Dream Destinations: Australia
What do you know about Australia? Of course, it’s situated in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are different from those in the northern hemisphere: when we have summer, they have winter and the other way round.
Australia used to be ‘Terra Australis Incognita’, translated as ‘Unknown Southern Land’ from Latin up to the 18th century. Captain James Cook was the first to explore this land and to draw a simple map of it in 1770.
Australia used to be a British colony, which influenced its flag, called ‘a small Union Jack’. The first settlers came here in 1778.
Australia is not a densely populated region, around 22 million people live here. The continent consists mainly of deserts not suitable for living. They are Great Sandy, Gibson and Great Victoria deserts. The majority of population is concentrated along the south-eastern coast. The biggest cities in the North and West are Darwin and Perth. The capital
of Australia is Canberra (368,000 people). Many people confuse it with Sydney, which is several times bigger with its population of 4,6 million people.
Australia is separated from the outer world. This fact influenced greatly its unique nature and animal world. Here you find the most unusual animals – the platypus and echidna, the mammals, which lay eggs. When a stuffed platypus was first brought to Europe by the early explorers and shown to public, the respected scientists laughed and thought it to be made up of parts of different animals.
Here you’ll find the kookaburra, or ‘laughing bird’. It produces sounds similar to human laughing. It has firmly established itself in the culture of the country.
Australian English is a bit different from the one we study. It has some peculiarities in grammar and pronunciation. They use such words as ‘outback’ meaning a ‘remote, sparsely-populated area’ or ‘bush’ meaning ‘a wild or uncultivated country’. The pronunciation is a bit special, but after you’ve listened to a native speaker for some time you start getting accustomed to it.
Australia is too far to be reached by a non-stop flight. That’s why if you go there one day, you’ll have to change a plane somewhere in Hong Kong or Bangkok.
The best-known tourist attractions in Australia are the Sydney Opera House, looking like sails, the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, providing numerous outdoor activities.
Australia is worth visiting beyond any doubt. If you have an opportunity to go there, never miss it. It’ll be an unforgettable journey into a completely different world.
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