Do
- expect to pay more than you planned, Australia isn't very cheap;
- stay in YHA hostels: clean rooms, friendly staff, great place to meet people, ok
- price and they
can help with transportation, tours and information. Of course one - is better than the other but we especially recommend Grampians YHA Eco-Hostel - with kangaroos in the backyard (www.yha.com.au);
- cook your own dinners, nice way to save some money;
- take buses, the system is very good;
- rent a car if you can for some special places, you will see more (e.g. Great Ocean - Road, Barossa Valley, Litchfield National Park, Kakadu National Park);
- get a tan at the beaches of Whitsunday Island, Byron Bay, Bondi, Manly, St Kilda - or Glenelg;
- go diving or get your licence at the Great Barrier Reef before it's gone!
- visit cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane;
- spend a day or 2 in Canberra if you're into history (Australian War Memorial) or - - politics (Parliament House);
- see koalas (Koala Conservation Centre) and penguins (Penguin Parade) at Phillip - Island;
- make a 7 to 10 day non-luxurious tour through the Outback (see Flinders Ranges, - Coober Pedy, Uluru, the Olgas and Kings Canyon) and sleep under the stars
- (
www.campwild.com.au);
- travel by train, we took the Ghan from Alice Springs to Darwin. It seems long, 24 - hours in a train, but it's a nice trip (www.gsr.com.au).

Don't
- rush Australia, it's a wonderful but huge country, better make choices and come
- back, we still want to visit Western Australia and Tasmania;
- forget your designated driver for visiting Barossa Valley, you can 'taste' more
- wine!
- visit Northern Australia in the rainy season if you want to see some crocodiles
- and don't like high humidity;
- eat too much chocolate at Haigh's Chocolate Factory
- (www.haighschocolates.com.au)in Adelaide ;
- underestimate distances, get fuel in advance (we barely made it, with only 0.25
- liters left, to Halls Gap from Melbourne);
- feed the dingos at Fraser Island.

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