The biggest festival in the Southern Hemisphere will kick off pretty shortly, turning every nook and cranny in Adelaide into one giant party.

The festival completely takes over the city with all things quirky, fun and frivolous with the legendary opening night party and the Adelaide International Buskers Festival being two highlights.

The opening night of the Adelaide Fringe 2011 will see a cast of thousands, led by the alternative King and Queen, parade from the corner of Dequetteville Tce down the streets of the East End. As the sun sets, the Parade will dance into Wonderland (the transformed Rymill Park) for a night of soul, funk, reggae, jazz, new folk, calypso, indie, pop and world music. And it’s free!

The Adelaide Fringe began as an alternative to the Adelaide Festival and has become an enormously popular event. There are hundreds of cabaret, comedy, dance, theatre, music, film, circus and visual arts events all around the city for the 24 days and nights of the festival. Best of all, there are lots of free events.

More than a million people attend the free and ticketed events at the festival, and the opening night party alone attracts more than 80,000 people.

The Adelaide Fringe Festival kicks off on Friday February 18 until Sunday, March 13. Visit www.adelaidefringe.com.au for more information.

- Apply for an Australian working holiday visa and get started on the trip of a lifetime!

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

Most people know of the Great Barrier Reef, but there is another reef off the west coast where you can swim with whale sharks in turquoise waters.

Ningaloo Marine Park is also one of the only places in the world you can swim with whale sharks; gentle giants that have wide mouths designed to filter the water for plankton, small plants and animals.

Despite the huge size of the whale shark, they are docile and pose little danger to humans, and it is possible to swim quite close if you are careful of their tails. If you join a snorkel or dive tour they will be able to get you up close to the whale sharks safely.

The main time to view and swim with the whale shark is from March to June.

The reef is a little over two hours by plane from Perth (or two days drive) on Western Australia’s mid north coast, and it stretches 260 kilometres from Bundegi Reef near Exmouth to Amherst Point near Coral Bay in the south and encompasses a massive 5,000 square kilometres of ocean.

If you wade into the water at Turquoise Bay you will be floating within a few metres of a reef that is home to dolphins, dugong, manta rays and turtles, 500 species of tropical fish and 220 species of coral.

There are plenty of snorkelling or dive tours you can join, as well as glass bottom boat tours, boat trips or quad bike tours. There are even 4WD tours that will take you to some spectacular locations in the national parks in the region.

Parts of Ningaloo Marine Park have also recently been nominated for World Heritage status.

The Western Australia official tourism website has more deets to help you plan your trip: http://www.westernaustralia.com/uk/Destinations/Australias_Coral_Coast/Pages/Australias_Coral_Coast.aspx

- First step for an Australian adventure: Apply for an Australian working holiday visa!

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.