General Information on Australia
- The Lonely Planet - An excellent resource for planning a trip on a budget. Compiled by backpackers, it gives recommendations on restaurants, hostels, and attractions in almost every city in Australia.
- TNT Magazine - Backpacker magazine found in every hostel in Australia.
- BUNAC and International Exchange Programs - If you are under the age of 25, and recently a student, this exchange program will set you up with everything you need - plane tickets, travel insurance, visas, even work, if you'd like - so you can concentrate on backpacking!
- Commonwealth Bank of Australia - You'll find a Commonwealth Bank on every street in the big cities, we opened an account here to make it easier to get money.
Sydney
- Sights of Sydney - links to information about all the biggest attractions in Sydney, including the Opera House (a trademark of Australia), Bondi Beach (good for surfing and swimming and safe from sharks!), and King's Cross (the red-light section of Sydney)
- Taronga Zoo - Take a ferry, then a cable car ride, to visit Sydney's largest zoo.
- Featherdale Wildlife Park - Cuddle a koala, have a staring contest with a kookaburra.
- Sydney Roosters - Australian Rules Football - hard to follow, but fun to watch.
The East Coast
- The Dag Sheep Station at Nundle - Try your hand sheering a sheep, enter the "Mechanical Sheep" riding contest (Kate won second place!) and dance the night away, Jackaroo style.
- Fraser Island - Camping and self drive 4WD tours on a sand island inhabited by wild horses and dingos and surrounded by shark-infested waters.
- Camel Safaris - Camel trek around Noosa.
- The Australian Zoo - Visit the legendary Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter, in a zoo full of animals he rescued from danger. A short train ride from Brisbane will have you at his zoo in an hour.
- Wet'N'Wild Waterpark - Ride the water rides at a Gold Coast Amusement Park.
- Great Keppel Island - if you are adventurous enough to brave the giant flies and brown drinking water, this island has amazing snorkeling, secluded beaches, and birds called lorikeets that will eat the dinner off your plate if you don't watch them.
- Friendship Cruises - A snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef from Mission Beach. Highly recommended - we saw more underwater life here than in any of our scuba diving trips.
- Nomads Utopia - Cairns - Just a quick shuttle ride outside town, this hostel was one of the best. Recently converted, we had a private motel room at hostel prices.
- RnR Rafting - White water rafting trips near Cairns.
The Tropical Rainforest
- On The Wallaby - One of our favorite trips in Australia. Spend 2 days swimming in waterfalls, hiking through the rainforest, canoeing, mountain biking and relaxing in a quaint backpacker lodge in the Atherton Tablelands. Just watch out for the leeches!
The Top End
- Kakadu Dreams - An amazing 3 day camping tour in the land made famous by Crocodile Dundee. The Kangaroo Stew was excellent and the guide extremely knowledgeable!
The Outback
- Northern Territory Adventure Tours - Travel by bus from Darwin to Alice Springs, then on to Ayers Rock. A real outback experience complete with scorpions, snakes, and flesh eating lizards.
- Alice Springs Desert Park - Watching birds of prey swoop down from the mountains and crack open emu eggs is something not to be missed.
- Radeka's Down Under Hostel - This Cooper Pedy hostel is built underground carved out of the rock. Good tour of this crazy mining city.
New Zealand
Other Backpacker Sites
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