Australia, a continent and country so far away it could be the end of the world, attracts over 6 million tourists every year, according to Tourism Australia, a tourism company based in Sydney, Australia.
Especially to Americans and Europeans, the huge island holds a gravity that draws adventurers and explorers to it’s coastal beaches and urban cities.
“It is so multi-cultural. You can always have a taste of different cultures within Australia,” said Ana Nuku, a junior from Australia studying social work. “It’s like having the whole world within one country.”
Sydney
“Sydney is so beautiful. A prime city on the beach,” said Kelsie Carlson, a senior majoring in elementary education from California, who took a six-week trip to Australia. “It has the best of both worlds.”
Carlson, a photographer, said she especially enjoyed how the photography subjects are different from those found in Hawaii. “You get so used to what you can shoot here. Australia was refreshing. The city was new. About every morning I would wake up, walk around, get breakfast and take pictures like a tourist.”
She said the variety and amount of people living in the cities gave her new perspectives to shoot every day. “It keeps you on your toes.”
Nuku, who lives there, said, “Sydney has got a lot of people, traffic, malls, shops, businesses, high rise buildings, the harbor and universities. It’s busy and there is a lot of things going on. It does get exhausting at the end of the day, but I love it because it is so lively. As a tourist, it is a different story, though. You take the time to walk and watch around.”
Melbourne
“I hung mostly with people native to the place,” said Katie Bak, a junior majoring in International Cultural Studies from Minnesota, whose latest adventure took her to Australia.
Bak has traveled to Nepal, India, Tibet, Taiwan, Germany, England, Mexico, Canada and Poland, where she served her mission. “I had an everyday life and wasn’t just a tourist out there.”
Carlson’s last week of travelling was planned for New Zealand, however, her arrangements fell through. She stayed the last week in Australia and attended a huge YSA convention in the city of Melbourne, which ended up being “the highlight” of her vacation. “It happened to be in the city I was staying in. All YSA from all of Australia came there.”
The conference gathered more than 800 people. “It is a lot like the mainland,” Carlson explained. She was expecting the plain deserted Australia one sees in the pictures, but she was welcomed by the urban lifestyle of Sydney and Melbourne. “At one point while I was driving through Melbourne, I thought I was driving through San Francisco.”
Blue Mountains
West of Sydney is the famous Blue Mountain National Park, known for steep cliffs, waterfalls, and eucalyptus forests. It is a place tourists are fond of, as there are small villages and backpacker hotels, said Nuku.
Bak believes people go to Australia to heal. “You find solo travelers lost in this nature. People who are soul-searchers go there. I found people from all around Europe just traveling alone with their backpacks. There is almost a culture you find out there, and they are always ready to share stories.”
“There is this hidden waterfall,” Bak said, recounting one of her adventures. “It’s the two-to-three hour Minnehaha hike. The branches are covering the trail, and you see snakes every once in a while. It seems intimidating, and you wonder if it is really worth it. You take this last left turn and then there is this most gorgeous oasis you will ever see. The water is freezing cold. All these tourists were standing around it.”
While a younger man got cold feet and decided to not jump off a palm tree, Bak got into the water, which was “the coldest thing in my life,” as she related.