| Submitted by: David StybrUnited States |
| Submission Date: 14 February 2005 |
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As an engineer who uses both the metric and imperial systems extensively in my work, metric comes easily to me and I need not convert in my head. In fact I prefer the metric system because its 10s, 100s and 1000s are much more logical than the imperial system with its 12s, 32s, 36s, 124s, 212s, 5280s etc. Celsius temperatures are rather easy to follow with this little rhyme: '30 is warm, 20 is nice, 10 is cool and 0 is ice.'
Miscellaneous: The unit of currency is the Australian dollar, which is about equal to the Canadian dollar and about equal to US$0.70. Australian coins are 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 and 2 dollars. Notes are 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars. The 1-cent coins are now obsolete in Australia, and change is rounded to the nearest 5 cents. Postage is generally AU$0.45 for letters within Australia and AU$1.05 for letters overseas, although the rates vary for size, weight and distance. Voltage is 240 VAC 50 Hertz as in Europe. Many common appliances such as shavers and hair dryers have switches for dual voltages 120 / 240 VAC, so a plug adapter may be all that is required. Petrol varies from 70 to 80 cents per litre, about triple the price in the United States.
Yes, water generally swirls clockwise down drains in the Southern Hemisphere. However, we decided not to flush every toilet in Australia. The shapes of basins and drains usually override the effect of the rotation of the Earth. Storms and cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere also rotate clockwise, whereas hurricanes and typhoons in the Northern Hemisphere rotate anticlockwise.
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Our full year of preparation may seem obsessive. However, we knew exactly what we wanted to see everywhere and how to go. Half the fun of a vacation is the anticipation anyway. Besides, late December and early January are the height of the summer holiday season in Australia, and many hotels etc. are booked up well in advance. We booked our accommodations 10 months in advance in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart, and found our first choices already fully booked in 3 of these 4 cities!
Australians are among the friendliest people on Earth, and are genuinely fond of visitors who make some effort to learn about their country. Unfortunately, many tourists travel with little knowledge, appreciation or tolerance for other countries, and complain about everything or brag endlessly about their home country. If these ugly tourists want everything to be just as it is back at home, then home is probably where they should stay.
One should read at least something beforehand about history in Australia to more fully appreciate what it has to offer. Some advance research will at least help discover attractions that may otherwise be missed. In addition, many attractions have historic or cultural significance which may not mean much if a visitor has no idea of its background. For example Ballarat and Beechworth in Victoria are charming cities, but we enjoyed them so much more because we had read some Australian gold rush history beforehand.
Geography and maps are important too, and we always knew how to go everywhere we wanted, even when occasionally thwarted by one-way streets and detours for road work. Therefore we avoided such traditional holiday activities as getting hopelessly lost for hours at a time. Instead we found almost everything we wanted quickly and with plenty of time to enjoy all of it.
Australians tend to know a good deal about other countries, but it is amazing how little most people know about Australia. Here are the 10 dumbest questions we were asked, plus our responses:
'Isn't Australia where they have summer in the winter?' That's right, they have hot winters and cold summers.
'How could you possibly enjoy Christmas without snow?' We managed to endure the warm sunny southern summer weather.
'Does the Sun rise in the west and set in the east in Australia?' No, because the Earth would break apart.
'Can I go to Australia by bus?' Yes, if you can hold your breath underwater for 10,000 kilometres.
'Do kangaroos roam the streets in the cities?' No, but we did see 1 or 2 queue-jumpers.
'Do any Australians speak English too?' Only when they talk.
'Was it hard to drive on the wrong side of the road?' Yes it was too dangerous, so I drove on the left side with everyone else.
'Isn't Tasmania somewhere in Africa? Did you see any lions?' No, but we saw some kangaroos lyin' in a paddock.
'Did you go to New Zealand too? Isn't it right next to Australia or Asia or somewhere and you cross to it on a bridge?' No, but we could probably cross to it on the bridge of a ship.
'Did you see the mountain where they filmed The Sound of Music?' THE mountain? You must mean The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Kangaroos. 'Huh?' Perhaps you are thinking of Austria, not Australia. 'Oh yeah! I always confuse those two.' Of course. One is a small landlocked country in Europe next to Germany, and the other is a huge country which occupies an entire continent on the other side of the planet. Easily confused.
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C. Sources of information.
