Big cities always prove to be a hit with tourists and are the most commonly visited places however there’s so many hidden gems in the form of small Australian towns and villages with their own character and attractions that are also worth discovering.
Port Douglas (pictured) is a one-street fishing village, strip of funky restaurants, a championship golf course and not forgetting the four-mile beach at the end of the street. Though the town is only home to approximately 3,000 residents, the population increases during peak tourism season. This occurs at two particular times of the year; one the world-famous Port Douglas Carnivale which attracts huge crowds and the second being the group of festivals which include the Go Troppo arts festival, Footprints music festival and “Porttoberfest” beer festival.
Broken Hill – sometimes referred to as the “silver city” or the “oasis of the west” – is a small isolated mining town home to Silverton Camel Farm, Stephen’s Creek, a Sculpture Symposium, Mundi-Mundi plains along with historic buildings, galleries of local artists’ work and several quarries and lakes. The town has an up-and-coming nightlife which is worth giving a go and anyway since when do students pass down the offer to party?
Launceston is one of the oldest cities in Australia and Tasmania’s second city packed with Victorian and Georgian architecture and remnants of Australia’s convict past. It is home to the country’s biggest collection of nineteenth century buildings. Tourist attractions include an aquatic centre, country club casino with a hotel, golf course and casino – one of the oldest casinos to be built in the whole of Australia. As well as the Cataract Gorge which boasts the world’s longest single span chair lift which carries visitors 1,010 feet above the ground from one side to the other.
