How to See Australia in Ten Days Quiz

Answer: Manly

A perfect way to get a "flavour" of Sydney is to catch a ferry and explore the harbour. A ferry to Manly allows this and there are some wonderful walks around the Manly headlands after your swim (making sure you "swim between the flags"). You can round out your perfect first day in Australia with a seafood dinner on the terrace of at the Sydney Opera House before retiring to your hotel for an early night as you will have to be up early tomorrow.

Answer: A game of Australian Rules Football

The Melbourne Cricket Ground or MCG, also known as "The G", is a probably the most famous sporting stadium in Australia. In summer, cricket is indeed played there, but from March to the end of September, Australian Rules Football is played there. This game is unusual in several ways:
1. It was invented to keep cricket players fit in the off season
2. It uses the entire cricket pitch as a playing area. This means the playing field is oval shaped, 175m x 140m wide in the MCG's case. There are no corners, only pockets
3. Each side has 18 players on the field at the same time
4. If you slightly inaccurate and miss kicking a goal (6 points), you can still pick up a point by kicking a "behind".

Answer: Mt Wellington

Mt Wellington provides beautiful views of the Derwent River estuary and of Hobart itself. You wish you had more time to walk the national parks near Hobart (Hartz Peak) and the beauty of Lake St Clair/Cradle Mountain but these are hours away by car and really need days to explore. You really wanted to walk the South Coast Track in South West Tasmania (Frenchmans Cap) but this takes too long.

The only way in is to fly in a seaplane to Cockle Bay and walk to the western end which takes 8-9 days.

Answer: Australian sea lions

Over one quarter of Kangaroo island is national park, and conservation on Kangaroo Island is taken seriously. Little penguins (Eudyptula minor) can be seen at dusk under the guidance of a ranger. The platypus prefers a river/creek environment. Foxes and rabbits are introduced species in Australia but there are none on Kangaroo Island. The Australian sea lion is an endangered species and there are conservation areas set aside for them. Viewing them must always be under the guidance of a park ranger.

Now it's back to the mainland on the last ferry otherwise you will not make the first plane to Western Australia the next morning.

Answer: Hunter, Yarra, Barossa and Clare Valleys

Without doubt, Australia has a thriving wine industry, exporting wine all over the world. All the regions mentions plus the Coonawarra region in southeast South Australia indeed make high quality of wine, exporting over 40% of its production. Australia is the seventh largest wine producing country but the fourth largest wine exporter behind France, Italy and Spain (2013 figures). All other answers are regions that are too hot to grow grapes.

Now you need to get back to Perth tonight to catch the first plane out tomorrow morning.

Answer: Kakadu National Park

Snowy Mountains, Purnululu and Carnarvon Gorge National Parks are in New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland respectively. All are lovely places to visit are worthy of any Australia itinerary. Kakadu National Park is the size of New Jersey or Slovenia, or a third the size of Tasmania.

It has four major river systems, six major landforms and an absolute plethora of wildlife. It takes days, even weeks to explore properly and by flying over it, you have little appreciation of its diversity and the state of mind that being in the Australian outback can bring.

Answer: Alice Springs

The Arrernte Aboriginal people have lived in the Alice Springs area for over 30,000 years. In 1861, John Stuart led an expedition from Adelaide to the Northern tip to establish an overland route. European settlement commenced a decade after Stuart with the construction of a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line, an important link with the rest of the world. "The Alice", a town of 25,000 people, is famous for boat races on the dry Todd River, Camel Races and a novel by Neville Shute.

Note: Driving at night is not recommended in the outback. There are plenty of kangaroos you can, and will hit. Always drive with a spotter after dark.

Answer: 2 hour flight. Over 1200 km/750 miles (with no suitable roads)

In 1770, James Cook named Trinity Bay, the bay Cairns now rests on. One hundred years later it was considered suitable for a port. A railway soon followed.

Cairns was founded in 1876, mainly to export gold discovered on the tablelands west of the port. The railway opened up land for agriculture on the flat coastal plain (sugar cane, corn, rice, bananas, pineapples), and for fruit and dairy products on the Tableland. Tourism now plays the major role in the Cairns economy. Cairns is the fourth-most popular destination for international tourists in Australia after Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, though it is not as popular domestically. However because it has warm summer winters, Cairns is unusual as its peak domestic tourist season is in winter as southern residents (virtually everyone else in Australia), head north to escape the cold. (And it's my home town).

Answer: The Story Bridge

The Brisbane River is a wide, lazy river, prone to flooding, that serpentines its way through the city to Moreton Bay. The CBD itself is in a bight in the river, meaning the city can only move upwards. The Story Bridge is the most recognisable bridge in Brisbane, a fine cantilever bridge, built in 1940. The current Victoria bridge is in its third appearance being built in 1969. Previous versions were prone to be washed away with floods. The Goodwill and Kurilpa Bridges are recent bridges that connect the city centre to Southbank and are pedestrian only bridges.

Until it was opened it was to be called the Jubilee Bridge after King George V. When it was opened in 1940, it was named after a prominent local public servant.

Answer: Surfers Paradise

The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coasts each have over 40km each of pristine white sand beaches. Both places have extensive national parks, including rainforest, a short drive inland. Surfers Paradise is probably the most recognised part of the Gold Coast (but not necessarily the prettiest), whilst Noosa, Maroochydore and Moolloolaba are three of the most recognisable places on the Sunshine Coast.