Australia is an enormous country, and visitors expecting to see an opera in Sydney one night and meet Crocodile Dundee the next will have to re-think their grasp of geography. It is this sheer vastness, and the friction between the ancient land steeped in Aboriginal lore and the New World culture being heaped upon it, which gives Australia much of its character. In some states, selected banking facilities are available on Saturday morning. General office hours are 9am 5pm, Monday Friday. Post offices open from 9am 5pm Monday Friday.
Stamps are often available at front desks of hotels and motels and at selected retail outlets.
Climate Spending Christmas at the beach or skiing in August may seem strange but the fact is, Australia's seasons are the opposite of the northern hemisphere - summer starts in December, autumn in March, winter in June and spring in September. Due to its size, geographical location and the lack of extensive high mountain ranges Australia has a wide range of climates but generally no extremes. The average temperature ranges from 23-260C above the Tropic of Capricorn with the southern areas more temperate although subject to variations. This and the fact that Australia is the driest continent on earth makes our land a great all-year destination. In fact in our winter you can ski in the southern states one day and be diving at the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland the next.