Of course: the continent of Oceania is not just Australia, it comprises New Zealand and all those small, exotic and quite interesting Pacific and Polynesian islands and archipelagos as well. But, consider the size of Australia, nearly five flight hours from Perth in the West to Sydney in the East, or 4000 kilometres of road to be covered in an almost straight line. The sheer size of Australia implies that it is practically impossible to cover its sights of history, culture and scenery in full. The bad news is that it's not possible, the good news, though, is that it isn't necessary either. For, even staying within a limited geographical range, one can absorb the immense diversity of Australia, with modern cities that have developed in respect of their short but interesting history, with grand coastal and mountain land scenery that carries one away in awe and amazement. Australia is simply a phenomenal country to travel in. Sadly, a constant factor in each story behind each corner is that the development of what Australia is today, has come at the cost of uprooting Aboriginal communities, a wrong that Australian society commendably appears to try and undo today, but a wrong which penetrates so deeply that it cannot really be undone. As a visitor one can contribute, though, by showing due respect.

 

And with all this in mind, we are about to travel through a part of Australia: three States, West Australia with Perth, South Australia with Adelaide and Victoria with Melbourne. Three cities, in character quite different from one another, each with an amazing story to be told of gold rush, convict settlement, free immigration, 19th century whaling and navigation. Small, modest villages with tidy little harbours, tucked away in coves and inlets. Natural phenomenons like the Pinnacles desert, crater lakes, fabulous seascapes along the 300 kilometre stretch of the appropriately named Great Ocean Road, the cute encounters with koalas and kangaroos, and so many things more.