Australia is an amazing corner of our planet, striking with bright contrasts, picturesque landscapes and pristine nature. A trip to this country will allow you to look at the world with different eyes.
The Land of Paradoxes
- Australia is the only country in the world that completely occupies the continent. Its area is 7.5 million km2, making it one of the six largest countries on the planet.
- Australia is washed by three oceans: the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific. About 20% of its territory is covered by deserts, including the Large Victoria Desert with an area of about 425 thousand km2. It is noteworthy that, being in Australia, you can visit not only the arid desert, but also wander in the lush tropical forests, soak up the sandy beach, and climb to the snow-capped peaks.
- The country receives an average of 500 mm of precipitation per year, so Australia is considered the driest inhabited continent.
- Australia is also the only continent in the world that is located below sea level. The lowest point, Lake Eyre, is 15 m below sea level.
- Since Australia is located in the southern hemisphere, summer falls here in December–February, and winter in June–August. The lowest air temperature in winter is 8-9°C, the water in the ocean warms up to an average of 10°C, and in summer to 18-21°C.
- The air on the island of Tasmania, located 240 km south of Australia, is considered the cleanest on the planet.
Main hiking trails
- The main architectural symbol of Australia is the legendary Sydney Opera House, opened in 1973. It has 5 large halls that can accommodate more than 5.5 thousand spectators.
- Sydney TV tower with a height of 309 m is the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere of the planet. From here, you can enjoy breathtaking views, including the largest arched bridge in Australia — the Harbour Bridge.
- The main attraction, created by nature itself, is the world’s largest Great Barrier Reef. It consists of more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,500 km along the eastern coast of the continent.
- The longest straight road in the world runs through the Nallarbor plain — for 146 km there is not a single turn.
- Lake Hillier, on Middle Island, is unique in that its waters are colored pink. Scientists still can not find an exact explanation for this mysterious phenomenon.
Meet the Australians
- Almost 90% of the population of modern Australia is of British or Irish descent. At the same time, the inhabitants of the mainland jokingly call the inhabitants of the foggy Albion “pome”, which stands for “prisoners of Mother England” — “prisoners of Mother England”.
- In remote parts of Australia, Australian Bushmen, local aborigines, still live today. Their number is about 437 thousand people, while 23 million 850 thousand people live on the entire continent.
- According to statistics, every fourth resident of Australia is an emigrant. This figure is higher than in America or Canada. To obtain citizenship of a country, you need to live in it for at least two years.
- Australians are the most gambling people in the world. Approximately 80% of the population regularly play for money.
- The law requires all adult Australians to participate in elections. The violator will inevitably face a fine.
- In Australia, it is not customary to leave tips in restaurants, hotels, beauty salons and other public places.
Gastronomic discoveries
- For breakfast in Australia, you can eat an omelet with sausages or ham, vegetables and bread. For lunch, most often served fried steak or meat pate with potatoes and a hearty salad with cheddar cheese. A typical dinner consists of a hot meat or fish dish, a light side dish, and a sweet dessert.
- The best dish, according to the Australians — is a piece of roasted meat of impressive size. However, they also enjoy eating local varieties of fish: barracuda, speper or whitebate. This delicious fried fish is most often fried in oil with spices. Australians prefer lobsters and oysters to shrimps and mussels.
- In almost any store in Australia, you can easily find kangaroo meat. It has a peculiar taste and not too high quality and attracts only inquisitive tourists. While the locals are more likely to eat selected beef or lamb.
- In the traditional Australian menu, you can find a lot of extravagant dishes: blue crabs, shark lips, crocodile fillet and opposum, ox roast soup, mango and local burrawon nuts.
- The favorite dessert of Australians is lamington-an airy sponge cake, liberally poured with chocolate fudge with coconut shavings, decorated with whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Refreshing cocktails made from exotic fruits with mint and ginger, as well as milk smoothies and ice cream are highly appreciated.
If you want to plunge into the beautiful world of exotics that has preserved its primitive features, Australia is just what you need. A trip to this amazing country will leave an indelible impression in your soul and a sea of vivid memories.
The material was prepared in conjunction with the site ru.torussia.org