“The kingfisher tried to warn the Mala men about the devil dog approaching, but it was too late. Some weren’t able to escape. You can still see them there,” Rachelle, our guide, pointed to the contours of the cave wall.

It was as if the men were petrified for eternity in those reliefs, struck in a terror pose as they tried to flee. While my rational mind acknowledged a scientific explanation for the geological formations around me, I slowly began to admire them in a different way, as if the stones were living, given life through story.

It’s odd I admit to consider Uluru, a 600-million year old monolith in the middle of the Australian Outback desert, as being “alive.” It’s a rock, after all. However, the more we learned about the Tjukurpa — the lattice work of laws and stories that hold together the knowledge of the creation period for the local Anangu people — the more I understood that this seemingly barren and empty land carried both life and history.

As Rachelle continued and reflected on the over 30,000 year presence of the Anangu in the area, she reminded us that the version of the story she told was intended for beginners: “To Aboriginal people we non-Aboriginals are newborn babies. We’re only just starting to learn.”

Aboriginal Australia: It’s Complicated

Aboriginal Australia. It’s inspiring and fascinating. It’s also tragic and complicated I would come to find. As this discovery unfolded for me, I struggled with how I might celebrate the beauty and wisdom of the oldest living culture in the world at nearly 50,000 years while acknowledging the discrimination and socio-economic challenges that so many of today's Aboriginal people face.

Perhaps, even with my newborn eyes, this was the beginning of my arc of understanding of Aboriginal Australia – its past, its present, and maybe a glimpse into its future.

Cafe Chloe: An Open Discussion

Aboriginal History: Not One Tribe, But Human

An Aboriginal map of Australia was laid out before us on the table at Café Chloe, a new Aboriginal community job training and traveler interaction center in the town of Tully, Queensland. The map was not only visually appealing with all its blocks of different colors, but it was also instructive. In school, I'd learned that Aboriginal people in Australia were one. Instead, Australian Aboriginals are drawn from hundreds of different cultures, approximated by the presence of over 250 distinct languages at the time the first Europeans arrived.

This was new information for me, as I suspect it was for most of the other travelers in our National Geographic Journeys group. They leaned in as Dr. Ernie Grant, a Jirrbal Rainforest People elder and Aboriginal scholar, offered something more shocking. Until 1967, Aboriginal people in Australia were legally categorized as flora and fauna. That is: plants and animals, not human. Fathom that. Aboriginal people, considered to be the oldest continuous-living culture in the world (between 40,000 and 50,000 years old), did not possess any human rights in the eyes of the modern state in which they lived until 50 years ago.

Theirs is a story of mass disruption to what was once a long-standing way of living. Long-standing perhaps being the understatement of our times.

I should add that I’m aware this history sadly echoes the history of my own country, the United States, and its treatment of Native Americans. My thoughts here also recall a piece we’d written several years ago while traveling in Chile and Argentina: Unspoken Patagonia.

Aboriginal Youth: Educating the Future on Their Past

After our discussion with Dr. Grant, a local Jirrbal high school girl read one of the creation stories to our group so as to inform and inspire an interactive Aboriginal painting session that would follow. She was nervous, her delivery halting. She had trouble reading some of the Jirrbal words. Standing just at her side, her mother leaned in to provide pronunciation guidance. Although the pockets of silence felt awkward, the experience exuded a sort of authenticity. Many Aboriginal youth are just now learning the language and stories of their ancestors.

Sonya, Dr. Grant’s daughter and project leader, explained that training students to lead painting classes and share Jirrbal stories is not just about providing job training. Sharing with travelers from around the world also empowers Aboriginal youth by helping them to take pride in who they are and to appreciate what makes their culture valuable and worthy of cultivation.

Uluru: Stories, Tradition, Code, A Way of Life

Flying from Cairns (Queensland) to Uluru, an expanse of red-tinged desert landscape sailed beneath us. Scrub trees and tiny, scattered homes drifted by. Onto this vast landscape filmstrip I overlaid the map of the diversity of Aboriginal peoples that Dr. Grant had shown us just days before. I tried to imagine the different nomadic groups who'd made this place their home for tens of thousands of years, how they'd lived from this seemingly barren land.

On the ground, we got a glimpse into how this worked. As we walked around Uluru, Rachelle told us Anangu stories that were directly related to our surroundings: we could see each part of the story in the physical markers around us. These tales were an attempt by Aboriginal ancestors to make colorful yet practical sense of their surroundings. Cave paintings taught the next generation how to find watering holes, when to hunt, how to dig for food, and which plants were poisonous. Through story and image, they passed on lessons of how to survive and to get along with one another as a community.

