Lord Howe Island

A tiny treasure rising out of the emptiness of the southern Pacific Ocean and part of the Australian state of New South Wales, Lord Howe Island is one of the world's last truly unspoiled Island destinations. Just 11 km long and 2 km wide, two thirds of its land mass is covered by Banyan, Pandanus and native Kentia Palm forests, its many perfect beaches are safe, pristine and tranquil.

Guided and self-guided bush treks, fish feeding at Ned's Beach, bicycling, bird watching tours, cruising around the Island, kayaking, reef walking, snorkelling and scuba diving, or just laying around in a world class world heritage environment, are some of the favourite things to do.

The crystal waters that abound in marine life comprises over 400 species of fish, 90 species of coral, 4% of which is unique to the Island. Perfect for snorkelling, scuba diving, and fishing.

There are 18 Accommodation properties - from budget to 5 stars. Cafes and restaurants for those who don't want to self-cater and general stores for those who do.

World Heritage listed in 1982 for its rare collection of flora, fauna and marine life and only one of four Island groups in the world to have this listing, Lord Howe is the perfect sanctuary for nature-lovers, adventure seekers (try the 8 hour rope-assisted climb up Mt. Gower), romantic getaways and 'stress-breaker' weekends.

Temperatures range from about 28 degrees Celsius in summer with lows of about 13 degrees in winter. The months of July, August and September can sometimes be windy.

Under a 2-hour flight with QantasLink direct from Sydney or Brisbane with national and international Qantas connections.

Capital cities in Australia

Statistical Divisions (SDs) are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as areas under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Each capital city forms its own Statistical Division, and in Australia the population of the SD is the most-often quoted figure for that city's population. Statistical Districts are defined as non-capital but predominantly urban areas. The Australian Government treats divisions and districts with more than 100,000 people as metropolitan.

Statistical Divisions are in bold, the rest are Statistical Districts.

Sydney

Melbourne

Brisbane

Perth

Adelaide

Gold Coast

Newcastle

Canberra

Rank	Statistical Division/District	State	June 2007 Estimated Resident Population[2]
1	Sydney	New South Wales	4,336,374
2	Melbourne	Victoria	3,806,092
3	Brisbane	Queensland	1,857,594
4	Perth	Western Australia	1,554,769
5	Adelaide	South Australia	1,158,259
6	Gold Coast-Tweed	Queensland/New South Wales	583,657
7	Newcastle	New South Wales	523,662
8	Canberra-Queanbeyan	Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales	388,072
*	Canberra	Australian Capital Territory [3]	339,573
9	Wollongong	New South Wales	280,159
10	Sunshine Coast	Queensland	230,429
11	Greater Hobart	Tasmania	207,484
12	Geelong	Victoria	169,544
13	Townsville	Queensland	157,174
14	Cairns	Queensland	135,856
15	Toowoomba	Queensland	123,406
16	Darwin	Northern Territory	117,395
17	Launceston	Tasmania	104,071
18	Albury-Wodonga	New South Wales/Victoria	101,842
19	Ballarat	Victoria	89,665
20	Bendigo	Victoria	86,510
21	Burnie-Devonport	Tasmania	80,241
22	Mackay	Queensland	79,172
23	La Trobe Valley [4]	Victoria	77,270
24	Rockhampton	Queensland	74,530
25	Mandurah	Western Australia	73,477
26	Bundaberg	Queensland	64,663
27	Bunbury	Western Australia	59,876
28	Wagga Wagga	New South Wales	56,147
29	Hervey Bay	Queensland	53,323
30	Coffs Harbour	New South Wales	50,726
31	Mildura	Victoria	48,691
32	Gladstone	Queensland	47,169
33	Shepparton	Victoria	46,680
34	Tamworth	New South Wales	44,970
35	Port Macquarie	New South Wales	42,042
36	Orange	New South Wales	37,333
37	Dubbo	New South Wales	36,150
38	Geraldton	Western Australia	34,214
39	Nowra-Bomaderry	New South Wales	32,556
40	Bathurst	New South Wales	32,385
41	Warrnambool	Victoria	32,042
42	Lismore	New South Wales	31,865
43	Kalgoorlie/Boulder	Western Australia	30,700

Bonus video of Australia cities: