Living in Australia

Australia, the Island Continent, is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the west and Pacific Ocean in the east. From the Coral Sea and South Pacific Ocean in the north, ocean currents sweep south along the east coast from the Great Barrier Reef, into Tasman Sea, past the island of Tasmania and into the Roaring Forties. In the southwest, the Great Southern Ocean receives the barest hint of the warm currents swept into the Indian Ocean from the equatorial waters of the Timor and Arafura Seas, which separates the northern Australian mainland from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. It occupies cool temperate to tropical climates from 10° south to 43° south latitude and from 112° east to 153° east longitude, to the south of the countries of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and west of New Zealand.

Australian States and Territories

The National capital of Australia is Canberra.
There are six (6) states;

Queensland (QLD), Capital city Brisbane
New South Wales (NSW),
Victoria (VIC), Capital city Melbourne
Tasmania (TAS), Capital city Hobart
South Australia (SA) Capital city Adelaide
Western Australia (WA). Capital city Perth
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is now self administrating with it’s own legislature.
The Northern Territory (NT), despite being self administering, can still have it’s state laws overturned by the Federal Government.

Australian External Territories

The Australian External Territiories include Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean and the Coral Sea Islands Territory, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands in the Indian Ocean, which are are administered from Canberra.

Seasons

The seasons are reversed to the northern hemisphere, and dress is standard for business, tending to comfortable and informal, with lightweight clothing suitable for most of the year, although southern states, highlands and desert regions can get below zero at night and during the cooler months.

Summer: December – February: Summer – 21 December
Autumn (Fall): March – May: Autumn -21 March
Winter: June – August: Winter – 21 June
Spring: September – November: Spring – 21 September

The best seasons to travel to Australia (nicest Weather) are in either Spring or Autumn
Australian Time Zones
Australia has three time zones;

Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST = GMT +10),
Central (ACST = GMT +9 ½) and
Western (AWST = GMT +8).

The Eastern seaboard of Australia, is ten hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +10) from early April to early October (Autumn, Winter and Early Spring months).

Daylight Saving Time

All states, with the exception of QLD and NT, observe Daylight Saving, advancing clocks by 1 hour, from early October to early April (mid Spring and all Summer), usually commencing and ending on the first Sunday of the respective months. In the eastern states (NSW, ACT, VIC and TAS) AEST becomes Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT), and clocks are advanced one hour to GMT +11.

Transport in Australia:

Easy way of traveling around in Australia is through Trams. There are different Types of Rail Passes available for Australia Travel.
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