Theirs was an entirely different way of thinking about life, its origins and the implications for one’s day-to-day. No better, no worse than the framework I’d grown up with. Just different. And perhaps something we could learn from.

Alice Springs: A Reality Check

Our last stop in the Northern Territory Outback: Alice Springs, an unlikely urban center that rises from the middle of the desert. The situation of Aboriginal people on its city streets was a shock and contrast. Many looked itinerant; some hung around in parks and slept on benches while others walked in a substance-induced haze. You could hear yelling back and forth between groups in a nearby park. The raised voices, we’re told, is a cultural feature and doesn’t always indicate anger or violence, but it added a palpable sense of tension.

Once you understand what has happened to local Aboriginal people – that the basis and traditions of their communities was stripped from them through forced deportations, murder and discrimination — you might begin to understand how they could become lost. Displace a people, introduce a substance they aren’t biologically well equipped to metabolize (alcohol), deteriorate their social structure, and you’ve executed a perfect recipe for societal decay. Our experience served as a reality check on what life is, and has been, for many Aboriginal Australians.

During our final morning in Alice Springs, we walked through town toward one of the museums recommended to us. On the way, we saw a tiny sign, hastily positioned on the sidewalk inviting us to a non-profit Aboriginal art gallery. We made the turn and found ourselves in the middle of a Salvation Army soup kitchen and social service center. A sea of people swirled around us, many waiting in line for food. The path to the art gallery, if there was one, was not clear.

Eventually, one of the employees spotted us (i.e., disoriented tourists) and led us to an unassuming office art gallery with some impressive work. Images included representations of villages, women gathering, communal hunts, and desert animals such as snakes. On the back of each canvas the artist had written in pencil the story represented, bringing context to patterns of colorful dots and strokes. Artists are paid immediately upon delivering the work to the gallery, so with each sale, money is paid forward for a new commission.

As we read the biographies of the artists, we saw talented yet ordinary members of the local community who were visually translating the stories told to them, often by their grandparents.

“Mandy [Anderson] has been painting for many years and was taught to paint by her mother and grandmother. She paints the stories handed down to her from her grandmother such as the story of six women being chased by a man. She also paints the bushtucker.”

We imagine that these artists, many of whom are parents and grandparents themselves, use their paintings not only to earn income for their families, but also to pass on their stories to the generations that follow.

So the story cycle continues.

We walked away with a handful of paintings, each with a story of an artist, each with a story of continuity. While we knew our purchase would not change things on a grand scale, we felt it a tiny, personal productive step forward.

A Look to the Future?

A trip to Aboriginal Australia can unfold a double-edged story of cultural pride in the face of discrimination and exclusion, a story of changing the equation to create opportunities for Aboriginal people. It’s about celebrating Aboriginal culture and recognizing the strengths and uniqueness of this worldview so that Aboriginal communities might enjoy a newborn grounding, pride and satisfaction.

It’s also the story of how we travelers — wide-eyed, open minded novices — can learn from the Aboriginal sense of relationships based on respect and balance between people, plants, animals and the land. The more I peer into this world, the more I see how we all might benefit by applying this ancient wisdom to our modern lives so we might be better stewards of our ever-fragile world.

The story of Aboriginal Australia today is a story of how each of us, through our engagement, can take part.

The post Aboriginal Australia: An Arc Towards Understanding appeared first on Uncornered Market.

Interested in traveling to Australia, but only have two weeks or a limited amount of time? Overwhelmed by the choices and size of the country and don't know where to start in creating an Australia two week itinerary? Don't worry, we've been there. And that's why we created this Experiential Guide to help you choose a tour, plan your trip and create your own itinerary in Australia.

Australia offers the perfect storm for those who tend towards the fear of missing out (FOMO). It’s a huge country. It’s far away for many of us (that’s also part of its draw). And it fills a bucket list all its own of iconic experiences and destinations: the Outback, Aboriginal culture, cities, beaches, coral reefs, and wineries, just to mention a few.
Overwhelmed by all this, I’d imagined I would need several months or more to grasp the continent. I deferred my visit, resisting invitations for years until the time was right.

Basically, I psyched myself out.

I eventually realized that in saving my grand Australia trip for “someday” when all the stars aligned perfectly, I might end up deferring it forever. (This excuse may sound a familiar put-off for other life projects of broad scope.)

