AustraliaKarijini, Uluru, Monkey Mia Outback

Why Visit Australia?
The Country of the Kangaroo 🦘, Koalas, and red dust

Australia is not only a country, but an entire continent of wildly different worlds packed into a single destination.
The ancient red walls of → Karijini National Park glow like embers at sunset,
wild dolphins glide into the shallows at → Monkey Mia ,
and the sacred silhouette of → Uluru changes colour by the hour.
Add the tropical wetlands of → Kakadu , the turquoise reef of Ningaloo, and the eerie silence of the → Outback, and you have a photographer's landscape that most people never come close to exhausting in a single trip.

● Western Australia is where the light turns extraordinary. Karijini's gorges are best shot in the morning when the sun hits the iron-red rock walls at a low angle — I've never seen colour like it anywhere else on Earth. Monkey Mia delivers close-up dolphin encounters at a predictably reliable hour, and the Pinnacles Desert at dusk creates an alien scene that needs no filter.

● The Outback rewards patience. Uluru at sunrise draws crowds, but walk around to the western face and you'll often find yourself alone with one of the world's great photographic subjects. The red dirt roads stretching to the horizon in every direction make for effortless wide landscape shots.

● The Northern Territory — Kakadu's wetlands in the dry season host an absurd concentration of birdlife. Yellow Water Billabong at golden hour is the single best wildlife photography spot I found in Australia. And Darwin's sunsets over the Timor Sea are genuinely among the best I've seen worldwide.

● New South Wales & East Coast — the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains at dawn, Bondi Beach on a winter morning before the crowds, and the Twelve Apostles off the Great Ocean Road when the sea mist rolls in. These are postcard images for a reason.

Photography Notes Memories from Australia

The shape of the rocks of Karijini are breathless. The overall experience is awesome and unforgettable. First we had to hike down the valley on a red rocks, then navigate in a maze, sculpted in the rocks where wer could walk or swim in the water. Be careful of your belongings and camera to avoid getting water on!

The dolphins at Monkey Mia come in at around 7:30am. It is getting crowded at that moment with a lot of tourist with their feet in the shallow water and the dolphins coming nearby to say good morning.

For Uluru, we had morning sunrise walk and evening wine tasting to watch the sunset from different points of view of Uluru or other stunning Rocks around.

Suggested Itineraries in Australia

60,000 Years of Continuous Connection to Country

Before anything else about Australia, there is this: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived on this continent for at least 60,000 years — making theirs the world's oldest continuous living culture. That is not a tourist brochure superlative. It means that when you stand at Uluru, walk through Kakadu's wetlands, or look at rock art in the Kimberley, you are encountering a civilisation that was already ancient when the Egyptian pyramids were built. Understanding this changes everything about how you experience Australia.

There are over 250 distinct Aboriginal language groups across the continent, each with their own traditions, laws, Dreaming stories, and deep knowledge of their specific Country. "Country" in Aboriginal Australian usage is not simply geography — it is the living relationship between people, land, water, animals, plants, and ancestral spirits. Caring for Country is both spiritual duty and ecological practice, and the sophisticated land management techniques developed over millennia — including controlled burning to manage vegetation and encourage biodiversity — are now being studied and adopted by conservation scientists worldwide.

Uluru and the Anangu — The most famous Aboriginal cultural encounter in Australia is also the most transformed. Uluru was handed back to its Traditional Owners, the Anangu people, on 26 October 1985, in a landmark act of land rights recognition. The Australian government formally returned the title deeds; the Anangu leased the land back for 99 years for joint management as a national park. In 2019, climbing Uluru was permanently banned — a decision the Anangu had requested for decades, as the climbing route crosses a sacred Tjukurpa (Dreaming) track. Since the ban, cultural tourism at Uluru has grown by 20%: visitors who once came to climb now come to listen.

Australia is one of the world's most multicultural nations. Around 30% of its 26 million people were born overseas, and in cities like Sydney and Melbourne, the proportion of residents from Asian backgrounds rivals or exceeds that of many Asian cities.

Indian Australians — as of 2024, over 916,000 Indian-born people live in Australia, making Indians the second largest migrant community after the British. Indian cuisine — from South Indian dosas to Punjabi dhabas — is now as embedded in Australian daily life as any other food tradition.

Chinese Australians — over 700,000 Chinese-born people live in Australia, with an estimated 1.4 million Australians claiming Chinese ancestry. Australia has more people of Chinese ancestry per capita than any country outside Asia. Yum cha on Sunday morning in any Australian city is a social institution.

The multicultural food reality — Melbourne in particular is recognised as one of the world's great food cities — not for any single cuisine, but for the density and quality of its multicultural food culture. Vietnamese pho in Footscray, Japanese omakase in the CBD, Lebanese charcoal chicken in Auburn, Korean BBQ anywhere.

The most important thing to understand is the Australian relationship with sarcasm and understatement. When an Australian says something is "not bad," it may be extraordinary. When they call something "a bit of a disaster," it was probably catastrophic. And when they call you a "bloody idiot" while laughing, they like you.

Australian food exists on two completely different levels simultaneously. There is the traditional, often British-heritage fare that Australians grew up eating — hearty, unpretentious, frequently involving a meat pie at a football match or a snag (sausage) on a barbecue. And there is the multicultural urban food scene, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, which is genuinely world-class in its range, quality, and creativity. Both are worth your time.

