Well firstly I've got to admit that having looked an actual map again Australia's more isolated than I thought!Laraqua wrote:Like where?
But basically anywhere in the Indian Ocean or Far East seems to be considered a fantastic exotic holiday location for us Brits. Especially Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia for backpackers and little isolated islands like the Maldives for beach lovers. Even though these places are a long flight for you, they're a huge journey for Europeans, but one that most would like to make.
Most Brits would love to visit Australia because it's far away & exotic (to us!), but has no language barriers.
The thing is you live in such a vast country. All of Europe (discounting Russia) is pretty small. I pretty sure that I live closer to SuAside, wherever he lives in Belgium, than you do to Sydney. But looking at a map Australia, Sydney looks "nearby" for you!
I have no idea what the costs compare like. I'm lucky enough to live in a geographically tiny country, that has three of the world's busiest passenger airports, one of which is only a 40 minute drive away, so it's easy to get onto a flight to virtually anywhere in the world. And airfares around Europe at least are dirt cheap these days. It's quite possible that it's cheaper to fly to say Vietnam from the UK than it is from Australia, especially if you'd have to make an internal flight first.