So I took a step back and reconciled that while I might not be able to experience everything Australia had to offer in a shorter visit, I could certainly experience a lot, and do so deeply.

Our recent travels in Australia confirmed it's possible to experience a lot of Australia in just two weeks or a limited amount of time. But where to start in creating an itinerary for traveling in Australia for two weeks?

That’s where this experiential guide comes in.

Here on the experiential highlights from our first two weeks in Australia when we were on Explore Australia, a National Geographic Journeys tour with G Adventures. Even in this seemingly limited amount of time, we experienced depth and breadth, moving from the iconic to the uncovered.

So if you've been considering taking this G Adventures tour in Australia, here's what you can expect and look forward to on your trip. In addition, you'll have an experienced G Adventures tour leader (CEO) with you who is a fount of information on everything Australia – from unique wildlife and nature to Aboriginal culture and history – to help you better understand this diverse country.

This allowed us to dig deep into Australia’s natural history, burrowed beneath the surface of its complex relationship with Aboriginal culture, dove the Great Barrier Reef, sampled the vast expanse of the Outback, and took in Melbourne and Sydney, the country’s two largest cities.

24 Australia Travel Experiences in Two Weeks

Sydney / New South Wales

1. Walk (or Run) the Botanical Gardens, Sydney Harbor and the Sydney Opera House.

Although buildings aren’t often at the top of my experiential list, the Sydney Opera house was. Based on a recommendation from a friend, we took a stroll through the Botanical Gardens to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and then around the harbor walk to land at the Opera House. Check it out from a distance, but also get up close to admire the detail, including the texture of its tiles. This route allows you to appreciate a few of the central Sydney neighborhoods like Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo, and the greenery and contours of downtown Sydney along the way.

Note: If you are a runner, this circuit makes for a worthwhile morning jog, particularly if you suffer from jet lag and need to kick start the day.

Bonus: Rewards thyself afterwards with a heap or two of gelato at Gelato Messina in nearby Darlinghurst (Address: 241 Victoria Road). Hint: pistachio on top, dark chocolate underneath!

2. Bush walk Syndey on the Manly to Spit Bridge hike.

Interested in getting away from the city for some beach and hiking action? Take the public ferry to Manly (bonus: great views of Sydney Harbor and the CBD from the water). Enjoy a look or walk along Manly Beach, then begin your walk of the 10km trail around the east side of Manly Beach to Spit Bridge.

This urban walking path and hiking trail is excellent and features a bit of bush walk mixed with wood plank boardwalk, topped with plenty of gorgeous coastal and harbor views along the way.

Bonus: If a secluded cove and beach to yourself is what you’re after then you’ll have your pick of several along the way.

3. Savor the Bondi to Coogee walk and take a dip at Bronte Beach along the way.

For a beautiful, easy walk outside of downtown Sydney that has it all, the Bondi to Coogee walk is it. In a morning (or an afternoon), you can catch the surf (or watch others throwing themselves into the waves) at Bondi Beach, then set off along the coastal walk to Coogee. The path is a blend of natural and urban, quintessential Sydney.

There’s also a protected spot at Bronte Beach that’s perfect for a refreshing mid-hike swim.

Find a hotel in Sydney.

Queensland

4. Walk through the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest in the world.

I was surprised to find out that the oldest living rainforest in the world — at 135 million years old — is in Australia. (To put this into perspective, the Amazon rainforest in Brazil is only 10 million years old). During our walk through the Daintree Rainforest we learned from a local Kuku Yalanji guide how her ancestors lived from and took care of this land for over 4,000 years. This inter-generational sharing of knowledge included information on sustenance-providing plants and animals, as well as those which could poison slowly or kill instantly. Quite literally, these were matters of life and death.

Bonus: Try and find a cassowary. Sadly, this large prehistoric-looking bird with a center toe claw so sharp it can supposedly cut a human in half proved elusive and we found none lurking around the rainforest.

5. Get amongst it…underwater. Dive or snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.

Dan had done a live aboard advanced diving certification at the Great Barrier Reef during his first visit many years ago; I’d dreamed of diving there ever since. When you approach the reef in a boat it’s impossible to fully grasp its size (2,300 km long, thus the largest living organism on earth). Snorkel or scuba dive the reef and a whole other world emerges, one filled with various forms and shapes, brushed with the surreal colors of coral and fish.

