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Six places you can’t miss on your Aussie holiday

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Sharks and koalas, cities and ‘outback’, there’s so much to see and do in Australia.
 
@Credit Neale Cousland Shutterstock
 
Sydney
Sydney is probably your first stop when you arrive in Australia and the jaw-dropping view of the Harbour City from the plane window provides an unforgettable first impression. Australia’s largest city is built around its iconic waterway, home to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, as well as plenty of famous beaches like Bondi and Coogee. If you’re planning a working holiday, Slovenian passport holidays can apply for a Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) and YHA’s ‘Work in Australia’ package is the perfect way to find your feet – you get five nights’ accommodation and breakfast at Australia’s largest hostel, Sydney Central YHA, as well as six months of personalised, face-to-face job support with their on-site employment services team to take all the stress out of finding work for only $495.
 
@Credit Destination NSW
 
Uluru 
Known as Ayers Rock in English, Uluru is sacred to Australia’s Indigenous people who believe Uluru was created at the beginning of time. And you can experience ‘The Rock’ with an Aboriginal guide, or fly over in a hot air balloon or helicopter, or ride around on the back of a camel or motorcycle, or take a longer tour winding through the stunning desert landscape. Whatever you do, be there at sunrise or sunset, when the 350-metre tall rock glows red. To see even more of Australia’s Red Centre in the middle of the country, many visitors start their road trip in Alice Springs, 450km away – that’s as far as Ljubljana to Budapest!
 
@Credit Voyages
 
Great Ocean Road
Another great road trip is the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, driving west from Melbourne along Australia’s southern coastline. The drive is loaded with scenic beaches and dramatic limestone cliffs and plenty of opportunities to stop and have a swim or take photos of the scenery. You can find comfortable YHA hostels in the beautiful seaside towns of Apollo Bay, two and a half hours from Melbourne and right on the Great Ocean Road, Port Fairy, another two and a half hours along the coast. 
 
@Credit Roberto Seba
 
Magnetic Island
Take a selfie with a koala at Bungalow Bay Koala Village on Magnetic Island, the only resort in Australia boasting its own on-site wildlife park, including timber bungalows, hammocks around the pool, and the animal sanctuary. A half-hour ferry from the Australian mainland in North Queensland, ‘Maggie’ looks like the desert islands you see in cartoons: turquoise water and white-sand beaches, rock wallabies on granite headlands, colourful coral and even more vibrant tropical fish, 20km of walking track shaded by gum trees and hoop pines criss-crossing an island a little smaller than San Marino. Paradise!
 
@Credit YHA Australia
 
Port Lincoln
They’re not quite as cuddly as a koala, but sharks are another animal you need to see on your Aussie adventure! The best place to go cage-diving with great white sharks is Port Lincoln in South Australia, a small fishing town seven hours’ drive west of Adelaide. If staring a shark in the eye sounds too scary, you can also go swimming with cute sea lions or tuna instead. There’s also plenty of fresh fish to enjoy in the seafood capital of Australia. Port Lincoln YHA is a great base to explore this adventure paradise, a nautical playground of snorkelling, diving, kayaking, surfing and swimming (it’s safe, we promise).
 
@Credit Greg Snell Tourism Australia
 
Fremantle Prison
Did you know that Australia was originally settled by the British as a penal colony, and today, you can sleep in one of those old colonial prisons in Fremantle in Western Australia. In fact, Fremantle Prison locked up prisoners for 140 years until 1991 . . . then in 2015, YHA converted the old women’s prison into a 200-bed hostel. Fremantle Prison YHA has modern facilities and accommodation within the World Heritage-listed building, with cell blocks transformed into comfortable dorms plus private rooms in the old guards’ cottages overlooking the historic port of Fremantle. Your friends back home won’t believe you spend the night in a prison cell!
 
 
@Credit YHA Australia
 

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