALNATIONAL Beach PARKPARK NNORTHERNO R T H E R N T E R R I T O R Y . B y ar Whitsunday w kly Townsville H TTANAMIANAMI DDESERTESERT Tennant Hwy. Islands ern PortPort HedlandHedland rth GGREATREAT SSANDYANDY DDESERTESERT Creek Flin National t No Mt. Isa ders Hw Grea La y. Park nd Proserpine sb oro ug . h NNingalooingaloo RReefeef y H Mackay w WESTWEST MACDONNELLMACDONNELL w MarineMarine PParkark H y G l GGIBSONIBSON DDESERTESERT NATIONALNATIONAL PARKPARK . ta R s a HAM MACDONNELL RA E o ER WATARRKAWATARRKA NATIONALNATIONAL PARKPARK NGE A C SL S EY n T ExmouthExmouth RA of Capricor (KINGS(KINGS CCANYON)ANYON) NGE Tropic Alice Springs Longreach Rockhampton CoralCoral t ULURU–KATAULURU–KATA TJUTATJUTA C s apricorn Hwy. BBayay e NATIONALNATIONAL PARKPARK D W I Gladstone V h t 95 MMtt OOlgalga r SIMPSON DESERT I o WESTERNW E S T E R N UUluruluru D B N ru Bundaberg Q U E E N S L A N D I c SharkShark AUSTRALIAA U S T R A L I A ((AyersAyers RRock)ock) N e G H BayBay MonkeyMonkey MiaMia w . y y . Fraser . w y Island H R DDenhamenham PERTH & WESTERN w 1 n r GGREATREAT VVICTORIAICTORIA DDESERTESERT S O U T H H A l e AUSTRALIA l h e N Sunshine t h r See Chapter 10 A U S T R A L I A c G Coast o Brisbane t i N E M t t a a Coober Pedy e e Gold r r LAMINGTON G G Coast NATL. PK. B GeraldtonGeraldton r Lightning . a y n NULLARBORNULLARBOR w d NNULLARBORULLARBOR PPLAINLAIN Ridge S er H H NATIONALNATIONAL PARKPARK t iv KalgoorlieKalgoorlie u R d w a g Coffs r n n y t FLINDERS RANGES li a H r l . wy. w a n H y. D g Harbour er NATIONAL PARK n st . a y. 1 wy. Oxley E y Great E Hw r H H 94 yre rrie w w E Ba Tamworth y H Broken Hill w . RottnestRottnest EEsperancesperance e PPertherth Dubbo N IslandIsland HHwy.wy. GreatGreat AustralianAustralian BightBight c Port N E W BLUE MTNS. fi FremantleFremantle ci Macquarie Port Pirie . NATL. PK. a wy. S O U T H W A L E S y P t H w Newcastle as H o See Chapter 15 Mildura C EsperanceEsperance h ll t Tasmania e Sydney u w MMargaretargaret So Adelaide M e ur N Hume Hwy. RRiveriver BassBass StraitStrait D ra P y s AlbanyAllbaannyy r u R e . in ke i c y c s v in w e H e Kangaroo wy r r H s . Wodonga P Island H DevonportDevonport w V I C T O R I A CANBERRA LLauncestonaunceston y . Albury Mt. Kosciuszko A . C . T . Mt. Gambier Ballarat Melbourne SNOWY HHobartobart MOUNTAINS Geelong Tasman Sea Apollo Bay To Tasmania (see inset) 05_040769 ch01.qxp 10/27/06 10:24 AM Page 7 THE TOP TRAVEL EXPERIENCES 7 TThursdayhursday Melville IslandIsland Bathurst Island Island DAaRrWwINin G CCoraloral r KAKADU e Timor Sea a SSeaea rte NATIONAL t napa Bo lago PARK B hipe ArnhemArnhem CCAPEAPE a Arc r r LLandand GGulfulf YYORKORK i Katherine e r r ooff PPENINSULAENINSULA R SSOUTHO U T H e o e g e n la e I N D I A N ca e . CCarpentariaarpentaria f c ip wy PPACIFICA C I F I C u h ria H CCooktownooktown M B rc Victo A Kununurra KATHERINE a O C E A N DDAINTREEAINTREE r OOCEANC E A N Lake THE TOP END i GORGE NNATIONALATIONAL n S Argyle S e Y NATIONAL See Chapter 9 PPortort DDouglasouglas E Ord t PARKPARK L u P R River PARK a a E r r B t k Derby H M I w CCairnsairns K y Broome PURNULULU . MMissionission NATIONAL QUEENSLAND BBeacheach PARK N O R T H E R N TTERRITORYE R R I T O R Y See Chapter 7 . B y ar 66 WhitsundayWhitsunday w kly TTownsvilleownsville H TANAMI DESERT TTennantennant Hwy. IslandsIslands ern Port Hedland rth GREAT SANDY DESERT CCreekreek Flin NNationalational t No MMt.t. IIsasa ders Hw 78 Grea La y. ParkPark 87 nd PProserpineroserpine sb oro ug . h Ningaloo Reef y THE RED CENTRE H MMackayackay w WEST MACDONNELL w Marine Park See Chapter 8 G H y. l GIBSON DESERT NATIONAL PARK ta R s a HAM MACDONNELL RAN E o ER WATARRKA NATIONAL PARK GES A C SLE 1 Y orn T Exmouth RAN of Capric (KINGS CANYON) GE Tropic AAlicelice SSpringsprings 66 LLongreachongreach RRockhamptonockhampton Coral t ULURU–KATA TJUTA C s apricorn Hwy. Bay e NATIONAL PARK D W I GGladstoneladstone V h t Mt Olga r SSIMPSONIMPSON DDESERTESERT I o W E S T E R N Uluru D B N ru BBundabergundaberg QUEENSLANDQ U E E N S L A N D I c Shark A U S T R A L I A (Ayers Rock) N e G H Bay Monkey Mia w . y . FFraserraser y 15 . w y IIslandsland H R Denham w n See Chapter 6 r GREAT VICTORIA DESERT SSOUTHO U T H H A l e l h e N SSunshineunshine t h r AAUSTRALIAU S T R A L I A c G CCoastoast o BBrisbanerisbane t i N E M t a CCooberoober PPedyedy e GGoldold r LAMINGTONLAMINGTON G CCoastoast NATL.NATL. PK.PK. B 87 71 Geraldton r LLightningightning . a y 1 n NULLARBOR w d NULLARBOR PLAIN RRidgeidge S er H H NATIONAL PARK t iv Kalgoorlie u R d w a g CCoffsoffs r n n y t FLINDERSFLINDERS RANGESRANGES li a H r l .

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