Australia
For many years Australia has been the destination of choice for thousands of British, promising good weather, a huge diversity of scenery and lifestyles and none of the language problems associated with other countries. Though hard to pick, here's my top four highlights of our trip;
 |
 |
 |
 |
SYDNEY |
THE 2000 OLYMPICS |
ULURU NATIONAL PARK |
WILSONS PROMONTORY |
Australia was first sighted in 1760 by a Dutch explorer. The most famous discoverer was Captain Cook who landed in Port Jackson (Sydney) in 1788. When the first European settlers arrived in 1788 they declared the land 'terrus nullius', meaning the land belonging to no-one. They ignored the estimated 300,000 native Aboriginals and merely considered them to be the 'Aboriginal problem'. Over the next one hundred and fifty years the various governments sustained various programmes designed to eradicate these people from the country - first by poisoning the food supply, and later by separating children from their parents creating the 'Stolen Generation'.
The full size of Australia only really became apparent when we planned to cross north to south to reach Sydney. We estimated at least a week from Darwin to Ayers Rock to Sydney, with most of that time spent on board a coach. We'd had enough long trips recently and went for a flight instead!
|
|
Choose a destination:
AUSTRALIA MENUNSWQueenslandNorthern Territory
Southern AustraliaVictoriaDandenongsGreat Ocean RoadWilsons PromontoryHealesvilleSovereign HillMelbourne