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A year in advance I requested booklets from the Australian Tourist Commission who were most helpful. The states, territories and cities also have tourist bureaux. (Note: the ATC deal only with foreign visitors; Aussies should contact local tourist bureaux.) Next I requested information from the regions and attractions that interested us. About 50 postcards later I almost needed to build an addition to our house to hold a metric tonne of brochures that had arrived. This may be a little (or a lot) obsessive, but we made the most of every minute in this fascinating country. It paid off.
Australian Tourist Commission
P. O. Box 7909
Mount Prospect, IL 60056-7909
U. S. A.
Telephone: (847) 296-4900
http://www.aussie.net.au
Probably the best tourist guide books about Australia are by Lonely Planet of Melbourne, Victoria. They have a large general book about Australia as a whole, plus smaller specific books about the individual states and territories plus several major cities. Lonely Planet are an Australian company and therefore they write from that perspective. This helped us explore Australia much as the Australians themselves. Other good travel books are by Frommer, Fodor and Maverick, which write with a United States viewpoint. These 4 sources let us quadruple-check our information.
Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/aust/aus.htm
One important fact was that Australia required a visa in advance for entry into the country. This requirement was slated to be eliminated soon, but not in time for our travels. A few months in advance we sent our passports and the completed visa application forms to the Australian Embassy in Washington DC. A few weeks later our passports were returned with the tourist visas affixed. This simplified our entry through Australian immigration in Sydney. For official statistics and general facts about Australia:
Australian Embassy, Washington, DC: http://www.aust.emb.nw.dc.us
It was also interesting to read about current events in Australia, both local news in the regions we visited and world news from an Australian perspective. These also helped us see Australia much as the Australians themselves. Among the most interesting events in November 1996, for example, were the visit of President and Mrs. Clinton in Australia and the trial of the Port Arthur gunman. These had only scant coverage in the United States news media. Several news media in Australia have informative web sites:
The Age, Melbourne, Victoria: http://www.theage.com.au
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney, New South Wales: http://www.abc.net.au
The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, New South Wales: http://www.smh.com.au
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Australia is the only continent on Earth occupied by a single nation, and it was the last large land mass on Earth to be explored and colonised by Europeans. The Commonwealth of Australia consists of the continent of Australia, the island state of Tasmania, and numerous other small islands. Its nearest neighbours are Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to the north and New Zealand to the east. The Indiana Ocean and Africa are to the west; the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand, Polynesia and South America are to the east; and Antarctica is to the south beyond the Southern Ocean which is part of the Indian Ocean. Australia is the 6th largest nation on Earth, and is slightly smaller than Europe west of Russia, or the 48 mainland United States. Australia is the flattest continent on Earth, and most of it is desert. Thus only about 6% of the land is suitable for farming, but it is used so efficiently that Australia can produce more than enough food for itself and export food to other nations.
Australia lies in the Southern Hemisphere, approximately between 10°S and 44°S latitude and between 113°E and 154°E longitude. Its climate zones are the opposite of those in the Northern Hemisphere, and seasons officially follow calendar months instead of equinoxes and solstices. Spring is September, October and November; Summer is December, January and February; Autumn is March, April and May; and Winter is June, July and August.
The northern third of Australia has a tropical climate north of the Tropic of Capricorn. The remainder of the continent is temperate, but only in the mountains of southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania are winters cold enough to have appreciable snow. Most of interior Australia is desert. Only the far north, the southwest corner, the east coast and Tasmania receive sufficient rainfall to support large populations.
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In his book Following the Equator, Mark Twain wrote about his visit to southeast Australia in September to December 1895: 'Australian history is almost always picturesque; indeed, it is so curious and strange, that it is itself the chiefest novelty the country has to offer, and so it pushes the other novelties into second and third place. It does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies. And all of a fresh sort, no mouldy old stale ones. It is full of surprises, and adventures, and incongruities, and contradictions, and incredibilities; but they are all true, they all happened.'
The Aborigines arrived in Australia about 100,000 years ago, when a land bridge connected Australia with southeast Asia during the last Ice Age when sea level was lower. The term Aborigine is derived from the Latin 'ab origine' ('from the beginning') and refers to the earliest-known group of people to inhabit any land or country. However, anthropologists now limit the word Aborigine to mean the original peoples of Australia. |
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| Copyright © - "David Stybr" |
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