The sun is shining, the golden sands are glistening and your surfboard is waxed and ready. The cool, blue waves are breaking just offshore in an enticing crash of foam. Surf’s up in Australia!

If you want to learn to surf, or you are just keen to spend as much time as possible on the board, you can’t go wrong heading for Australia. You can take surf lessons across the country, from Sydney’s Bondi Beach to Perth’s Scarborough Beach.

You also get a free surf lesson with the guys from Manly Surf thanks to your Visa Bureau Platinum Card, check out the deets here.

But perhaps you were thinking something more like an adventure of epic proportions? Why not try a surfing safari?

Several companies offer multi-day trips that let you combine travel and surfing, even if you are more of a beginner, with the most popular area being the run north from Sydney to beachside Byron Bay.

Sydney to Byron Bay safaris

One of the major surfing operators on this route is MojoSurf which runs a series of surf camps, surf adventures, surf stays, and advanced training courses. Their most popular trip is the five-day Great Aussie Surf Adventure, which starts off at Sydney and ends in Byron Bay. In the opposite direction, the trip leaves from either Brisbane or Byron Bay.

From Sydney, the first stop is their remote Crescent Head camp, where you stay for three days and two nights in a modern four-star, hostel-rated surf hut just a few steps from the sand. From Crescent Head the coach heads north to Camp X, located in a secret spot somewhere north of Coffs Harbour and south of Byron Bay, where you spend two nights. There are seven surf lessons in all, each lasting between two and three hours, and most people are standing on their board and catching waves by the end of the trip.

Also following the route up to Byron Bay is Surfaris, with a popular five-day adventure that takes in up to 12 beaches, each with their own character.
They surf at places depending on the wind, tides and swell and actively search out the best conditions, and because they surf off national park beaches you get to see plenty of wildlife. You could spot dolphins in the waters, or even catch the same waves as one.

Another company that runs surf trips on this route is Waves Surf School, based in Byron Bay, which offers a five-day Sydney to Byron Bay trip, along with four-day and seven-day trips. You can travel the NSW North Coast living the surfer’s dream of freedom, travel, good waves and good times with Travel Aust too. This company also runs tours from Sydney to Byron Bay, and vice versa.

Queensland surf

Over the border in Queensland, Ride On Tours offers several great surfing adventures, including trips around the leafy North Stradbroke Island off Brisbane, and to the iconic Surfers Paradise.

Beach Bum Australia offers surf safaris lasting up to three days between Noosa, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise and Byron Bay.

Last but not least

In Victoria, Great Ocean Road Surf Tours offer multi-day trips to Torquay, the home of Australian Surf Culture and the birthplace of iconic surf brands Rip Curl and Quiksilver.

For South Australia, Surf Culture Australia does surf safaris to the Yorke, and Surf and Sun run three, four and five-day surf camps on the Fleurieu Peninsula, leaving from Adelaide.

In Western Australia, Discover West offers a South West Surfing Safari Tour. The four-day trip starts off with a bus journey from Perth to Albany, before heading back via some of the best surf beaches along the beautiful coastal route.

- Go gnarly bro with an Australian working holiday!

©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.

Over 70 per cent of the world’s opal is chipped out of the ground in Coober Pedy, so if you are keen to have a go at finding your own gem (and it’s easy!) head out to South Australia.

Opal was discovered in 1915 but it wasn’t until the 1960s that hundreds of enthusiastic young men from Europe headed to Coober Pedy to mine small parcels of land with the hope of striking it rich.

One miner certainly did! The largest opal in the world was found in the town in 1956.  

The “Olympic Australis” weighs 17,000 carats (3450 grams and is valued at AUD$2,500,000! It is housed in a special security safe at Altmann & Cherny’s showroom, 128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, and you can see it during showroom hours.

After decades of mining the opal fields are covered with mounds of debris from prospecting shafts and the hills are a warren of underground dwellings – it looks a little bit like the surface of the moon.

Over half of the town’s 4,000 or so residents live underground with homes that range from one-room hand-dug bedsits to rambling subterranean mansions with swimming pools and fancy fixtures.

In summer, when outside temperatures can reach a sizzling 50˚C, these underground homes keep cool (around 22-26˚C), while in winter the homes are warm without the need for artificial heating. You can even stay at an underground hostel in Coober Pedy.

Opal mining is pretty good fun, and you can try your hand at it by taking the Down ‘n Dirty Opal Tour. On the tour visitors are given hard hats, torches and hand picks and a chance to hack at the walls of the Quest Mine to find opal.

And when you do find it, the rivers of light are unmistakable.

- Australian working holiday visa will allow you to work and travel your way around Oz!

©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.