I'm Chris, this is Yellow Productions.

I do travel guides to help you travel intelligently, affordably, and comfortably.

And in this video, I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know before you come into this amazing country, including how to get in, how to get around, what to eat while you're here, what to see, give you an orientation on it.

Most importantly, I'm gonna tell you how to have fun while you're here.

By the way, you should also know it can be quite windy in Australia, so hopefully I don't get blown away in this video.

Now, the first thing to know is that Australia is big.

It's real big.

In fact, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world in terms of land mass, but only 25 million people live here.

To give you an idea of the size, if you're driving from Brisbane to Perth, that's gonna take you about three days.

The flight is about five hours, so kind of similar if you're going from coast to coast across the United States of America.

The number one mistake that tourists make coming to Australia, simply trying to see way too much on their first trip.

You can't do it all, you can't see the whole place.

Pick a region or two, stick to one or two cities.

A great start, if it's your first trip, would be to do Sydney and Melbourne and leave the rest for next time.

Now, the second thing to know is some information to help you get oriented on Australia.

I mentioned just to stick to one or two regions, so let's go ahead and talk about Australia's major regions.

Starting on the east coast is Sydney, home to 5.3 million people.

It's Australia's biggest city with the famous Opera House, but Sydney isn't the capital of Australia.

Canberra is the capital.

It's a three-hour drive south of Sydney.

It's a planned capital with 400,000 residents, kind of like a mini Washington DC.

Swinging around to the south coast, we've got Melbourne.

It's spelled like Melbourne, but it's pronounced Melbourne.

It's Australia's second largest city with 5.1 million people but it could surpass Sydney in a few years.

Melbourne is more artsy and funky than Sydney.

Continuing around to South Australia, we've got Adelaide.

Adelaide is home to 1.3 million people.

It's known as Australia's festival city with famous wine-growing regions.

Perth is the capital of Western Australia.

If you want the most sunshine of Australia's big cities, look no further than Perth.

In the center of it all is the Outback.

Yes, where the steakhouse gets its name.

No, you won't find an Outback Steakhouse in Australia's Outback.

The Outback is not to be confused with the bush.

If you hear the term the bush, that usually refers to the suburbs of the bigger cities.

The Outback is even further out and more even undeveloped.

Mostly nature-based and indigenous experiences is what you'll find in the Outback.

Some might say the Outback is the real Australia.

Now back on the west coast, you'll find the Great Barrier Reef, a 2,600 kilometer long set of reefs home to an amazing underwater wonderland of aquatic creatures.

But the Great Barrier Reef also has 300 islands to explore for land lovers.

This is really paradise for snorkelers and scuba divers.

The third thing to know is Australia is more than just desert.

Yes, Australia gets all four seasons, including winter and including snow.

Australia actually has 16 ski resorts.

You'll find them mostly in the southeast, near Sydney and Melbourne.

And if you're from the Northern Hemisphere, remember the seasons here are flipped.

So summer is December to February and winter here is June to August.

The fourth thing you'll wanna know is about the really cool animals you can see when you come to Australia.

And there was one actually part of Australia I left off when I went around because I wanna mention it now, which is the island of Tasmania.

This island is off the south of the mainland of Australia.

And yes, the Tasmanian devil is real.

Not the Looney Tunes character, but there's actually an animal named the Tasmanian devil that comes from this island.

Now the five animals that you'll wanna see in Australia according to the Sydney Wildlife Zoo are the kangaroo, the wombat, the platypus, koalas, and of course, crocodiles.

Now my favorite of the Australian animals has to be the quokka, and it wasn't one that's on this sign.

It's known as the happiest animal in the world.

You'll find that one on an island called Rottnest Island.

They are native to there.

And if you wanna take a trip to Rottnest Island to visit the quokkas, you'll find it just off the coast of Perth.

If you're looking for these animals and think you'll find them roaming the streets of Sydney and Melbourne, I'm sorry, but you won't.

You will find kangaroos roaming the streets of like way out in the suburbs or places like that.

But if you do see a kangaroo, please keep your distance.

They can actually kick, and if they do, they really hurt.

And then of course, koalas, one of the quintessential experiences is cuddling a koala.

And so most of the zoos that have koalas often offer for an extra price, cuddle a koala experiences.

Though, if you do cuddle a koala, you will find they're actually not that cuddly.

Their fur is actually kind of prickly.

The fifth thing to know before you go to Australia is about the money.

In Australia, they use the Australian dollar, abbreviated AUD.

At the time I made this video, one US dollar was about $1.50 Australian dollars.

Australian money is colorful and plasticky.

The coins, there are no pennies, and there are $1 and $2 coins.

ATMs are plentiful.

Credit cards and debit cards are taken almost everywhere.

I will say on this trip, I have not used cash once.

I've used my credit card for everything.

Some stores may charge a small surcharge for using your credit card, and some places may give you a discount for using cash, but that's not to say that they don't take it.

Now on the costs of traveling to Australia, it's actually kind of expensive.

Australia has one of the highest living costs in the world, and so you'll find your trip here to be a lot more expensive than other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand or places like that.

One thing to be aware of when it comes to restaurants is that many restaurants on Sundays and holidays charge more.

So you might find restaurants charging 10 to 15% more just for the privilege of eating there on a Sunday or a holiday, so be aware of that.

But one nice thing at restaurants that'll save you a little bit of money is tipping really isn't a thing here.

You'll find some of the higher-end restaurants may give you a tipping option, 5%, maybe customary, but you're not gonna be inundated with tip jars at every coffee shop and those sorts of things.

So the price you see is the price you pay, and taxes are included in those prices, which makes it easy to know how much things actually cost.

The eighth thing to know is about visas, and all visitors to Australia require a visa, no, not the credit card, but a visa to actually come to the country with the exception of New Zealanders.

