Australians like to call their country 'the lucky country' after writer Donald Horne's famous words.

Newspapers use the phrase describing the pleasant climate, the nation's economic fortune, the beautiful natural environment ranging from rainforest to beaches and also the pleasant way of life. Recently, Australia’s geographic isolation from the world's trouble spots has people thinking again about how lucky they are. What makes life down under so good?

Compare Melbourne (photo), or Brisbane with any big European or Asian city and you’ll notice one thing: no high rise apartment buildings outside the central business department. Most Australians live in a free standing home with back garden. Think about apartment sky scrapers in Tokyo or Hong Kong and you realise the great advantage of all that space. The bad news is that those houses don’t come cheap anymore. Housing affordability has dropped dramatically in the last 10 years, forcing young people to live at home longer or rent.

Food: BBQ

Meat pies (pastry with meat-sauce inside) were voted as `the most Australian food in 2007`, followed by Vegemite, a salty spread, that only Australians seem to love. But the BBQ is the all time Aussie food icon. If Australians celebrate anything, good chance a BBQ is involved. Sometimes the host will tell you that the `BBQ is BYO (Bring Your Own)`. This means that people are supposed to bring some of their own meat and drinks. However, it does not mean that you are only allowed to eat the food that you brought. It may seem strange to foreigners that the guests should bring their own food, but this way it is much easier to organize a quick party in the park, without one person organizing everything. Some restaurants are also BYO. This does not refer to food, but to drinks (wine/beer) only. Sometimes you pay a small `cork-fee` for opening bottle and using glasses.

A typical Aussie breakfast is bacon, eggs and toast. You can find this in almost every restaurant. Other popular breakfast varieties are eggs benedict, eggs Florentine, sausage and eggs, meat pie, sandwich and pancakes. They are all rather heavy dishes, but you will also be able to get a good cup of Coffee r tea with muesli or a muffin (little cake).

Luckily, Australia being a multicultural country, you can find restaurants serving dishes from all over the world. Italian, Chinese, Thai, Greek, Arab, Indian, Turkish, Vietnamese and Mexican food are very popular. Australian cuisine is recognised internationally as `fusion`, a mix of some of the best in the world, due to the multicultural range of food available. Australia is especially  known for its seafood, yabbies (small river crabs), lamb and big steaks.

When Australians have a party they love a beer or a glass of wine. Famous beer brands are Foster, XXXX, Carlton, but recently a many foreign beers have entered the market like Heineken and the Japanese Asahi. Since the late eighties, wine has grown in popularity. Not surprising considering the fantastic quality of Australian drops. Beautiful wine regions include: Barossa valley in Southern Australia, The Yarra valley in Victoria and the Hunter valley in New South Wales. Most popular grapes: Shiraz (red) and Chardonnay (white).

Visit Best Restaurants of Australia website, or Your Restaurants website, or check out your local newspaper in the ‘epicure’ section and find out what’s popular in your state!

In most big cities in Australia, you can easily find Asian groceries and other nation’s specialty food stores. For Asian food stores, your best bet would be to head towards your city’s Chinatown. Sometimes Asian groceries are also available near big campuses to accommodate international students in the area.

Useful links:

Australia has wonderful natural environment, so if you are ready for some serious relaxing time, you can go bushwalking or enjoy the beaches. All capital cities have galleries and movie theatres and many bands visit Australia. For tips about top student-tourist destinations check [LINK]

Check the links beneath for more information on relaxing down under:

New South Wales: Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) www.mca.com.au or Art Gallery of New South Wales http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/

Victoria: National Gallery of Victoria http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/

Queensland: Queensland Art Gallery http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/

Northern Territory: Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

South Australia: Art Gallery of South Australia http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/

Western Australia: Art Gallery of Western Australia http://www.artgallery.wa.gov.au/

Tasmania: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/

Art Almanac Website: www.art-almanac.com.au

Gig guide: Check events and concerts in Australia in YourGigs or LiveGuide

Event tickets: For tickets, your best bet is to visit the Ticketmaster website or Ticketek website. Also checkout www.moshtix.com.au and www.bluetix.com.au

Markets: Each city in Australia have markets, usually on weekends. These markets are great for finding unique Australian made products, arts & crafts, food and souvenirs. Check out Markets Online Australia