Australia, located southeast of Asia, is the only country in the world to occupy a single continent. The continent of Australia combined with the island of Tasmania forms the 6th largest country with a population of only 19 million people making Australia the most sparsely populated continent second only to Antarctica. Australia is made up of six states, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia and two territories, The Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory.

Australia is one of the world's flattest and driest landmasses. The vast interior of Australia is referred to as the Outback, which consists mainly of desert plains. The fertile eastern coastal plains are separated from the Outback by the Great Dividing Range.

The Great Barrier Reef on Queensland's east coast is the largest known reef and coral formation on earth, extending just over 1250 miles in length. The reef is the world's richest area of marine life and forms a natural barrier from the Pacific Ocean. This makes the Queensland coast ideal for diving and some of the finest marlin fishing in the world can be found off this coast.

The Australian continent has many different climatic zones ranging from tropical in the north, leading to subtropical and savanna, to arid deserts in the center and temperate in the south. The seasons in Australia are the reverse of that of the northern hemisphere, with January and February being the warmest months and June and July the coldest.

Australia is geographically isolated from the rest of the world and is home to many plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. Eucalyptus forests dominate much of the country and the oldest rainforests on earth are situated in Queensland's Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation National Park. The most unique animals are found in Australia as well, such as the duck billed platypus, Tasmanian Devil, kangaroos, koalas and a plethora of lizards, not to mention a myriad of poisonous snakes and other creepy critters.

There are so many things to see and do in this truly amazing country, from fishing the Great Barrier Reef to visiting an aboriginal village in the rainforest, surfing, riding a camel to dinner, swimming with the dolphins, visiting Ayer's Rock at sunset and other fantastic voyages too numerous to mention. The best part is getting there. Many planes leave the Los Angeles area in the evening and arrive in Sydney in the morning. All you have to do is sleep through the whole thing and before you know it, you're in the land "down under".