Tuesday, November 14, 2006

New South Wales

Australia’s most populated state is also the most visited by tourists. They come to see Sydney—and who can blame them? It’s one of the most glamorous and beautiful cities in the world, with dozens of harbor and ocean beaches within and around the city, and a mixture of bushland and city development around Sydney Harbour itself. Sydney is also a good base for day trips or overnight excursions inland, especially to the scenic Blue Mountains and the wineries of the Hunter Valley.

Farther afield, a string of quaint beachside towns stretches all the way down the southern coast to Victoria. Along the north coast are remnant areas of rainforest and a more tropical air in the laid-back hangout of Byron Bay, where “Croc Dundee” himself, movie star Paul Hogan, has a home. The inland is dry and sparsely forested. Highlights include the mining town of Broken Hill (known for wildlife, art galleries, and Aboriginal influences), and Outback opal-mining towns White Cliffs and Lightning Ridge, which exist in a wacky underground world of their own.

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