Note: If you wish to visit some of the more remote areas of the Great Barrier Reef, begin your trip from Port Douglas rather than from Cairns. We went with Calypso Snorkel and Dive on a boat that was outfitted for both scuba divers and snorkelers. We were impressed by the quality of the boat, its on-board facilities, and the staff who were safety conscious and knowledgeable about marine biology and Australian life in general. We had a fabulous day.

Even if you are not dive certified, we still recommend a snorkeling trip as others on our boat reported, unsurprisingly, that visibility and diversity of marine life were incredible.

Find a hotel in Port Douglas.

6. Learn about Australia’s most venomous animals at James Cooke University research aquarium.

Although it’s kind of funny when friends send you articles before your trip noting all the deadly creatures in Australia, it’s also a bit disconcerting. Just about every creature — snake, spider, jellyfish, snail (yes, even snails are dangerous!!) – that crosses your path could be poisonous and kill you. For a humorous take on this, listen to this tune.

That is where spending the afternoon with Dr. Jamie Seymour, a world-renowned toxinologist, helped put things into perspective. He taught us firsthand about the mechanics, physiology and biochemistry behind how Australia’s deadly animals create and release venom. In a 45-minute presentation, he planted enough seeds of fascination that our planned one-hour visit lasted over three hours.

As in life, once you begin to understand how these creatures work, you may find some of your fear displaced by respect.

Note: This is not an experience that is open to the general public. You can access it by taking the same tour we did — Explore Australia, a National Geographic Journeys tour with G Adventures. Alternatively, you can check out Professor Jamie Seymour’s entertaining and educational YouTube channel.

7. Engage in an open discussion about Aboriginal history and culture at Cafe Chloe.

Aboriginal history and culture is a crucial component to comprehending Australia’s history and present day. A new G Adventures for Good / Planeterra Foundation cooperation in the town of Tully, called Cafe Chloe, provides an opportunity for an open and honest discussion about Aboriginal culture, history and socioeconomic challenges.

This isn’t a traditional “Aboriginal cultural experience” whereby an Aboriginal man dresses up, puts on some body paint and demonstrates how to throw a spear or boomerang. Instead, you’ll find yourself sitting around the table with a Jirrbal elder and other community members to learn about and discuss the diversity and reality of Aboriginal communities on the Australian continent since the arrival of Europeans in the 1700s.

From history we moved into learning about Aboriginal culture and the importance of story to pass on wisdom and lessons from one generation to the next. We took our hand at Aboriginal-style painting, inspired by a Jirrbal creation story.

This background helps one understand the challenges that Aboriginal people face in Australia and how their nature and land-based traditional way of life was turned completely upside-down. It also puts into greater perspective the importance and necessity of projects like Café Chloe that emphasize pride, cultural exchange and job training for Aboriginal youth.

8. Eat a kangaroo pie. Or two.

They are actually quite good, too. Our favorite was from Mocka's Pies in Port Douglas.

Better yet, nosh on your kangaroo pie with this view, a slice of the Queensland coast.

Northern Territory

9. Appreciate the shape of Australia up in the air over Lake Amadeus.

To cover the sorts of distance between New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Victoria, a few flights are necessary. And here's why you should always try to get a window seat.

On our flight from Cairns to Uluru, we flew over ever-deepening red rust Outback. After a stretch of beautiful mountains, a few strange patches of iridescent liquid appeared, including Lake Amadeus.

10. Enjoy a champagne sunset toast and watch the sun go down over Uluru.

Champagne. Sunset. Crazy light over Uluru and its surrounding desert brush. Yes, to all of these.

The traditional Uluru sunset that we so often see in photos is one where the giant rock outcropping of Uluru glows red against a clear sky in the day’s final light. Our sunset was instead filled with dazzling clouds and a storm that rolled across the horizon. Don’t feel bad for us. The light was spectacular if not surreal as the clouds moved quickly and dramatically across the landscape. It was our own real life time-lapse video, complete with rush of air, and the fading aroma of a warm desert afternoon.

I wouldn’t change a thing.

Note: The sunset viewing area parking lot can get crowded. Make a wee effort, and a few hundred meters away you’ll have heaps of space to yourself to enjoy your champagne.

11. Follow the Anangu creation stories around the base of Uluru (Ayers Rock).

At the root of my dreaming about Australia: the National Geographic Documentaries about Uluru and Aboriginal culture that I’d watched as a kid. My expectations for this portion of the trip were dangerously high. Fortunately, Uluru delivered not only in terms of its physical appearance (even more impressive in real life), but also in its energy and the psychological hold it draws from the telling of the Aboriginal Anangu creation stories.

