Austin Flight Guide

Austin is the capital and the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is situated along the Colorado River and is considered unusually liberal and alternative in comparison with other cities in Texas. The slogan "Keep Austin Weird" is the overall theme of the student dominated city. Austin is home to over 1.5 million people and was originally called ‘Waterloo’. In 1838 the name was changed in honour of Stephen F. Austin, the founder of the former independent Republic of Texas.

The most popular attraction of Austin is actually a natural phenomenon that takes place every evening during the summer months at the Congress Bridge: A massive group of approximately 1.5 million bats darkens the sky as they fly out to hunt insects- in fact, Austin has the largest urban bat population in the world! Several lakes, including Lake Austin, are located in the surrounding area and are used for swimming and water sports. In the evening, the city is filled with blues, rock and country music performed by small and well-known musicians. The self proclaimed "Live Music Capital of the World” claims to have more live bands than, for example Nashville, Memphis, Los Angeles, Las Vegas or New York. The only way to find out whether this is true is to hop on a plane and visit Austin!

On the downside, hopping on the plane from Australia also means many stops and inconvenient connections. The journey takes up to 30 hours with Qantas as passengers have to wait in two or more US destinations before landing in Austin. Check online for the least difficult route or consult a travel agent- on lucky days there might be good options available.

http://www.hotelsaccommodation.com.au Hotels Accommodation
http://www.austintexas.org/ - Visitor information Austin, Texas
http://www.usatourist.com/english/places/texas/austin.html - Tourist guide Austin
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/austinairport/ - Austin intl. Airport
http://www.dfat.gov.au/missions/ - Australian Embassies worldwide
http://www.airfaresflights.com.au Airfares Flights
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/ Smart Traveller