What to See in New South Wales Quiz

Answer:

Let's start with the big names: if you fly into Sydney, you can start your tourist trek with the Opera House (on the south side of the harbour), ride a ferry across the harbour to Taronga Zoo (or, if you prefer, drive across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to get there), then check out the beaches, including the popular one in the southern suburb of Bondi favoured by overseas visitors around Christmas. But the real sites of the state are further afield - what you can see depends on which way you go!

Travelling west from Sydney, you will soon reach the Blue Mountains, which formed a serious impediment to the earliest settlers' attempts to explore the inland part of the country. The town of Katoomba is a popular spot from which to explore the region, which includes a spectacular rock formation known as the Three Sisters. Known by the Gundungurra names of Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, the three sandstone formations can be seen from the Echo Point Lookout, which is also the starting point of a bush trail that explores the Jamison Valley and leads to Katoomba Falls.

West of the Blue Mountains you can visit Jenolan Caves (a spectacular limestone formation located near the town of Oberon), the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo (officially a part of the Taronga Zoo, established to provide plenty of space for animals such as elephants to roam freely rather than being confined in the smaller Sydney zoo), and the Parkes radio telescope. While not all tourists are keen astronomers, many take the time to visit the telescope that was featured in the 2000 Australian movie 'The Dish', a fictionalised account of Australian astronomers' involvement in the first moon landing. Further inland (and well north, near the border with Queensland) is the opal mining town of Lightning Ridge, which is also a good place to look for dinosaur fossils.

Travelling south from Sydney, you can drive along the coast through the Royal National Park and along the coastal strip of the Illawarra region, between the sea and a steep escarpment. This road will take you to Kiama, where a blowhole attracts tourists. The name Kiama apparently means "Where the sea makes a noise" - and it certainly does! Much further south you will reach the Snowy Mountains, location of the hydroelectricity project that drove immigration in the years following World War II. Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain on the mainland of Australia at 2228 metres, is in this range.

Heading north from Sydney, the state's second-largest city, Newcastle, is located in the Hunter Valley. While this region is historically associated with coal mining and exporting, you can travel up the Hunter and find one of Australia's premier wine districts. The first vineyards were established near the start of the 18th century, almost as soon as arable land was discovered by the settlers - apparently the government thought that providing an abundance of wine would prevent excessive drunkenness from strong spirits, such as the rum that plagued Sydney. While a range of styles are produced, Hunter Valley Semillon is considered the iconic wine of the region.

Further north along the coast, in Coff's Harbour, is one of Australia's first "Big" tourist attractions, the Big Banana. This tourist park was built in 1964, in the middle of a banana plantation, and features a walk-through banana where you can learn about bananas, and (of course) buy banana-themed souvenirs. Much further north, near the Queensland border, is Byron Bay, site of the Cape Byron Lighthouse that marks the easternmost point of the Australian mainland. This is a popular spot for whale watching.

If you want to visit Lord Howe Island, you will need to leave the car behind, as it is a volcanic island in the Tasman Sea, about 600 km off the coast and nearly 800 km away from Sydney. The number of tourists on the island is restricted to 400 at any one time, so you need to plan your visit in advance if you want to be sure of having the chance to explore it.

If you still have more time for your Australian visit, you can find Fraser Island (the world's largest sand island) off the coast of Queensland - and further north in the Coral Sea is the Great Barrier Reef; Kakadu National Park, Uluru and Alice Springs are in the Northern Territory; Monkey Mia is located in Western Australia; the famous underground opal mining town of Coober Pedy is in South Australia, off the coast of which you will find Kangaroo Island; the Twelve Apostles are rock formations that can be seen off the Victorian coast as you travel along the Great Ocean Road and the Yarra River flows through that state's capital, Melbourne; Cradle Mountain is in the island state of Tasmania, and the Australian War Memorial is located in the national capital, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.