Australia and South Pacific

HIGH DEMAND:March-May, October-December
LOW DEMAND:Jan-Feb, June-September

Imagine lazing on a sun-drenched beach, cooled by breezes off the tropical water. The right time for this is now, and the right place is Australia. The weather is wonderful one day and perfect the next – the ideal location for soaking up the sun as a reward for hard work in the past and for better work to come. Australia is the biggest, most beautiful island on earth. Its vast, enchanting outdoors beckon for you to experience stuff that dreams are made of, and it’s all backed by 40,000 years of Aboriginal mythology.

Imagine:

– Diving among the Great Barrier Reef’s rainbow colored tropical coral and fish.

– Dining in a rainforest, the perfume of eucalyptus mixing with the aroma of grilled lobster and the bouquet of fine wines.

– Hot-air ballooning over green vineyards, golden beaches and red outback.

– Feasting on a bush barbecue of shrimp, damper and beer, and dancing under the famous Southern Cross.

– In the glow of a flickering campfire, listening to the haunting sounds of the throbbing didjeridoo and the songs and stories of the Aboriginal Dreamtime.

– Cheering on the horses at the elegant Melbourne Cup Horse Race or at a rough ‘n ready bush rodeo.

Once behind the wheel in the Australian outdoors, there’s very little distraction except for the fabulous scenery. When touring by car, campervan, or motor home, visitors create their own Aussie Experience. Australia has well maintained roads in the more populated areas and plentiful petrol (gas) stations and tourist information centers keep travelers on track. Two legs don’t get a person too far too fast in Australia. In the vast outback, horses or camels are better. These animals carry people where vehicles dare not go – into the alpine forest to chew a few gum leaves or along a dry riverbed lined with red cliffs.

For golfers, this just may be the best country in the world, with a year-round season, stunning scenery and a few kangaroos on the fairways to point them to the greens! Australia is a diving and snorkeling paradise.Coral reef diving, wrecks of 19th century aircraft, sea caves, swimming with whales and diving with sharks. No other country in the world offers such an exciting range of dive sports. Divers would do themselves injustice, however, if they did not try Australia’s many other superb, accessible dive spots. Fraser and Lord Howe Islands have wonderful diving in clear waters. The New South Wales coast, includes Sydney with the largest natural deep-water scenery. Victoria’s Bass Strait and Port Phillip Bay are popular with wreck enthusiasts and underwater photographers, and divers can swim with dolphins and whales in winter at Bicheno, on Tasmania’s east coast.