As we set off on walks around the base of Uluru, our guide shared a handful of Anangu stories that on the surface were about lizards, snakes and other animals of the Outback. She then noted the physical marks on the rocks around us, which were interpreted as equivalent physical manifestations of these stories. Finally, she explained how Aboriginal people used these stories to teach survival in the harsh environment. From generation to generation, elders taught youth where to find water, how to hunt, which plants and animals were dangerous, and the delicate balance required between nature and humans for both to exist in harmony.

In this way, Uluru was alive, a sort of teacher.

Note: Even if you travel independently to Uluru I recommend signing up for one of the walking tours (e.g., the rangers run free Mala walk tours each morning). It’s a worthwhile experience to walk Uluru as someone tells stories and gives background to what locals hold sacred and symbolic.

You also must invest in a fly net when you first arrive. Don't worry about looking silly in it. Although the flies don't bite, they are aggressive and possess an uncanny ability to find the innermost reaches of one's ears, nose and mouth.

12. Trek Walpa Gorge at Kata Tjuta.

Before my visit to Uluru, I’d barely heard of its lesser-known neighbor Kata Tjuta, another sacred Anangu site. Instead of monolithic, Kata Tjuta looks a convergence of multiple rock formations. As Uluru does, they dominate the visual space of the open landscape around. Creation stories also exist for Kata Tjuta, but since they are considered sacred for Anangu ceremonies they are not told to visitors.

Instead, we just enjoyed the landscape and hike through the Walpa Gorge.

Note: If you'd like to learn more about the geology and history of how Uluru and Kata Tjuta were formed, visit the museum at the Wintjiri Gallery near the town square.

Find a place to stay in Uluru.

13. Sample the Outback vastness and roadhouse culture between Uluru and Alice Springs.

With our minds full of imagery, physical and abstract, we set off on a five-hour journey to cross a swatch of the desert Outback from Uluru to the city of Alice Springs. This was our on-the-ground taste, albeit limited, of Australia’s vastness — a feature that some travelers ingest in weeks or even months of driving across the Northern Territory. After spending all that time criss-crossing Australia up in the air, a road trip like this is required to begin to understand this country’s vastness.

Imagine this barren landscape for thousands upon thousands of kilometers with only a few roadhouses in-between. Imagine it, too, for the Aboriginal people who once were the only ones who lived here and learned how to survive in this harsh environment.

14. Buy Aboriginal paintings that contribute to the Salvation Army community center in Alice Springs.

As we learned about Aboriginal culture we understood that most paintings were not only art to admire, but visual stories designed to pass on lessons. We were interested in buying Aboriginal art, but we wanted to do so in a way that was connected to the local community and where we knew that our money would benefit the artists directly. That is where the Waterhole Gallery at the Salvation Army in Alice Springs comes in. (Located at 88 Hartley Street, right across from the Royal Flying Doctors Museum.)

It’s easy to miss the gallery, as it's marked only by a small sign outside. Additionally, it can feel a bit intimidating since the grounds also serve as a sort of soup kitchen and community center for disadvantaged Aboriginal people. If you continue you will find a small art gallery in the back with some beautiful paintings of all sizes and colors. Each painting is accompanied by a hand-written story on the back side of its canvas.

You can also request a printed biography of the artist. Not only are the paintings high quality, but we also found it more satisfying to buy here than in a traditional gallery because of the direct, personal connection to the community.

15. Be inspired by creative learning at the School of the Air, Alice Springs.

Imagine having 125 students (K-9th grade) spread out over 1.3 million square kilometers. What do you do? You engineer a classroom and school over the airwaves. It may sound odd to visit a school during one’s travels, but the will and infrastructure required for studio-taught lessons over satellite internet connections is remarkable. It makes you appreciate how Australia doesn’t let a few thousand kilometers get in the way, even for school. For more information, check out School of the Air.

Find a hotel in Alice Springs.

16. Ogle the crazy colors of Lake Eyre.

In this case, we were simply lucky with our timing. Lake Eyre in northern South Australia fills with water only every few decades. But when it does, it becomes the largest lake in Australia. Seabirds from thousands of kilometers away somehow sense this (scientists still don't know how) and fly there to breed and nest.

While we didn’t have a close up look at this seabird dating frenzy, we were able to see the pink lake while flying from Alice Springs to Melbourne. Our pilot was so excited he woke everyone up to look out the window. Here’s why.

