Australia

Australia-Cambera-Old Parliament House

Canberra is the capital city of Australia.

The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation’s capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city. Following an international contest for the city’s design, a design by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913.

The city’s design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title “bush capital”. Although the growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city after World War II.

As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is the site of Parliament House, the High Court of Australia and numerous government departments and agencies. It is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance, such as the Australian War Memorial, National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia and the National Library of Australia. The federal government contributes the largest percentage of Gross State Product and is the largest single employer in Canberra.

Australia - Port Cities

Port Macquarie is a large town on the mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Port Macquarie was named by John Oxley after the governor of NSW, Lachlan Macquarie in 1818. The Hastings river was named after the governor general of India at around the same time. Although the area had been first noticed by Captain Cook on his voyage along the coast in 1770 and again later by Matthew Flinders in 1802, it was not explored in any detail until Oxley returned in 1819. Macquarie initiated Oxley’s expedition as he was interested in the sites potential as a penal settlement.
The penal settlement would be established in 1821 under Captain Francis Allman who landed at the “town green” at the top of what is now Clarence Street. Captain Allman immediately began directing the 60 convicts sent to establish the settlement, to clear the area of trees and begin farming in order to become self-sufficient. Timber supplies further south near Newcastle where dwindling providing further impetus to the clearing.
Sugar Cane was first grown in Australia on the site by a prisoner from the West Indies and a sugar mill was established in 1824. The penal settlement endured into the early 1840′s after the area was opened up to free settlers in 1830. After being hard hit by the depression in 1840 and the final relocation of the remaining convict labor in 1847, the settlement began declining.
The town began to recover in the early 1860′s upon the arrival of pastoralists and by the 1880′s the town had a Catholic Church, a bank, a newspaper and local government was formed in 1887. The North Coast Railway passed by Port Macquarie in 1910 changing the way goods were transported marking the end of the town’s harbour traffic. Throughout the 1960′s the town experienced rapid growth and its popularity as a holiday spot was beginning to manifest. Today the town has more than 40,000 residents and is a popular tourist destination and the old buildings that remain are a testament to the towns colourful history.

Port Stephens is a large natural harbour located about 160 kilometres (99 mi) north-east of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.

An idyllic coastal Paradise where the emphasis is on pleasure. From the fabulous scenery typified by volcanic peaks along the coastline to crystal clear bays fringed by golden sand, Port Stephens has lots to offer.

Captain James Cook in the Endeavour, sighted the entrance on 11th May 1770 and named the bay after the Secretary of the Admiralty. It was first entered in 1791 by the British ship “Salamander” from the Third Fleet, and surveyed in 1795 by Charles Grimes.

Later that same year, Captain W.R. Broughton turned the HMS Providence into Port Stephens and was shocked to find five whites living with the Worimi. These turned out to be five convicts who had escaped from Parramatta, which lies near Sydney. They had shipwrecked at Port Stephens in 1790. They were welcomed into the tribe by the Worimi, who gave them wives and took them along on their wanderings.

Port Stephens was a haven for convicts escaping from Sydney. This led to the establishment of a garrison in 1820, which today is known as Soldiers Point. The area continued to grow throughout the 1800s.

Early shipping of timber and wool to Sydney commenced in 1816 with Capt Corlette in his 62 ton cutter “Lambton”. The Australian Agriculture Company carried produce from the hinterland to North Arm Cove from 1824, and there was a timber mill at Winda Woppa. They operated “Karua”, one of the first steamers in Australia. Whalers were frequent visitors.

Australia-Sydney-Opera House

Sydney is the largest city in Australia and Oceania, and the state capital of New South Wales, and is located on Australia’s south-east coast of the Tasman Sea.

The site of the first British colony in Australia, Sydney was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet. The city is built on hills surrounding Sydney Harbor where the iconic Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge feature prominently. The hinterland of the metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and the coastal regions feature many bays, rivers, inlets and, most famously, beaches. Within the city are many notable parks, including Hyde Park and Royal Botanical Gardens.

Sydney is known as an international center for commerce, arts, fashion, culture, entertainment, education and tourism. Sydney has hosted major international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, the 2000 Summer Olympics, the final match of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, as well as the 2008 World Youth Day. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport.

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts center on Bennelong Point in Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who, in 2003, received the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor.

The Sydney Opera House was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007.Currently, it is the most recently constructed World Heritage Site to be designated as such, sharing this distinction with such ancient landmarks as Stonehenge and the Giza Necropolis. It is one of the 20th century’s most distinctive buildings and one of the most famous performing arts centers in the world.

Australia - Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains is a mountainous region in New South Wales, Australia. It borders on Sydney's metropolitan area, its foothills starting approximately 50 kilometres west of the state capital.
The area begins on the west side of the Nepean River and extends westward as far as Coxs River. Consisting mainly of a sandstone plateau, the area is dissected by gorges up to 760 metres deep. The highest point of the range is 1,190 metres above sea level. A large part of the Blue Mountains is incorporated into the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site, consisting of seven national park areas and a conservation reserve.

The Three Sisters is a rock formation in the Blue Mountains. They are close to the town of Katoomba and are one of the Blue Mountains' best known sites, towering above the Jamison Valley. Their names are Meehni (922 m), Wimlah (918 m), and Gunnedoo (906 m).