The gigantic reef covering an area larger than 300 000 square kilometres is scattered with beautiful islands and idyllic coral cays. The Great Barreir Reef system consists of more than 3000 reefs, some are as big as 10,000 hectares whilest there are also others that are as small as 1 hectare.

Numerious Human activites in the Reef areas has led to increased pollutants causing irrepable damage in some areas of this spectacular creation of nature. Protecting the Reef is the responsibility of the Marine Park Authority. In 2003, the previous Australian Government and Queensland Governments, in partnership with a wide range of industry and community groups, developed the Reef Water Quality Protection Reef Plan as a combined effort to protect the Reef.

The coral

Coral of diferent shapes and sizes make up the various reefs and cays; these form the basis for the great variety of sea and animal life in the Reef. Coral reefs are formed by individual coral polyps, these are tiny live creatures which join together to form colonies. Each polyp lives inside a shell of aragonite, a type of calcium carbonate which is the hard shell we recognise as coral. The polyps join together to create forests of coloured coral in interesting fan, antler, brain and plate shapes.

Ideal coral habitat is shallow warm water where there is a lot of water movement, plenty of light, where the water is salty and low in nutrients. Many different types of corals need different conditions to flourish, some grow extreamly slow taking hundreds of years whilest some grow much faster. The colours of coral are created by algae. Only live coral is coloured. Dead coral is white.  

In the past and even in moredrn times, many ships were destroyed when they slammed on to these coral reefs. These include Captain James Cook’s ship Endeavour. One of the most famous wrecks is that of the HMS Pandora, which foundered in 1791. There are 30 shipwreck sites known in the marine park.   

The habitat

The Great Barrier Reef area is blessed with an abundance of wildlife, including dugong and green turtles, varieties of dolphins and whales, more than 1500 species of fish, 4000 types of mollusc and more than 200 species of bird life.

Tourism

There are more than 2 million tourists visiting The Great Barrier Reef every year, they bring in excess of $AU2 billion in tourism dollars, making tourism a major earner for the north-eastern Australian economy.  There are more than 500 commercial vessels taking tourists through nearly all the Park.

You can travel to The Great Barrier Reef from Sydney either by plane, train, bus or by renting a car.    

A search for Sydney backpacker accommodation on any search engine will reveal a plethora of Sydney backpacker accommodation providers claiming they offer the cheapest accommodation in Sydney. However, to get the best deal in town you first need to do some serious research of your own.

After finding as many cheap accommodation providers in Sydney as you think is enough, you then need to compare the rates and facilities displayed by different, ‘providers of cheapest accommodation in Sydney’. Doing this will make it possible for you to find out the actual cheapest accommodation provider in Sydney as well as the Sydney budget accommodation provider offering the best value for your money. 

Your research will make you realize that some budget accommodation providers in Sydney may have Slightly higher rates than the cheapest accommodation providers, but when looking at the facilities they have and the kind of service they promise to their clients for the rates quoted, you can easily judge for your self as to whom should you choose between the two, whether it is the one having the cheapest backpacker accommodation rates in town or the one who is offering the best value for money budget accommodation deal in town.

Kings cross hostels, are often chosen by Sydney cheap accommodation seeking backpackers, because staying in a conveniently situated Kings cross hostel will help them save money otherwise spent on transportation. If you need to know more about Kings cross hostels, you can easily do so on the Internet  

It is important that backpacker accommodation is located in the vicinity, if not all, but at least the majority of the ‘happening places’ in the area. This is because, it is only then budget tourists like backpackers, can look to minimizing their otherwise huge traveling costs involved if their backpacker hotel is located far away from the popular attractions/nightclubs of the area.

When looking for backpacker accommodation, personal safety should also be taken in to serious consideration. Obviously, you wouldn’t like the idea of spending a night in some unknown backpacker accommodation joint you found on the Internet, where, the very first thing you feel as you walk in, is that it is highly likely all of your personal belongings will be gone by morning! So, it is vital that you choose a place that will give you a sense of security during your stay, long before you actually arrive at your backpacker hotel.

Backpacker accommodation joints that are highly frequented and also are recommended by backpackers themselves, can give you a sense of security, because then you know that many others just like you have stayed there before and have had happy, pleasant experiences, so much so that they even want to recommend it to others as well.

So, after you have decided on the destination you want to travel, you should search on the Internet for backpacker accommodation joints in the area you are looking to travel which, are also recommended by other travelers who have been their before.

How you can get about doing this is, by looking to find what other travelers have to say about your chosen backpacker accommodation provider in public travel blogs and travel forums.

You can compare rates and checkout what other travelers recommend as backpacker accommodation places where they suggest as places where you can get the best service for your money. You can also look to find out backpacker accommodation places that are also ideally located, within close proximity, to the attraction/attractions in the area that you are most interested in seeing over others.

If you are a passionate back packer, using the Internet to find out what your chosen destination has to offer in the form of tourist attractions and best backpacker accommodation, before you arrive at your destination, can save you both time and money. Getting to know about the place you are looking to travel, before you actually get there, will help you avoid getting disappointed after you get there.