Today is my last day in Australia. I flew from Cairns to Perth two days ago. I am flying from Perth to Singapore tonight, where I will stay for about 10 days before going to Vietnam. I have written quite a bit about Vietnam and Singapore in another blog http://menginvietnam.blogspot.com
If I come across something different I will share it with you in this blog.
This Australian trip has been an amazing experience. We started out in a mid-size, laid-back city called Perth, then travel to 2 coastal towns, Albany and Esperance. Then we went north to Norsemen, then east across the Nullabor Plain. It is so big that we had to spend the night in the border town called Border Village between Western Australian and South Australia. Then we stopped in the picturesque fishing town of Port Lincoln. Next we drove to Adelaide, a beautiful colonial-style town with wide-open spaces and beautiful old buildings. Then it's on to Melbourne, the city that hosted the 2000 Olympics. A beautiful city by the Yarra River with its impressive buildings and sports facilities. Finally, we reached Sydney after 11 days of driving 5000 km and all across from west to east Australia. What an experience it was to finally see the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. I can spend another week in Sydney, riding the ferries and the trains around the city, visiting museums and seeing other lesser known tourist spots. To top it all, I went to Cairns and swam in the Great Barrier Reef.
Sydney is where Australia started. I have been reading this book about the beginning of Australia, called "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. It's a lengthy book and it goes into a lot of details about Australia's convict history. I knew a little about the convict history but did not know the ugly side of it. I can't imagine someone getting 100 lashes flogging with a cat-of-nine-tails. But, I wonder how Australians transcended from a violent and cruel past to one of the most open and friendly people in the world. Australia is currently facing some tough challenges. It's heavily dependent on mining for its growth. Other than that, it has very little to ride on. It only has about 23 million people with a land size that is about the same as the United States. It needs people who can and want to work and has the expertise. Yet, I think its selective immigration policy will hurt it rather than help it grow. It also has a serious problem dealing with the aborigines issue, not unlike the challenges that Americans have dealing with the Native Americans.
Answers to Australia Quiz:
1. What are sultanas? They are raisins, so Raisin Brans are called Sultanas Brans here.
2. What is a flat white? It's a small cup of coffee with cream but no sugar. A long black is a tall cup of black coffee.
3. What is road creep? When you drive on the highway and slowly increase your speed pass the speed limit. One Australian I asked said it's a stupid sign. It doesn't make sense at all.
One more thing. You often see TV commercials in the US about Foster Beer: "Foster is Australian for beer." However, not once did I find Foster beer being sold at a pub or restaurant in Australia.
Finally, I want to end this travel with a picture of an Australian iconic building (Sydney Opera House) taken from another iconic structure (Sydney Harbor Bridge). What a beautiful country!
Thanks for sharing my travels with me.
If I come across something different I will share it with you in this blog.
This Australian trip has been an amazing experience. We started out in a mid-size, laid-back city called Perth, then travel to 2 coastal towns, Albany and Esperance. Then we went north to Norsemen, then east across the Nullabor Plain. It is so big that we had to spend the night in the border town called Border Village between Western Australian and South Australia. Then we stopped in the picturesque fishing town of Port Lincoln. Next we drove to Adelaide, a beautiful colonial-style town with wide-open spaces and beautiful old buildings. Then it's on to Melbourne, the city that hosted the 2000 Olympics. A beautiful city by the Yarra River with its impressive buildings and sports facilities. Finally, we reached Sydney after 11 days of driving 5000 km and all across from west to east Australia. What an experience it was to finally see the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. I can spend another week in Sydney, riding the ferries and the trains around the city, visiting museums and seeing other lesser known tourist spots. To top it all, I went to Cairns and swam in the Great Barrier Reef.
Sydney is where Australia started. I have been reading this book about the beginning of Australia, called "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. It's a lengthy book and it goes into a lot of details about Australia's convict history. I knew a little about the convict history but did not know the ugly side of it. I can't imagine someone getting 100 lashes flogging with a cat-of-nine-tails. But, I wonder how Australians transcended from a violent and cruel past to one of the most open and friendly people in the world. Australia is currently facing some tough challenges. It's heavily dependent on mining for its growth. Other than that, it has very little to ride on. It only has about 23 million people with a land size that is about the same as the United States. It needs people who can and want to work and has the expertise. Yet, I think its selective immigration policy will hurt it rather than help it grow. It also has a serious problem dealing with the aborigines issue, not unlike the challenges that Americans have dealing with the Native Americans.
Answers to Australia Quiz:
1. What are sultanas? They are raisins, so Raisin Brans are called Sultanas Brans here.
2. What is a flat white? It's a small cup of coffee with cream but no sugar. A long black is a tall cup of black coffee.
3. What is road creep? When you drive on the highway and slowly increase your speed pass the speed limit. One Australian I asked said it's a stupid sign. It doesn't make sense at all.
One more thing. You often see TV commercials in the US about Foster Beer: "Foster is Australian for beer." However, not once did I find Foster beer being sold at a pub or restaurant in Australia.
Finally, I want to end this travel with a picture of an Australian iconic building (Sydney Opera House) taken from another iconic structure (Sydney Harbor Bridge). What a beautiful country!
Thanks for sharing my travels with me.
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| Sydney Opera House taken from Sydney Harbor Bridge |
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