New Year's Eve Down Under With Fiji

Alice Springs is the main focus on the Centre, the red outback country of central Australia. It is the northern Terminus of the Central Australian Railway and a jumping-off point for the exploration of central Australia.

A city of stunning natural beauty, Auckland blends the best of the modern cosmopolitan world with that of a Polynesian paradise. Nestled between two beautiful harbors, this marine playground offers breathtaking views and more than 1,000 bays and beaches. Shop the colorful Victorian Park Market or the charming boutiques of Parnell Village. Explore museums brimming with artifacts of the Maori culture. Or enjoy the natural splandor of the city, from English-style rose gardens to extinct volcanic sites. Popular landmarks are One Tree Hill and Mount Eden.

The Great Barrier Reef curves close to the coast and meets the rain forest at Cairns, the gateway to Australia’s “Deep North.” Explore the reef up close via catamaran, or choose from a host of excursions the lush tropical forests, picturesque towns and homesteads that surround the city. The nearby town of Kuranda has a butterfly farm and a great street market on Sundays and Wednesdays.

The Coral Coast begins 15 kilometres south of Nadi town, and hosts the largest concentration of beach resorts. This was the first area to fully develop tourism in the 1960s and 1970s and is still one of the most popular areas for visitors. Most resorts are alongside nice, white-sand beaches and cater for family holidays.The Coral Coast is an area where tour companies offer trips to offshore Robinson Crusoe Island, waterfalls and river rafting excursions. There’s a small culture centre and the impressive Sigatoka Sandunes just outside Sigatoka.Be sure to stop and watch the waves breaking on the reef just off shore.

Melbourne, (mèl´bern) city (1991 est. pop. 3,153,500), capital of Victoria, SE Australia, on Port Phillip Bay, at the mouth of the Yarra R. Australia’s second largest city, it is a commercial and industrial center with such manufactures as ships, automobiles, farm machinery, textiles, and electrical equipment. The city was settled in 1835 and named (1837) for the British prime minister, Lord Melbourne. It was the seat of the Australian federal government (1901-27). The population,
once primarily British, has changed since World War II with immigration from E and S Europe. Melbourne was the site of the 1956 Olympic games. The Melbourne Cup Race is run annually.

Queenstown is an exhilarating, year round, alpine resort, perfect for adventurers and leisure seekers alike.Nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, overlooked by the majestic Southern Alps, the town was named because “…it was fit for Queen Victoria.” Queenstown is today recognised internationally as New Zealand’s premier visitor destination. Queenstown has more than just breathtaking scenery and a diverse range of attractions, it’s the people visitors find enchanting. In fact in 1998, Queenstown was again voted Friendliest Foreign City in a poll of 37,000 readers of Conde Nast Traveler, a top US Travel Publication. Queenstown first won the award in 1996.

Sydney, capital of New South Wales, is Australia’s largest city, chief port, and main cultural and industrial center. Manufactures include ships, refined oil, chemicals, textiles, and automobiles. Sydney Harbour and Port Botany are the main ports. Founded as a penal colony in 1788, Sydney is Australia’s oldest settlement. Its population surged during the Australian gold rushes of the 1850s. Sydney replaced Melbourne as the nation’s largest population center after World War II. Landmarks include the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932); the Gladesville Bridge (1964); the modernistic Sydney Opera House complex (1973); and the Centrepoint Tower (1981), Australia’s tallest building. The city has several universities and museums, including the National Gallery of Art and the Australia Museum.