Melbourne

17. Get lost in Melbourne’s laneways, immerse yourself in its street art.

When arriving in a new city, one's options to explore and comprehend it can be overwhelming. Rather than a random walk around Melbourne, we opted for a self-guided street art walking tour of the city. We spread the walk, along with some exploration of neighborhoods further afield, over a couple of days.

This provided us with a general route through the city, anchored by street murals and fabulous alleys that serve as the playground of graffiti artists. As we sought out the next stop on the map (whose art was often replaced by something new), we were got pleasantly lost and distracted by other sites and cafes along the way.

18. Rent a bicycle and ride along the coast to the Brighton Beach Changing Huts.

Rent a bicycle in the city and ride the coastal bike path towards St. Kilda. Continue on to the Brighton Beach changing huts bathing boxes.

Be sure to stop along the way in Port Melbourne for fish and chips. Treat yourself to coffee, ice cream and a long stretch of easy-going coastal views.

19. Drink strong flat whites, eat brekkie, and enjoy Melbourne's market and food scene.

Melbourne takes its coffee seriously. Walk down any commercial street — in the center or outer neighborhoods — and you'll be flush with coffee choice. If strong coffees are your thing, then you'll feel at home here as a double shot of espresso is standard in a flat white (and most other drinks). Coffee art is formidable, too.

Another serious Melbourne institution: brekkie (otherwise known as breakfast to the rest of us). Walk through the CBD on a weekend morning in summertime and alleys overflow with cafes, restaurants and brunch joints offering every manner of Eggs Benedict, and the Australian brekkie favorite, smashed avocado on toast. It's enough to drive you to eat breakfast all day long.

Recommended Melbourne Eating, Dining and Noshing Spots:

Proud Mary Cafe, Collinwood: Get here early as it fills up quickly for lunch. If you're craving something savory try the fish tacos with a delicious slaw and toppings. For a sweet tooth, you can't go wrong with the ricotta hotcakes. So incredibly rich, you will have grave difficulty moving from your seat.
Victoria Night Market on Wednesdays (November-March): During the summer months Victoria Market turns into a street food night market with hundreds of food stalls, live music, beer on tap, jugs of cold sangria and much, much more. If your time in Melbourne coincides, check it out.

Find a hotel in Melbourne.

Great Ocean Road and Victoria

20. Breathe deeply at Point Addis, the start of the Great Ocean Road.

The Great Ocean Road has become a popular destination within Australia for good reason. It just lives up to its name.

21. Don’t wake the koalas at Kennett River.

Park your car at the cafe at Kennett River and walk over toward the trees off to the left side. Look closely in the branches as you might find a koala or two sleeping in the trees. Due to the poor caloric and nutritional value of their eucalyptus-leaf diet they need to sleep up to 20 hours a day to properly digest their food and conserve energy. Resist the urge to touch them (as we saw some other tourists do) and let them sleep — and digest — in peace.

22. Walk barefoot along the beach at Gibson Steps.

Even if you ache to get to the 12 Apostles, allow some time to stop off at Gibson Steps just before. Take the walkway down to the beach and enjoy a view of the sandstone cliffs from below. “Romantic” doesn’t even begin to capture the feeling and atmosphere here.

23. Calculate how many of the 12 Apostles remain standing.

The 12 Apostles, the pinnacles standing at the western end of the Great Ocean Road, are among Australia’s most recognized landmarks. Regardless of how many photos of the 12 Apostles circulate, you’ll find yourself unable to take enough. As a capstone to a beautiful road trip, they still surprise, impress and dazzle visually. You’ll also notice The Apostles a few short of 12 (eight at the time of writing) due to erosion.

24. Appreciate how far you’ve come, within Australia…and around the world.

Australia Small Group Tours

Recommended reading for Australia

In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson: If you want to read one book that will provide you with a historical, geographical, cultural, and sociological overview of Australia before visiting, this is the book. Bryson manages to weave these elements in naturally into the humorous narrative of his road trips and adventures throughout the country, from Queensland to Western Australia. Really well written and provides a lot of context for visitors to better understand Australia.

The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin: I found this book fascinating and it really helped me begin to get my head around the role and importance of Aboriginal “songlines” and stories. This book isn't always the easiest read since Chatwin intersperses long-winding notes about other nomadic cultures he has researched. Stick with it, though, and you'll find yourself appreciating the Aboriginal worldview and culture more than you otherwise might.

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