AUSTRALIA

Cyclone Larry hit the tropical Queensland coast some way south of Cairns on March 20th. Winds up to 290km/hr (180mph) caused severe damage to the coastal area around Mission Beach and Innisfail, while heavy rainstorms associated with the cyclone carried well inland, causing flooding across Queensland's far northwest.

Coastal rainforest at Mission Beach has had the canopy stripped bare (though this is already showing signs of regenerating), with many big trees brought down as far inland as Lake Eacham on the Atherton Tablelands. Because of the speed at which the cyclone moved, however, it is not thought that the local section of the Barrier Reef has sustained major damage. Incredibly, there were no deaths or serious injuries caused directly by the cyclone, though most buildings in the Mission Beach and Innisfail areas were damaged and all businesses have been affected to some extent.

In particular, this primarily agricultural area's crops (sugar cane and banana) have been all but wiped out. Extensive rebuilding is beginning, but some areas are without power and water for the time being, and any tourists intending to visit the area between Cairns and Cardwell must call ahead and check whether the accommodation and services they are intending to use are up and running.

Australia is massive, and very sparsely peopled: in size it rivals the USA, yet its population is just under twenty million. It is an ancient land, and often looks it: in places, it's the most eroded, denuded and driest of continents, with much of central and western Australia – the bulk of the country – overwhelmingly arid and flat. In contrast, its cities – most of which were founded as recently as the mid-nineteenth century – express a youthful energy. The most memorable scenery is in the aforementioned Outback, the vast desert in the interior of the country west of the Great Dividing Range.

Here, vivid blue skies, cinnamon-red earth, deserted gorges and other striking geological features as well as bizarre wildlife comprise a unique ecology – one that has played host to the oldest surviving human culture for up to seventy thousand years (just ten thousand years after Homo sapiens is thought to have emerged from Africa). The harshness of the interior has forced modern Australia to become a coastal country. Most of the population lives within 20km of the ocean, occupying a suburban, southeastern arc extending from southern Queensland to Adelaide. These urban Australians celebrate the typical New World values of material self-improvement through hard work and hard play, with an easy-going vitality that visitors, especially Europeans, often find refreshingly hedonistic.

A sunny climate also contributes to this exuberance, with an outdoor life in which a thriving beach culture and the congenial backyard "barbie" are central. While visitors might eventually find this Home and Away lifestyle rather prosaic, there are opportunities – particularly in the Northern Territory – to gain some experience of Australia's indigenous peoples and their culture, through visiting ancient art sites, taking tours and, less easily, making personal contact. Many Aboriginal people – especially in central Australia – have managed to maintain a traditional lifestyle (albeit with some modern accoutrements), speaking their own languages and living according to their law.

Conversely, most Aboriginal people you'll come across in country towns and cities are victims of what is scathingly referred to as "welfare colonialism" – a disempowering system in which, supported by dole cheques and other subsidies, but with little chance of meaningful employment, they often fall prey to a destructive cycle of poverty, ill health and substance abuse. There's still a long way to go before black and white people in Australia can exist on genuinely equal terms.

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