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Australia is big. Really big. When to travel depends on where you’re going and what you’re doing. Most of the country is in a temperate climate zone, with the seasons reversed from those in the northern hemisphere. Summer lasts from December to February, autumn from March to May, winter from June to August, and spring from September to November. For the most part, Australian winters are mild, comparable to the southern U.S. or southern Europe ; snow is infrequent except in the mountains, hut it’s definitely too cold to have much fun at the beach. The north is an entirely different story—many people forget that over one-third of Australia is in the tropics, where it’s always, always hot. Seasons there are defined not by the almost-constant temperature but by the wildly swinging precipitation. “The Wet” lasts from November to April, and “the Dry” is from May to October. Traveling in the Wet is not recommended for the faint of heart; not only will you be rained on, but unseated roads lend to get washed out, making driving a huge challenge in non-urban areas.
A countervailing consideration is that the price and crowdedness of everything from flights to hostel bunks tend to be directly proportional to the pleasantness of the weather. If you’re traveling in the high season, start planning your trip and booking accommodations months ahead of time if possible. As a general rule, tourism peaks when school is out of session. Summer holidays for primary and secondary schools generally include December and January; for universities, they’re from the end of November to the end of February. From Christmas to New Year’s is ultra-peak season. Winter break runs from the end of June through early July.
January and February are the rainy months on the Great Barrier Reef ; the water is clearest between April and October. The toxic box jellyfish is most common near the east coast between October and April. Ski season in New South Wales and Victoria runs between June and September, and the famous wildflowers of Western Australia bloom from September to December. The charts below have useful temperature and rainfall data, while the Appendix (see p. 639) has a list of public and school holidays.
Related Travel Information
Blue Mountains
For the first 25 years of British colonization, the unscalable walls of the Blue Moun¬tains, just 100km from the coast, contained the growth of the new colony and the exploration of Australia. Numerous expeditions approached the mountains only to come away stumped. Because the so-called mountains are actually a series of canyons separated by several high plateaus, the explorers found cliffs at the edges of the val¬leys instead of hills. A successful route was not found until 1813, when Blaxland, Law-son, and Wentworth, assisted by local Aboriginal know-how, attempted to cross the mountains along the ridges. Today, the mountains
GOLDFIELDS
A few hundred kilometers east of Perth, a handful of gold mining towns cling tena¬ciously to an existence in the middle of WA's desert- Since 1903, water has been piped into the region and signs everywhere warn against wastage. People seeking employment follow this trickle toward Kalgoorlie, the center of the local mining industry. Although there are a handful of sights in the area, Kal is a long way from, any¬thing and not much of a destination in itself. If you're heading west to Perth from Eyre, you're probably better off circumventing this area and heading south instead. The coastal
Norseman
The town named after a horse. Gold, the magic metal, put Norseman on the map in 1894 when prospector Laurie Sinclair stopped off to visit his brother on his way to Esperance. He tethered his horse "Hardy Norseman" overnight and in the morning was amazed to discover that it had pawed up a gold nugget. A rich gold reef was discovered on the already proclaimed Dundas Field and thousands flocked to make their fortune. Today gold remains of major importance to Norseman which still has a population of some 1,800 people, most of whom still depend on the mining
Zigzag Railway
Zigzag Railway was used until 1910 as the means of transport through the Blue Mountains. At present it is used as a scenic railway that runs on weekends and school holidays and is a great way to have fun and enjoy the views at the same time, the zig zag railway is very popular with tourists, especially the kids. Located 10km east of Lithgow.
A historic tourist railway, utilizing steam trains and vintage diesel railmotors over a 7 1/2 km section of former main western railway line. The Zig Zag is a series of gently sloping ramps in the
Narooma
A small fishing village surrounded by beautiful beaches, bays and coastal lakes, NAROOMA lies at the heart of an area famous for its succulent mud oysters. You can canoe and windsurf on the Wagonga Inlet or sail to Montague Island – an offshore sanctuary for sea birds, seals and penguins. If you actually want to disembark at the island, you’ll have to join a tour organized by the NPWS in Narooma (tours daily winter 3.30pm, summer 6.30pm though morning tours are sometimes available; 3hr), since it’s a protected wildlife reserve.
Southern right and humpback whales have begun to reappear in
