How do you describe Australia? The best we have heard is think continent and not country as this is a vast land which covers just short of 3 million square miles  (the whole of Europe is 3.9 million square miles). It is the 6th largest country in the world and has 5 standard time zones

• UTC+8:00: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST)
• UTC+8:45: Australian Central Western Standard Time (ACWST)
• UTC+9:30: Australian Central Standard Time (ACST)
• UTC+10:00: Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)
• UTC+10:30: Lord Howe Standard Time (LHST)

Itinerary

• We left Manchester on 15 December and flew to Perth via Dubai.
• Perth – 16 December 2012 to 22 December 2012 – Stayed at Comfort Hotel
• Melbourne – 22 December 2012 to 29 December 2012 – Stayed at Ibis Little Bourke Steet
• Cairns – 29 December 2012 to 22 December 2012 – Stayed at Hilton
• Sydney – 2 January 2013 to 10 January 2013 – Stayed at Seasons Darling Harbour
• Overnight flight from Sydney to Manchester via Dubai, arriving home on 11 January

Click on the name of the city to access the appropriate webpage.

Perth

Perth, capital of Western Australia, sits where the Swan River meets the southwest coast. Sandy beaches line its suburbs, and the huge, riverside Kings Park and Botanic Garden on Mount Eliza offer sweeping views of the city. The Perth Cultural Centre houses the state ballet and opera companies, and occupies its own central precinct, including a theatre, library and the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania.

In Melbourne you can have cold and wet one day and then next is roasting. When we went there the temperature went from 14 to 27 degrees in 90 minutes.

Cairns

Cairns, considered the gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, is in tropical Far North Queensland. Its Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park tells the stories of indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with music and dance. Cairns Esplanade, lined with bars and restaurants, has a swimming lagoon. Northwest of the city, Daintree National Park spans mountainous rainforest, gorges and beaches.

Sydney

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia’s east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, and Macarthur to the south.