Residents of many countries, including the USA and Canada, can obtain visas online.

They're like 15 bucks, they're pretty cheap, and they often get approved in 24 hours or less.

So it's pretty easy, but make sure you do that before you show up to the airport, otherwise you won't be able to check in for your flight.

Number seven, let's talk about getting into Australia.

Australia's biggest airport is Sydney International Airport.

If you're flying in, chances are you'll be flying into Sydney.

You could also be flying into Melbourne, that is Australia's second largest airport, but they are both modern, clean, nice airports.

Qantas is the flagship carrier of Australia, flagship, it's like their national carrier.

But you should know, if you're connecting internal to Australia, you will have to clear customs at your first point of entry, and then you can reconnect.

So if you are connecting, coming in internationally, and then connecting domestically, you'll probably wanna allow at least three hours for that domestic connection, so you can clear passports and customs, and then recheck in your bag for your next flight.

The eighth thing to know is about getting around Australia, and getting around the cities, at least, if you're in the big cities of Sydney and Melbourne, they've got pretty good public transportation.

The rest of Australia, the public transit isn't so great, so you'll want to rent a car and drive a car.

Now, if you are renting a car, beware they drive on the left side of the road here.

So if you're not that familiar with driving on the left side of the road, well, just be careful.

Maybe stay out of the big cities, just stay in the country where there's a few less cars.

Getting between cities, rail can be an option.

There's a decent train network on the East Coast and the South Coast, but then not so much for the rest of the country.

The trains are slow because the country's big.

Buses are an option as well.

Greyhound operates the national bus network.

It's gonna be cheaper than the trains, but it's also gonna be pretty slow.

Now, when you're out and about walking, be careful if you're not used to cars driving on the left-hand side.

They come in a different direction than you're used to.

Usually, you're used to looking right if you're from someplace where the cars drive on the right side.

Here, you'll want to look left.

Probably just look in both directions to be extra careful.

Now, if you're going to the Great Barrier Reef, obviously, you'll need to take a boat because it's in the ocean, but the only way to get there are by organized tours.

If you're going to Tasmania and you don't wanna fly, you can take a ferry from Melbourne.

It'll take you 10 hours.

And the ninth thing to know before you go is about the language, and it's English, kind of based on British English.

Okay, so what's some particularly Australian vocabulary you might hear while you're here?

Well, probably the most common one is when they say, cheers, mate, which means like, thank you, friend.

If you see a sign that says no thongs, that's not referring to your undergarment, that means no flip-flops, sandals, those ones that have the thong that goes in between your toes.

If you see skinny milk, that is skim milk or kind of non-fat milk.

If you see light milk, that's kind of 2% or reduced fat milk.

If you see trading hours on store, that's when they're open.

If you see a sign that says mind the gap, that says, hey, don't fall in this hole before you board the train.

If someone says they're feeling dusty in the morning, that means they're hung over.

If you see a restaurant that advertises they're a takeaway, that means they serve the food to go.

If you see a shop that says they're a chemist, they don't sell chemicals, that's a pharmacy or a drugstore.

And then if somebody says no worries mate to you, that means no problem, not a big deal.

It could also mean thank you or you're welcome.

Number 10, let's talk about the beach.

Australia has some really fantastic beaches, but the problem with the beach in Australia is there's lots of things in the water here that try to kill you from jellyfish to sharks to even more.

And so if you are at a beach that is lifeguarded, make sure you swim between the flags where it is safest or even maybe try to find a netted beach to swim at.

That's gonna be even safer.

Now, if you're going out surfing, lots of great surf breaks in Australia, lots of great surf infrastructure, surf shops, but whatever you do, if there are posted warnings at the beach, take those warnings seriously.

Oh, and I'm gonna warn you about these birds right here.

These birds right here are vicious.

They will take all of your food.

Don't let any food nearby these things, otherwise you're not gonna have any food left.

The 11th thing to know before you go to Australia is about shopping and stores.

They open about 10 a.m. and they close early in comparison to most other countries.

Think five, six, or 7 p.m. for the stores that stay open the latest.

Now, in most cities, there's one or two days that perhaps they stay open later.

For example, in Sydney, stores stay open later on Thursdays.

In that case, they'll be open until nine.

But beware of Sundays.

On Sundays, particularly in the rural areas, stores close super early or maybe don't even open at all.

And when I say stores, I don't just mean clothing stores.

I mean grocery stores and drug stores.

In some cities, those might close at 3 p.m. on Sundays or might not even open at all.

This also applies to gas stations.

So if you're out in the middle of Australia, you should probably gas up on Saturday and not depend on getting gas on Sunday.

The 12th thing to know is about the food in Australia.

And unlike Crocodile Dundee said, it turns out they actually don't put any shrimps on the barbie.

Because if they're putting something like that on the barbie, it's actually gonna be prawns.

Now, Australia's British heritage remains in their classic Aussie foods.

You will find them to be heavy and hearty.

Some classic Australian eats that you might wanna seek out are sausage rolls, which is basically sausage embedded in some tasty bread.

Meat pies, that is meat wrapped in a bit of a pie dough.

If you're feeling adventuresome, you can eat some classic Australian animals, kangaroo, crocodile, emu, and more, you'll find on offer in Australian restaurants.

On the breakfast buffet, you might see these little packages of Vegemite.

They are yeast extract and vegetables.

In my opinion, it's a little bit of an acquired taste.

For dessert, it doesn't get any more iconically Australian than a package of Tim Tams.

These are little biscuits with some chocolate and a cream filling.

You'll find them in nearly any Australian supermarket and they can be quite addictive.

Now, my favorite food to eat in Australia turned out to be Asian food, because Australia's actually pretty close to Asia and that means there's tons of delicious Asian food here.

Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, and more.