Crocodiles, snakes, wombats, and koalas call Billabong Sanctuary their home just 17 kilometres south of Townsville. The sanctuary offers a chance to experience reptile handling shows, wombat and koala petting and a dip in a resort-sized pool. Explore the diverse fauna and take a picture with these unique species.

The imposing 16th-century walls that surrounded the city are still largely intact, and provide a stunning backdrop to the whole city, especially along the seafront. The ramparts, called bastioni, house numerous restaurants, bars, cafes and shops, which are great for a drink at sunset in the evening breeze.

A decree made by the government of the Dubrovnik Republic in 1546 allowed Jews to settle within the city ramparts. This officially marked the establishment of the Jewish Ghetto on the street called Žudioska. In 1652, one of the houses was turned into a Synagogue, whose interior is in the baroque style. It has been preserved to this day, with minor changes, and is one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. The first floor houses a museum with a number of religious artefacts and archives, Rococo, baroque and Louis XVI furniture and paintings by Italian masters.

You would almost miss them. Almost. Because as soon as you pass the entryway to the St. Servaas Basilica, you’ll figure out that it’s worth walking on. You’ll see for yourself that Maastricht doesn’t end at the Vrijthof. Sometimes you just have to take those few extra steps. That’s when Maastricht will surprise you with just how surprising the city centre really is. The Vrijthof has a number of little streets leading into it from all directions. They include Brusselsestraat, Grote Gracht, and De Kommel. Unlike the more idyllic boulevards in most of the rest of the city, these streets evoke a feeling of the urban, the artistic, the unknown. Here, students and locals come and go: artists, designers, professionals. It’s an area that’s moving fast: new shops, start-ups, young businesses, surprising concepts. Yet at the same time, it’s bursting with historic buildings, and is still very much a place where locals want to live. In truth, you can’t really describe the streets around the Vrijthof in a few words. It’s where local, university, business, authentic, forward-looking, and surprising Maastricht all come together.