Article: Have You Really Been to Australia?

Australia is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world – but why? Apart from the sunshine, the beaches, the food and the vibrant cities – what does it offer today’s traveller?

One of the main reasons it’s so popular, whether hugely evident or not, is of course safety. Just look at the number of times the country has either witnessed, or come under serious threat, of terrorist activity. In comparison with the likes of the UK, USA, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Egypt, Africa and others, it sits very comfortably at the top, or very near that position, of the worlds safest places to spend a holiday.

Strangely, a great many visitors to Australia still tend to remain in, or close to, the major cities. Cheap air travel has brought the likes of Sydney, Perth, Darwin, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide, well within the one to four week holiday inclusions for the many overseas visitors, who simply want to see as much of Australia as possible in their visit – or do they?

Whilst no one would deny that all these great cities have much of offer, both by way of different experiences and cultures, are their visitors really seeing the true Australia? A country as diverse as Australia, with its mountains for skiing, its fertile wine lands, its unforgiving deserts, multi-million year old aboriginal lands, and even older dense tropical rainforests, cannot truly be experienced from a seat in an inter-state jet plane or city hotel.

Whilst, undeniably, ninety percent of the population of Australia live in its coastal regions, its interior can still provide luxury of the highest order in some of the remotest areas of this vast land. For example, cattle and sheep stations, that once ran tens of thousands of animals over equal numbers of acres of land, now provide luxurious accommodations for their visitors, arriving by plane and helicopter, on their own airstrips, as well as by 4WD vehicles.

The guests, whilst residing in 5* luxury, eating and drinking food as good as, or even better than any 5* hotels, can either take part in, or simply watch, activities that these stations have been involved in for possibly a hundred years or more.

Many parts of Australia, outside of the cities, do of course attract a large number of visitors. The luxury islands of the Great Barrier Reef are arguably all you could want in high class luxury, pristine beaches, and warm tropical seas, providing luxury breaks and wedding and honeymoon destinations of the highest order. The Whitsunday group, of 72 islands, are the destination of thousands of yacht enthusiasts every year.

These, and many more well known parts of Australia, are attracting visitors in ever increasing numbers. These visitors, along with those who have criss-crossed the country by plane to Australia’s ever expanding cities, are going home to explain to their friends and family, in great detail, that “they’ve been to Australia”.

If you’re one of those visitors, be honest, and ask yourself – “Have I really been to Australia?” – Have you really seen more than even 10% of the true Australia?