Why go
A map alone can make Australia's mainland, Tasmania and surrounding islands look like one easy circuit. This overview explains why the eastern coast holds many of the major population centres, why Indigenous history precedes British settlement by tens of thousands of years, and why federation still shapes the country you travel through.
The full story
Australia includes the continental mainland, Tasmania and many smaller islands. Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Timor-Leste lie to the north, with New Zealand to the southeast. The continent's size matters when planning: its eastern coastal settlements occupy one part of a much broader range of landscapes. Aboriginal peoples lived across the continent for tens of thousands of years before British colonisation, with many distinct languages and communities. Dutch sailors documented parts of the coast from 1606. Britain claimed the eastern part in 1770, then established a penal colony in New South Wales in 1788. These dates mark European actions, not the beginning of Australian history. Five further British colonies developed, and the six federated as the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. Their state boundaries remain part of a federal system. Reading the country through both its much older Indigenous histories and its later colonial and national institutions gives context to the different regions encountered on a journey.