Australia
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re from Asia over 60,000 years age. They arrived at a time when the northern parts of Australia had a hot humid tropical climate much like that of Asia today.
Portuguese sailors may have sailed along the coastline of Australia as far back as 1542. Some maps have been found which show parts of what appears to be the Australian coastline. But there is no definite proof that they did.
In 1616 a Dutch trading ship, the Eendracht, on its way to the Indies (now called Indonesia) bumped into west coast of of Australia. Captain Dirk Hartog landed at Shark Bay, looked around a bit but didnt find anything interesting. He nailed a pewter dish to a tree to record his visit. He did not realize that he had found Australia. His is the first recorded European landing in Australia.
Dutch sailors continued see the coastline on their trips and called this land New Holland but didnt bother to visit it
In 1642 a Dutchman named Abel Tasman sighted an island he called Van Diemens Land. He did not realise that this island was a part of Australia. He also went on to explore New Zealand.
This island was later renamed Tasmania in honour of Abel Tasman
In 1770 an expedition from England lead by Captain James Cook sailed to the south pacific. They were supposed to make astronomical observations. But Captain Cook also had secret orders from the British Admiralty to find the southern continent.
They sailed in the Endeavour. It had a crew of 94 men.
They landed in a bay on the east coast on the 29th of April 1770. Cook first called this place Stingray Bay, then he changed it to Botanist Bay and finally called it Botany Bay because of all the strange and unusual plants there.
He called this new land New Wales and then changed it to New South Wales. He claimed the land for England (even though the land already belonged to the Aborigines).
Captain Cook was also the first European to visit the Great Barrier Reef.
Actually he ran into it and damaged his ship pretty badly. He had to spend seven weeks repairing his ship.
Canberra
THE CITY.
Canberra is a city of about 310,000 people located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) approximately 200 kilometres from Sydney. Most of the people in Canberra are employed by the federal government.
Canberra is a very young city. The plans for the city were only drawn up in 1911 and construction didnt commence until 1913.
The grand design for the city was drawn up by a relatively obscure american architect named Walter Burley Griffin. The lake which is a central focus of the city today is named after him.
With its imposing buildings, broad boulevards and uncluttered streetscape (there are no billboards, in Canberra) it lacks the charm and vibrancy of more cosmopolitan cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.
FEDERAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE
The Federal Parliament House is built on top of Capital Hill. It was completed in 1988 and replaces the old parliament house which is located further down the hill. The building was designed to merge into the profile of the hill itself.A stainless steel flag mast 81 metres tall surmounts the building from which flutters the Australian flag (the flag is as big as a double decker bus).
It cost over 800 million dollars to build and is considered to be one of the most attractive parliament buildings anywhere in the world.
The Members Hall is at the very centre of the Parliament complex between the House of Representatives and Senate chambers. It has a large skylight canopy through which can be seen the stainless steel flag mast and the Australian flag.
The House of Representatives Chamber can seat up to 240 Members of Parliament.
Currently there are approximately 148 members. They are popularly elected for three year terms. The numbers of members representing each state is proportional to their populations but there must be must be at least five members from each state.
The Senate Chamber can seat 120 Senators.
Currently there are 76 senators. They are popularly elected for 6 year terms. There are 12 senators from each state and two each from each territory.
HISTORY OF CANBERRA
Aborigines lived around what is now Canberra for thousands of years.
1820 The first Europeans to visit the Limestones plains where current day Canberra is located were Joseph Wild, James Vaughan and Charles Throsby.
1824 Joshua John Moore took up the first land grant on the Limestone Plains. He called his property "Canberry" after the name the local aborigines called the place. His property was where the the Australian National University and Lake Burley Griffin is today.
1825 Robert Campbell started a grazing station on the Limestone Plains. He named his property "Duntroon" after the family castle in Scotland. He built a house called Duntroon House which was added on to by his son and descendants. It is part of the Royal Military College today.
Many other people also farmed and grazed the land around the Limestone Plains.
1901 On January 1 Queen Victoria signed the Constitution Act making Australia an independent country. Both Sydney and Melbourne wanted the national capital to be in their cities. So to prevent too much rivalry a search was begun to find a new site for the federal capital.
1908 The Canberra area was selected as the future site for the capital of Australia.
1911 An international competition was launched to find the best plan for the new city. The design by an American landscape architect named Walter Burley Griffin won the competition.
1927 The temporary federal parliament building was completed and federal parliament moved from Melbourne to its new home in Canberra.
1978 It was decided that a new parliament building was needed to replace the temporary building which had been used for over fifty years.
1988 The new Parliament House was opened by Queen Elizabeth 2.
Coober Pedy
The name Coober Pedy is derived from the Aboriginal words "kupa piti", which means "white mans burrow".
The description is apt because most people live and work underground.
Coober Pedy is located 836 kilometres (510 miles) north of Adelaide and about 300 kilometres south of Uluru.
It is a desolate landscape devoid of vegetation and water. It is an extremely hot place too. The entire landscape is pockmarked by the telltale tailing of countless opal mines.
In 1915 a young boy named Willie Hutchison, who was out with his father prospecting for gold, discovered the first opal there. Since then the town has grown to about 2500 people.
Coober Pedy produces about 90% of the worlds opals.
Because of the extreme heat during the summer almost all buildings are located underground.
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef stretches along the east coast of Queensland in Australia. It is the worlds largest coral reef . It is over 2000km (1250 miles) long! It is not a single reef at all. It is made up of over 2900 individual reefs very close to each other
WHAT IS A CORAL REEF?
A coral is a tiny marine polyp. It is the living part of the coral reef. There are many different kinds of corals.
These are what gives the coral reef its colourful appearance. Corals feed mostly on plankton. Coral grows in warm climates where there is clear salt water and sunlight. They dont like pollution.
A coral reef is a natural barrier made of the bodies of living and dead coral. It is normally just below the surface of the water.
It is made of two parts the:
white part is made from the bodies of zillions and zillions of polyps which have died over hundreds and thousands of years.
- colourful part is the living part of the coral reef. It is made up of living polyps.
WHO LIVES HERE?
1500 species of fish
400 different types of coral
4,00 molluscs (like clams and the sea slug)
500 species of seaweed
215 species of birds
16 species of sea snake
6 species of sea turtle
Whales visit during winter
New South Wales
New South Wales is the fourth largest state in Australia. It is 801,600 sq km in size.
About 6 million people live in New South Wales. One in three Australians lives in New South Wales.
SYDNEY
Sydney is the capital of the state of New South Wales. It is Australias oldest and largest city. The defining symbols of Sydney are its Opera House and "coat hanger bridge".
Sydney is the commercial capital of Australia.
About 3.8 million people live in the greater Sydney area.
THE BEACH
Bondi and Manly are some of the famous beaches along the New South Wales coast a short distance from Sydney
THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
The Blue Mountains rise from the coastal plains about 65 kilometres west of Sydney. They are composed of sandstone deposited over 170 million years ago that was then pushed up to form a plateau which was subsequently eroded by wind, rain and water leaving spectacular gorges, pinnacles and cliffs. The highest point is about 1100 meters above sea level.
The towering cliffs of these mountains presented a seemly impassable barrier to early european set