I initially hatched the idea to take a trip to Australia back in 1992, thanks to my eccentric second-grade teacher. Mrs. Fraley designed our entire school year around her love of The Land Down under, from science units on the life cycles of marsupials, to traditional folklore myths and songs, to geography lessons about the Outback and what was known, at the time, as Ayer’s Rock. (She even took us to Outback Steakhouse, although I now know that place is anything but Australian!)
On account of being seven (and very middle-class) at the time, it took me exactly 20 years to take my first trip to Australia, where I saw koalas and kangaroos up-close, traipsed through the red sands of the Outback, ate real Australian food and hummed along to “Waltzing Matilda” the first time I heard it. I’m eager to return to Australia to cover the vast amounts of the country I missed during the six weeks I spent there, but for now, use my pictures are inspiration to plan your own trip to Australia.
The skyline of Melbourne, Australia:
The boundary between nature and civilization in Australia is often blurred:
Melbourne's Flinders Street station at night:
A colorful scene in Melbourne's Fitzroy district:
A bird perched on a tourist:
A koala along the Great Ocean Road, near Melbourne:
The Seven Apostles, the highlight of the Great Ocean Road:
The Sydney Harbour Bridge:
One of Sydney's lesser-known landmarks is this massive Coca-Cola sign:
The Sydney skyline as seen from way across its harbor:
A seagull on Sydney's Bondi Beach:
Mary Poppins comes to Sydney:
A crowded Bondi Beach afternoon:
The Australian outback:
A beautiful flourish of color in the arid outback:
A wide view of Kata Tjuta, a rock formation in the Australian outback:
An outback hare:
Sunset in Australia's Red Center:
Coffs Harbour, New South Wales:
Where the rainforest meets the sky:
Pink cockatoos in Coffs Harbour:
Seven-Mile Beach in Byron Bay:
Sunset in Rainbow Beach, Queensland:
Downtown Brisbane:
Rock wallabies on Magnetic Island:
The only snake I saw in Australia:
One of Queensland's big, beautiful trees:
A dramatic downward scattering of birds in the outback:
A kangaroo on the beach in Coffs Harbour:
Sunset over Kata Tjuta:
SEE ALSO: 25 Photos That Will Make You Want To Visit Sri Lanka