Summer in Australia
The Australian summer, for lack of words, is gorgeous. The sun is pretty much always shining, and the weather is anywhere from warm to just plain hot. Because of this, the summer months of December, January and February are packed full of tourists trying to get the most of the holiday season by avoiding the winter of the Northern Hemisphere.
Beaches are a hot destination, and places like Bondi, the Gold Coast and Cairns are going to be filled with sun lovers from around the world. You can stay in beach resorts, Australia hotels or hostels, but I do recommend booking early.
Even working holiday visa holders should plan a bit in advance. The apartment search in Sydney is going to be tight since that’s when people that recently traveled north come back to spend summer. Therefore, plan to have a Sydney hostel (or Melbourne, etc.) lined up before arriving, and until you definitely have a place to call your own.
The summer is a great time to visit the southern parts of Australia as well, since the cool winter and spring chill is most definitely gone. Take a trip to Kangaroo Island and Tasmania if you get the chance, or jump over to Perth to get summer temperatures similar to Sydney. From here, you can check out Fremantle, hop over to Rottnest Island (one of the popular islands in Australia) or simply relax on Cable Beach.
A light jacket is always in order when traveling to Australia, even in the summer. If you plan to go to the Outback, the nighttime hours can bring a significantly cooler temperature than what was present during the day.
Summer brings a plethora of festivals and events to the Australian cities. Of course, there are the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations around the country, with the most notable one being the fireworks off the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the stroke of midnight, January 1st. Besides that, the Perth International Arts Festival runs from January to February, and the Big Day Out music festival goes around that time as well.