People considering travelling to Australia, be it for a holiday or business need to be prepared for certain factors that apply to that particular region of the world.

Over the past few years, Australia has been experiencing extreme summer heatwaves. It is not uncommon to experience a 40 degree Celsius heat for 5 or more days, with some Australian states recording a 10 day heatwave of over 40. Going back 10 or so years, temperatures of this magnitude were felt mostly in the outback regions such as Alice Springs. Nowadays, coastal towns of Sydney and Queensland as well as southern state capitals such as Melbourne and Adelaide are recording these extreme heat temperatures.

Australia is home to some exotic wildlife such as Kangaroos and Koala bears. There is a vast population of species that simply do not exist anywhere else on the planet.

On the other side of the coin, there are a lot of insects and snakes that can pose an element of danger to the unsuspecting tourist. More commonly the Funnel Web spider, Red Back spider and Brown snakes are ones to watch out for. These are highly venomous inhabitants of Australia that all tourists need to familiarise themselves with to avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital. After all, your visit should be spent having a fun time, not an ill time.

The Australian sun is the harshest on the planet. Spend more than 20 minutes in the open on a sunny day without any protection and you will suffer from severe sunburn. If you’re not used the sunny weather but would like to work on your suntan while you in Australia, I advise to slowly work on it. Allow 10 – 15 minutes of sun exposure a day for 3 days. Then have a break for 1 to 2 days before going out in the sun again.

Australia is known for its pristine beaches and there is a lot of them. With the whole country being a continent and an island of its own, Australia has over 35,000 kilometres of coastline and this equates to the circumference of the entire planet earth.

While attending an Australian beach and going for a dip in the ocean, make sure you go to a patrolled beach that is flagged and protected by Life Guards. Tides can change quickly before you know it you can be caught in a rip, getting dragged out deeper into the surf. Patrolled beaches also usually come with safety nets to keep sharks away from common swimming areas.

Australia is one of the most culturally diverse nations on the planet. You can rest assured that you will not miss your favourite food while holidaying there. Apart from the abundance of fresh seafood available in Oz ,there is plenty cultural restaurants with Asian, India, Mexican, Greek and Italian themes. Australian produce is of the highest grade and the economy is thriving on exporting this produce to Asian countries. Australian seafood and beef is enjoyed thoroughly in some of the finest restaurants in the world.

While Australia is full of renowned vineyards, producing some of the finest wines, the most common alcoholic beverage is Beer. Aussies love their beer and even women drink it. They love their beer cold, and there is plenty of variety of beer available. Some of the more popular “must try” beers are VB, Tooheys New and Pure Blonde. These were my favourite and I could only wish i could enjoy these here in the states.