On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:43:15 +1000, Peter Webb wrote:

architecture - the so called "Paris end of Collins Street" - but a few
blocks of nice buildings that could be in Europe is not enough tp drag
me 1,000 kms south from Sydney. To suggest that a Norwegian tourist in

Maybe it's just me, but I don't tend to spend that long in the cities
anyway. On my last trip I spent a night in Sydney before heading off into
the Blue Mountains.

There are plenty of things to go south for, like the Great Ocean
Road, Ballarat gold fields, Barossa valley, Coober Pedy, to name but a
few. And if you're backpacking, you quickly start to think very little
about hopping on a bus for the night. I spent a very enjoyable 14 days
just driving from Sydney to Melbourne via places like the Snowy Mountains
and the Grampians. Apart from anything else, it was nice to get off the
backpacker circuit.

Cairns is one of the few tropical Western cities in the world. It is
also the only place in the world where two world heritage sites adjoin
(the rainforest and the reef). It is unique. Similarly, there is no city
like

Cairns is alright IMO. The reef isn't very good there. There are plenty of
places to dive or snorkel where it's better. The viz isn't that good and I
noticed a lot of dead staghorn coral last time I was there, probably due
to run off.

It is a good place to go out for a few drinks, but there are loads of
places like that on the east coast. You can end up going out every night
and spending a fortune, and many backpackers seem to do just that.

Sydney in the world. Finally, they lie at opposite ends of a 3,000 kms
stretch of the QLD and NSW coast that includes the Great Barrier Reef,
hundreds of islands and attols, interesting tropical hinterland,

Nitpicking, but I think the only atolls are a couple of hundred miles way
out in the Coral Sea. I agree with Byron though wouldn't go there are New
Year again. It gets far too busy. And there's Fraser Island of course.

Jason

--
http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Aussie diving reports including
Cape Tribulation, Cairns, Airlie Beach, Exmouth and the HMAS Swan