Melbourne

One other place that I want to go at some point is Australia. Some of the flora and fauna there is so different than what I am used to as to be almost alien to me, which is part of the attraction I suppose. It’s also a very beautiful place, although parts of Australia can be pretty unforgiving. Most likely I would stick to the cities for the most part anyway and visit Melbourne and Sydney and perhaps Brisbane.

Since Melbourne experienced a huge Gold Rush shortly after it was settled it grew very quickly and the wealth in the area allowed for beautiful architecture which still remains such as the Royal Exhibition Building…

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Hotels in Melbourne are pretty reasonable so once you get past the airfare it’s pretty easy to have a wonderful time on a budget. There are all kinds of museums and guided tours of the city and it’s surroundings that are easily accessible. Being a sort of a history buff I would love to go check out the Old Melbourne Gaol, which is one of the oldest buildings in Melbourne.

If you go east along the coast about 720 miles you can get to Sydney. It seems like a bit of a drive but along the way there are beaches and national parks as well as beautiful lakes and wildlife, not to mention great food. There are several popular resort towns along the route including Merimbula, Batemans Bay and Lakes Entrance. Hotels in Sydney are also easy to find and book but it’s better if you do it ahead of time.

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Everyone is familiar with the Sydney Opera House in Sydney Harbour. Photo by Matthew Field.

A little farther north in Queensland is Brisbane. Any visit to Australia isn’t complete without checking out the sites around Brisbane such as the Windmill, which is the oldest surviving structure in Brisbane.

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The Windmill was built by convicts in 1828. It was built for the grinding of grain and as a punishment for the convicts that manually operated the grinding mill. It was also the place where the first TV signals in the southern hemisphere were transmitted from in 1934. The broadcast from the Windmill until World War II.

Brisbane has generally been considered a smaller city than Sydney and Melbourne and thus hotels in Brisbane are generally a bit cheaper and easier to reserve although the population gap between the cities has been closing in recent years.