AUSTRALIA

      It is believed the first people who lived here are called aborigines. Then Chinese came 2500 years from now and then Dutch. In 1770 Britain came here and made Australia its colony. Until 1780s Britain sent the convicts to America but after the Americans won the war of Independence, the convicts were transferred to Australia. Life was difficult for these convicts while building the roads, buildings and farms in Australia. People began to come here particularly to start a new life and went to live in South Australia, Queensland as well as New south wales. In 1851 gold was found and people hauled in here for making business of Gold. On 1 January 1901 the states; New south wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South and western Australia became one country. Due to less population the government opened the country for immigrants and for others to come and live here.

      Sydney, in new south wales is the oldest and biggest city with a population of 5.2 million. The city is built around an enormous harbor with modern and tall buildings and you may visit the beaches here. When you think of this city you might have the image of Opera House in your brain.

      Let’s talk about the capital, Canberra that became capital city in 1927, It was designed by the American, Walter Burley Griffin. Canberra is the newest city of Australia; its name comes from Aboriginal word meaning ‘meeting place’. The city got thousands of trees and beautiful landscapes and a big lake in its center and It is the place of the important government buildings like the Parliament House.

      Let’s discuss some rural areas like the outback. The Outback Region has a population of less than 100,000 people. Many of these live on sheep and cattle stations. On the roads there you may see the road trains carrying cattle from one place to another. People travel by road and air usually. The children of outback were students of air schools. But with modernization they have got now internet to stay in contact with their fellas and teachers. Every year all the children of a school spend time together by going to famous cities. But life is hard in outback and if you visit Outback remember ‘TAKE ENOUGH FOOD AND WATER WITH YOURSELVES’.

      So, who were the first people here? When British people came in Australia in 1788, they gave the name ‘aborigines’ to the people living here. It is said that there only lived 300,000 aborigines on whole of this island. All of them had more than 300 groups each with their own language and land. They traveled from place to place in search of food and built primitive houses mad up of branches in this way they didn’t ruined the land and moved away to the next destination. At special times Aborigines came and celebrated together. They painted their bodies, sang, danced, made some nice art. They believe that the plants and animals and Humans made this world together. This time as called ‘Dreamtime’ and there are many songs pictures and stories about these events. After 1788 the aborigine life changed. They were deprived of their lands and their water reservoirs. The most terrible example is Tasmania. In 1804 there were four to six thousand aborigines there, by 1831 there were only 190 and in 1876 there was none of them but now their life has changed they have got fair rights and own over 27 percent of land in Australia.

      are there any wonders here, Yes, one of them is the most beautiful thing you can see there called ‘Uluru’ also named as Ayers Rock, an enormous and alone rock in the middle of a desert, 3 kilometers long and 340 meters high. It is 600 million years old; I wonder when that would be? Tourists come and walk around this beautiful rock that changes its color at the end of the day from yellow to golden, then red and at last purple. Uluru is very special to the Aborigines; it belongs to the aborigines Anangu of the group ‘Pitjantjara.

      The Great barrier reef home to many kinds of species of fishes and sea creatures and the largest coral reef in the world at 2500 kilometers. 1500 of different kinds of fishes live here. Some parts of reef are 20000 years old. And it is very popular to tourists who visit the islands and swim in the clear water and drive boats to see the fishes and the coral in reef.

      Coober Pedy an extraordinary beautiful place at 846 kilometers north-west of Adelaide. The Opal stones were first discovered here and were mined here. In fact, over 90 percent of the opals in the world come from here. It is usually hot here so people live in underground houses dug out of rocks. This aboriginal name means ‘white man in a hole’.

      When you think of lakes you probably imagine relaxation and cold winds over them but situation is different in Australian dry salt lakes. The big lakes in the deserts are almost dry. Lake Eyre about 210 kilometers long and 65 kilometers wide was dry for a time period of hundred years until 1950 and it is full of water once every eight years. When it rains the people often went for sailing at the lake while they can because Lake Mungo in New south wales have no water for past 160000 years!

      Another interesting place you would want to visit is the Bungle Bungle range in the Purnululu National Park. You would see the strange orange and black hills, made into round shapes by the wind and rain water of course. There are also many kinds of birds and aboriginal paintings here.

       Let us not forget the Red kangaroos of Australia the national animal of the country. Well you cannot just get into your cars or trains and go to Australia by road it takes a lot of time and money. But the things that make the country special are its wonders such as Uluru, Kangaroo and some friendly people over there and all of em are waiting for you so why not visit the country and come to see these yourselves.