Cairns is located on the north eastern coast of the state of Queensland, on the east of Australia.

Australia is a nation continent, the sixth largest nation in land mass after Russia, Canada, China, the United States of America and Brazil. The population, however, is relatively small at only about 21 million in 2007.

Australia is commonly described as the driest inhabited continent on the planet. The interior areas have one of the lowest rainfalls in the world and about three-quarters of the land has been designated as arid or semi-arid; which explains the relatively low population.

The populated areas, mainly located in the coastal regions, are well-watered and support a substantial agricultural industry.

The highest point on the mainland is Mount Kosciuszko at only 2228m.

Australia is divided into six states and two territories – Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The nation is governed by a federal government based on the Westminster System in the capital of Canberra.

Originally a British colony, Australia has been an independent Commonwealth country since Federation in 1901, with Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II also the Queen of Australia.

It is usually the sheer size of Australia that confuses people. It may only take three hours or so to fly from Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, to Cairns in tropical north Queensland, next to the Great Barrier Reef, but by road, it can take about four days of non-stop driving.

While visitors might be able to pack in a taste of Australia in a week – Sydney and Melbourne, the Outback, the beaches and the Great Barrier Reef for example – it takes weeks and months to truly see what the country has to offer.

Increasingly visitors are travelling to Australia for
12-month working holidays and the number of people who’ve come for a month and are now Australian citizens is enormous.

Members of the Commonwealth, the European Nation and some other nations can visit Australia on working visas for up to two years as long as they are under 30 years old.

There are some changing requirements, like the visit including three months of fruit picking, but it’s a great way to experience Australia. This has made the country a haven for backpackers.

Just about any time of the year is good to visit Australia. For some people, summer, from December to February, can be unbearably hot but it’s great for enjoying the famous Australian beaches.

In tropical north Queensland, the Cairns region, summer becomes the “wet season” with humid weather and monsoonal rain, “stingers” (box jellyfish) in the ocean and sometimes powerful storms called cyclones.

Winter in the Cairns region – from June to August - is considered the best time to visit with crystal clear skies, cool breezes and perfect scuba-diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

Down south, winter offers good skiing in New South Wales, Victoria and sometimes in Tasmania. The autumn and spring, both north and south, are relatively mild and also a good time to visit.