Vegemite — the most Australian thing in existence. A dark, intensely salty yeast extract spread, eaten on toast with butter for breakfast. The key is moderation: Australians use a thin scraping. A thick layer will be brutal.

Tim Tams — Australia's most beloved chocolate biscuit. The "Tim Tam Slam" is the ritual: bite off both opposing corners, use it as a straw to suck hot coffee through, then eat it as it melts from the inside.

The flat white — Australia (jointly with New Zealand) invented this now-global coffee style: espresso with a thin layer of velvety microfoam. Australian coffee culture is exceptional — every suburb has a genuinely good café.

Barramundi — the quintessential Australian fish: firm white flesh, mild flavour, available grilled or battered in every coastal town from Darwin to Sydney.

From Bondi to Margaret River — A Continent of Breaks

Surfing is not a sport in Australia. It is a weather system, a social structure, a morning ritual, an explanation for being late to work, and the lens through which the entire coastal culture understands itself. Australia has roughly 35,000 kilometres of coastline, and an extraordinary proportion of it produces surfable waves.

Bondi Beach, Sydney — the most famous beach in Australia. The Icebergs Ocean Pool — built into the rocks at the southern end, with waves crashing over the lip — is one of the great swimming experiences in the world. Arrive early — by 8am the beach is alive with surfers, swimmers, and the famous bronzed locals doing their morning laps.

Byron Bay, New South Wales — mainland Australia's most easterly point. The Pass is the jewel — a world-famous right-hand point break offering long, cruisy rides. Byron has an energy unlike anywhere else — bohemian, creative, occasionally pretentious, always beautiful.

Gold Coast, Queensland — the most consistently excellent surf on the east coast, concentrated around Snapper Rocks and the Superbank: a 2km stretch of perfect sand-bottom point break. Surfers Paradise, Burleigh Heads, and Kirra are legendary names in surfing.

If you are in Melbourne between March and September, you will find it almost impossible to avoid Australian Rules Football. It is on every television, in every conversation, and filling stadiums of 90,000 people on Saturday afternoons. The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) — a 100,024-capacity venue — regularly sells out for AFL finals.

AFL is a contact sport unlike anything else in the world. Its closest relatives are Gaelic football and the Aboriginal game of marngrook, from which it partly derives. It originated in Melbourne in 1858, making it the world's oldest football code still played professionally.

How it works — Two teams of 18 players compete on an enormous oval field. There are four goalposts at each end. Kick the ball through the two tall centre posts: 6 points. Players can run with the ball but must bounce it every 15 metres. A player who catches a cleanly kicked ball has taken a "mark" and earns a free kick — often from 50+ metres out, resulting in long, soaring drop-kicks that are among the sport's most dramatic moments.

How to watch — Buy a ticket to any MCG or Marvel Stadium game in Melbourne. Stand in the outer terraces. Eat a meat pie. Try to follow the play. By the third quarter you will understand enough to shout at the umpires with everyone else. It is one of the finest sports-watching experiences in the world.

Australia offers one of the world's most generous and popular working holiday visa programmes, allowing young travellers (generally 18–30, extended to 35 for some nationalities) to live and work in Australia for up to 12 months, with the possibility of extending to a second and even third year. Over 200,000 working holiday visas are granted annually.

The 88-day rule and farm work — to qualify for a second-year extension, WHV holders must complete 88 days (three months) of "specified work" in a regional area. This usually means agricultural work: fruit picking (mangoes in Darwin, blueberries in NSW, grapes in the Barossa, strawberries in Queensland), vegetable harvesting, or similar. Most backpackers describe it as one of the more memorable experiences of their trip, even when exhausted.

Working in the cities — WHV holders work across almost every sector. Hospitality is the most common entry point: cafés, bars, restaurants, and hostels. Minimum wage in Australia is among the highest in the world (over AUD$24/hour as of 2025), which means a few weeks of work can fund weeks of travel.

Australia has produced a handful of brands that are genuinely iconic and worth knowing about.

Akubra — the Australian bush hat, made since 1876 from rabbit felt, worn by everyone from stockmen to prime ministers. Genuinely practical and genuinely Australian. RM Williams — premium leather boots and workwear, founded in 1932 in Adelaide. Bonds — Australia's most beloved underwear and basics brand; the Chesty Bond singlet is a cultural artefact. Ugg boots — originally made in Australia (the name "ugg" is Australian slang for ugly), now globally appropriated, but the genuine Australian sheepskin version is dramatically superior.

Tim Tams, Shapes, and Arnott's biscuits generally are excellent food gifts. Macadamia nuts — native to Queensland; the freshly roasted version sold at farmers' markets is extraordinary. Australian wine — the Barossa Valley (Shiraz), Margaret River (Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay), Hunter Valley (Semillon), and Clare Valley (Riesling) all produce world-class bottles at prices well below European equivalents.

Getting in Australia

From Europe

Australia is a 22–24 hour journey with at least one connection. Common hubs are Dubai (Emirates), Singapore (Singapore Airlines), Doha (Qatar Airways), and Kuala Lumpur (AirAsia).

Perth is actually 2–3 hours closer to Europe than Sydney or Melbourne — worth considering if Western Australia is your main destination.

I use Kiwi.com to find the best multi-stop combinations. Their "nomad" search is particularly useful for Australia since it lets you fly into one city and out of another without a price penalty.