Australia Coast to Coast

The first day on Australian soil and once you've got from the airport into the centre there's loads of accommodation and activities to choose from.  Sydney Central backpackers is right over Central Station and just a 10-15 minute walk to the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Botanic Gardens, Circular Quay, The Rocks, Darling Harbour, the Central Business District, all the shops and several big parks.

For places to eat there's no problem.  Eat out at one of hundreds of good take-aways, self-cater at the hostel or explore some of the great restaurants overlooking the harbour.

The first thing to do on arrival in Sydney has got to be a walk down to Circular Quay - the small ferry terminal between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, which is surrounded by dozens of bars and restaurants to suit all budgets.  You can tour the Opera House, cross the bridge or even don a harness and climb right to top if feeling adventurous. You can get great views of the city skyline from either the Botanic Gardens (city side of the harbour) or the far side of the bridge.

For more great views, climb the ANP tower (you can't miss it!) in the Central Business District and see right over the harbour entrance, Darling Harbour, back over to the airport, the Sydney Cricket Ground and more.

After all that climbing, take a trip out to legendary Bondi beach or the fast ferry from Circular Quay to Manly where art-deco architecture fronts onto a pristine beach.  Both are sure to help you relax after the morning's activity.

Ther's some great nightlife all through the city, but for starters why not try King's Cross (has something of a reputation but there are some great laughs to be had) and the CBD.

A visit to the Blue Mountains makes a great day trip from Sydney.  Ther are laods of excursion operators to choose from and all will take you out past the Stadium Australia, home of the 2000 Olympics, and up into the mountains and canyons which are filled with haze from the eucalyptus tree oil.  Apart from small towns and stunning bush scenery, not to mention the famous Three Sisters rock formation, I remember Timmy Mallet visiting the Three Sisters on Wackaday in the late 80s - if ever ther's a reason to visit somewhere, then following in his footsteps has got to be up there!

Three days isn't really enough time to explore all that Sydney has to offer, but I'd visited there before and didn't feel the need to stay on any longer this time around.  If you've never been before and really want to take your time to get out and about Sydney and the surrounding area, I'd reckon on five days or a week.

After you've had enough of the city, head to Sydney Central Station and catch one of the many trains towards Canberra.  They'll check in your baggage and unload it for you onto the platform at your destination so you won't have to worry about stowing it somewhere between seats like in the UK.  Get off at the small town of Bundanoon about half way between Sydney and Canberra for a few of chilled out days enjoying the bush in Morton National Park off the well-worn tourist trails.

There are a couple of B&B places in Bundanoon as well as a youth hostel that's part of the International Youth Hostelling Association.

There are some great tracks for day walks through the National Park. Take some food, put on your most comfortable shoes and head out into the bush for the day.  Trails are well marked and maps are available, but once out there you feel like you're the only one for miles...and you might be.  Waterfalls and lagoons lie hidden around corners, ferns soften your step and there are fantastic lookout points over the gorge.

Get back to your hostel before dark, eat, then head out to the grotto behind town to see the local glowworms for your last night in this great little Aussie town.

Most tourists don't go to Canberra and that in itself is a great reason why you should.  Catch the train from Bundanoon and you'll be there within a few hours, ready to explore the national capital.  Canberra is a totally artificial city, designed by a master planner and built almost exactly half way between Sydney and Melbourne with views to the mountains.  Despite it's origins, or maybe because of them, it's a very pleasant place to wander around the boulevards and parks, around the man-made lake, over to the Australian Parliament (there are some great old-timers taking tour groups around), or to the other side of town to the National War Memorial - a stunning and thought provoking avenue and building.

For sports fans there's the Australian National Institute of Sport which is perhaps the globe's best example of how to produce world-beating athletes year after year.  The top class facilities are open to visitors for tours guided by the young athletes themselves meanign you get a great feel for what it's like to live, study and train there.

Other than that ther isn't a great deal in Canberra, but if that kind of thing interests you and you don't want to be surrounded by thousands of other tourists, then you should definitely consider Canberra.

Plenty of buses can take you from Canberra to Thredbo, nestled in the Mount Kosciuzsko National Park and the Snowy Mountains.  The road up there is very picturesque in summer or winter, winding through the towns of Cooma and Jindabyne before getting to Thredbo, probably Australia's most famous ski resort and affectionately known locally simply as 'the snow'.

In winter, the whole area's just about skiing, but in summer there are fantastic trails along by the river, up into the mountains and you can even scale Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuzsko in a fairly easy day walk from Thredbo village.

The road that goes right through Thredbo carries on into the mountains and into Victoria, but there aren't any bus services that make the trip so to continue the journey means backtracking to Canberra (only a fairly short bus ride) and catching a bus towards Melbourne.  There are direct services, but to break the journey I took the Aus Experience bus out of Canberra to a tiny place called Gelantipy.  There's a youth hostel, a few farms and acres and acres of farmland and bush to roam through.  You can help out on the farm, spend the morning chopping wood for the open log fire in the hostel dorm, or climb the hostel's indoor climbing wall.  The bus only comes through once every two or three days, so this really is only for those who want to escape it all, but if that's what you're looking for it's a great place to be.

The Oz Experince bus leaves Gelantipy in the morning, heads for the south coast, stops off in the town of Lakes Entrance (unsurprisingly lots of lakes and lagoons around there) then cracks on for Melbourne (via several wineries where everyone gets a good taste and sometimes more than a bit merry).  It'll get you into Melbourne in the evening so it's a good idea to book accommodation ahead.

Melbourne couldn't be any more different than Gelantipy and Thredbo.  It's a bustling, but friendly city; cosmopolitan, cafe culture, great sporting arenas, nice architecture, little trams trundling around the streets and a weird way of turning right at traffic lights. Traffic about to turn right will park up next to the curb on the left, wait 'til all the other traffic has gone by then swing over and turn.Take care when crossing!

Melbourne has loads so much to offer - it's a busy city, but people always seem to have time for you, certainly a much friendlier vibe than Sydney; at Old Melbourne Gaol you can see where Ned Kelly was held and hanged, the Melbourne markets are great for bargain hunting, the casino complex on the south bank of the Yarra River is the largest in Australia, the Melbourne Cricket Ground - scene of many a legendary cricket and Aussie rules match - is worth seeing and going on a ground tour even if you're not a massive sports fan, there are more lovely parks, quality restaurants, plus dozens of easily reached beaches.  I planned on spending about three nights in the city and ended up staying twice that - if it wasn't that I had a pre-booked flight to catch in Adelaide, I'd have stayed even longer.