Australia is the only country that has a whole continent to itself. It's the approximate size of the continential United States.

Cars:

Because of the vastness of Australia I don't recommend driving. You don't want to be spending your entire holiday in a rental car. Here is a list of approximate times it takes to travel between Australia's major cities:

• Melbourne to Sydney: 9-10 hours (approximately 900 kilometres / 560 miles)
• Brisbane to Sydney: 12-13 hours (approximately 1000 kilometres / 620 miles)
• Perth to Sydney: 50 hours (approximately 4100 kilometers / 2550 miles)
• Sydney to Canberra: 3-3.5 hours (approximately 300 kilometres / 185 miles)
• Adelaide to Melbourne: 8-10 hours (approximately 750 kilometres / 465 miles)
• Brisbane to Melbourne: 19-20 hours (approximately 1700 kilometres / 1056 miles)
• Melbourne to Perth: 40 hours (approximately 3500 kilometres / 2175 miles)
• Perth to Adelaide: 32 hours (approximately 2700 kilometres / 1677 miles)

However if you do drive please note that Australia drives 'on the left,' speeds and distances are in kilometers and fuel is sold by the litre. If you must drive please keep to the 'sealed highways,' you do not want to be stranded in the outback.

Trains:

Only three to use, apart from the inter city links.

• The Queenslander from Brisbane to Cairns is overnight and excellent way to see Queensland
• The Ghan, from Adelaide, South Australia to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, overnight, then take it to Darwin at the top end, another overnight trip.
• The Indian Pacific runs from Sydney, New South Wales to Perth, Western Australia and takes 3 days.

They run twice a week so your itinerary has to be planned to fit in with the correct days.

Take a sleeper.

Cruises:

There are several excellent cruises which start in Sydney and stop at Melbourne, Hobart and then go onto New Zealand.

Queensland has excellent 3, 5, and 7 day cruises from Cairns up and down the reef.

There is also one which takes you up to the top end, Thursday Island and the Torres strait for the adventureous.

Western Australia has an excellent cruise from Broome to Darwin, seeing a part of Australia which is rarely visited.