Australia

ESPAÑOL

Almost everyone thinks that there is an extraordinary place in its antipodes, one of the best on the globe, and laments how far it is. This is true for most, but in my case it is indeed, because for me it is not just extraordinary, Australia is the best country I have ever visited.

Nature: it is true that this is my main criterion to affirm the written above, and in such an immense country it is logical there is much and very varied, we must add very respected. Because when you think about Australia, you think about:

Beaches. Here there are more huge and spectacular beaches than you would have time to visit in a lifetime; you can choose between:
- East Coast: the most famous. Do not be fooled by Sidneysiders: neither Bondi nor Manly are anything compared to Byron Bay, Noosa, Fraser Island or the Whitsundays, which are home to Whitehaven beach, one of the most beautiful beaches if not the most extraordinary in the world. Further north is the Great Barrier Reef, one of the best reefs that exist for diving enthusiasts.
- West Coast: the least famous, but not far behind are those near Perth, Broome and Coral Coast, where we can also see whale sharks.
- South: The Great Ocean Road is considered one of the most scenic roads men have ever built and is mainly due to its extensive and beautiful beaches, being the icing on the cake The Twelve Apostles, one of the most famous rock formations created by the waves that exist. But in Tasmania there are also some of the best beaches in the country, which sadly can not be exploited as much as we would like because of the not warm climate of this island.
- And if that was not enough, Australia has tropical islands with dreamy beaches like Cocos Islands and Christmas Island.
The second thing that comes to mind is its gigantic and reddish desert, with the Uluru or Ayer’s Rock as highlight, a massive and reddish stone that has become one of the symbols of the country.
And the third thing may not be so obvious to us, but we’ll probably think of jungles, because the northernmost part of the country is covered in jungles, in two varieties, a mix of jungle and rainforest in northern Queensland, and marshland jungle near Darwin, specifically in Kakadu National Park, famous worldwide thanks to the movie “Crocodile Dundee”. In Tasmania and the whole area of New South Wales, Victoria and the southern part of Western and Southern Australia we will also find spectacular forests, with eucalyptus trees that rival the great American conifers, reaching up to almost 80 meters high.
And now it is when it comes to mind that in all those places there are animals: crocodiles, all sizes of kangaroos, koalas, snakes, turtles, clown fish, sharks, deadly jellyfish more than a meter long… you will see all of them, many times.
There is still another thing, mountains: those in Australia are not very high, the Kosziusko, its highest peak, barely reaches 2,228 meters and is not part of a particularly attractive mountain range. Here the beautiful mountains are those in Tasmania, which together with its forest make the Overland Track one of the most coveted hiking trails on the planet.

Cities: Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide or Canberra, cities all with an excellent quality of life, but one step behind the two big ones:

Sydney. One of my favorite cities. It is a magnificent and well thought-out combination of modern city with everything you want for leisure in a sensational environment formed by the bay, the bridge, the Opera House and the Botanical Garden.
Melbourne, which in my opinion only loses against its sister and rival because it is not placed in such an attractive location, but otherwise it is a city in which almost everyone would like to live.

The weather is very good. With rain enough not to suffer heavy droughts, but sun and heat almost all year round almost everywhere, still we should not get too confident: no, in winter you will not be able to go to the beach unless you are in northern Queensland. And beware of sun burning, here the sun is extremely aggressive.

To cite aspects, I will not say negative, I will say “not positive”:

Luckily we are facing one of the most globalized countries that exist, because the British-Irish culinary heritage would have reduced many points to its rank.
It is very expensive. It is very expensive. It is very expensive. It’s like that, and increasingly expensive. The Australian dollar has been relatively stable for many years to the euro or the US dollar, it is not a question of currency going up, it’s because prices are rising, but since salaries rise the same, it is not a problem. This means that Australians have enormous purchasing power inside and outside their island, and that brings more happiness.

Because if there is something that also makes Australia great is that Australians are happy, and you can feel that, in smiles, in friendliness, in carefreeness. The expression that defines this country is “no worries”, and when they say it you’ll notice they really mean it. How can they not be happy with everything they have? They live in paradise, and they know it. So in summary, the worst thing about Australia, its only real disadvantage, is that it is far away.