G’ day mates! Welcome to the land down under, where your summer is our winter, your winter is our summer, and there is so much to do that we could not begin to cover it all in this short article. So what we will do is look at the main attractions of each state and territory.
Victoria is the southwesternmost state. Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, is located here. No visit to the city can be complete without a visit to the southern hemisphere’s largest museum— the Melbourne Museum which has a children’s gallery. There is also an Immigration Museum documenting the contributions thaet immigrants have made to Australia. Melbourne lies along the scenic Yarra River, which is crossed by many bridges, some of them dating back to the nineteenth century, some of them less than twenty years old.
In New South Wales, the next state northward, is the biggest city, Sydney. Also the country’s oldest, Sydmey is famous for its sail- building Opera House. New South Wales also surrounds the nation’s capital, Canberra.
Farther north— and larger than the other two— is Queensland. Its capital, Brisbane, is Australia’s third largest city. And of the country’s Chinatowns is located here! Queensland is also home to one of Australia’s many rodeos— the Mt. Isa Rodeo in Warwick.
Going southwestward, we come to South Australia. In the capital, Adelaide, you can view the many stylish buildings, as well as the historic area surrounding Glenelg Beach; there is a striking pavilion across here.
Western Australia is the largest state, but Perth, the capital, is not only smaller than those of the others, but also the most isolated city anywhere whose population exceeds 1,000,000. There is a zoo for kangaroos here and they have grown so accustomed to human presence that they can easily be observed.
The Northern Territory has a small population. Darwin, the capital, and the gold- mining town of Alice Springs are its main psettlements. But the biggest tourist attraction in the territory is Uluru National Park,whose chief feature, a large red rock, was sacred to the aborigines.
[box]For more information on tourism in Australia, go to www.discovery-campervans.
