Australian Beaches

Australian Beaches Photo Albums
Hamilton Island	Port Campbell	Barrier Reef	Whitehaven
Haslewood Is	Melbourne	Sydney	Port Douglas
Gold Coast	Sunshine Coast	Fraser Coast	Fraser Island
Aireys Inlet	Cape Trib	Jervis Bay	East Tasmania
Byron Bay	Great Ocean Rd	Freycinet	Bells Beach
Cairns	MORE
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Australia is an isolated continent completely surrounded on all sides by the sea. Oceans include the South Pacific, Indian, and Great Southern oceans. Seas include the Timor, Arafura, Coral, and Tasman seas. The Bass Strait separates the island state of Tasmania and the continent.

Australia is renown for its beaches and with a huge 37,000 km of coastline, it has more than any other country a whopping 11,011 signigicant beaches to be exact. Eighty percent of Australians live in a coastal strip that extends from Cairns down to Adelaide and inland for only 50 kilometres. The coastline extends through a wide range of climates from tropical in the north to temperate in the south.

Highlights of the Australian coastline include the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, The Twelve Apostles, and the Ningaloo Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef, is the largest reef on Earth extending for over 2000 km. This is about the same size of the USA's eastern coastline. The Barrier Reef is actually made up of approximately 3000 individual reefs and is a World Heritage Area as well as one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. The reef encompasses nearly 1000 pristine tropical islands.

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and another World Heritage site. The island runs close to and parallel to the Queensland coast and is 144km long and between 25 to 50km wide. Sandhills rise nearly 240m in places and there are over 100 freshwater lakes. Some of these lakes are among the cleanest in the world and have pure white sand beaches. In addition to the lakes, there are pockets of rainforest that grow on top of sand.

The Twelve Apostles, are unusual rock formations which rise out of the ocean and stand up to 100m above sea level. They are located along Victoria's southern coastline in Port Campbell National Park.

Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia is a must see destinations for those who love scuba diving or snorkelling. Near the small town of Exmouth, this pristine reef though not as big as the Great Barrier, rivals it for coral quality and unusual fish species. It is also famous for the appearance of the enormous whale shark. Other creatures include manta rays, dugongs, and humpback whales.

Statistical breakdown of the Australian coastline in km.


    Australia (total)   36,735km 

    Western Australia   12,500km 
    Queensland           7,400km 
    Northern Territory   6,200km 
    South Australia      3,700km 
    Tasmania             3,200km 
    New South Wales      1,900km 
    Victoria             1,800km 
    ACT (inc Jervis Bay)    35km

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Australian Beaches

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