Sunday, November 28, 2010

Map Of Australia

Blog Response Questions

1.) I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Bill Bryson has a way of drawing you into the history and oddities of the land by inserting humerous stories and occurences along with his travel experiences (which are in and of themselves hilarious).
2.) I am extremely happy about my book choice. This is because i honestly did not know much about Australia before, but was curious about it. While reading it, i found out that the author is funny, witty, and does not bore the reader with the little details about the trip, but tries to insert the feelings he was experiencing and the local color of the people who inhabit it.

3.) I personally found Glenrowan to be the most interesting. I am a big history buff, and the opportunity to learn more about the famous Bushranger Ned Kelly is very appealing to me.

4.) There arent any really basic human rights book at stake here. This book is a light-hearted, fun, and easy-going approach on getting the most out of a trip Down Under.

5.) I learned alot about the history of Australia and the mindset of its people. I also learned how to start and publish a blog.

6.) The most enjoyable part of the project for me was the reading aspect of it. I love to read, especially when its something humerous and intelligent.

7.) the hardest part for me was the actual part of writing everything down. I am not a strong writer, and i often get a block or get distracted while i work. 

How to Survive In the Bush

This is a little how-to guide in case you might ever want to try your luck on a walkabout through the outback. First off, there are essentials that you MUST bring with you:

Plenty of Rations
Anti-Biotics
Flashlight
Common Sense
a baseball cap

Now, here are some tips in order to help you along.

Plan ahead in order to help keep you on your path.
Dont overexert yourself.
Conserve your energy as much as possible, you will need it.
Use common sense. For example, Dont go feeling around a rock or pick up every little thing you see.
A good amount of the local wildlife and fauna in Australia is deadly and can kill you.

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. It has a population of about 345000, and is the sixth-largest city in Australia. It is located 286 kilometers west of Sydney. The best description that I can give of Canberra is that it is essentially a giant park with a city hidden in it. You could walk around for two hours and get lost through the endless green and identical neighborhoods. Downtown Canberra primarily consists of plazas and retail shops. The mindset for Canberra is that you can do anything here. For example, you can water-ski, shop for evening attire, and order pizza all in one sitting.

Alice Springs

Alice Springs is a booming little city with a population of 27480, and is located 1530 kilometers away from Adelaide. It used to be thought of as a little oasis or miracle, since it is right in the middle of nowhere. Visitors were surprised upon their arrival to see that the town had everything from departments stores to schools. However, the problem with Alice Springs is that it is becoming too exploited and commercial. Whereas before the only way to get there was to take a rickety, weekly train from adelaide; Today, a person can take a jet from Adelaide and in 2 hours can arrive in Alice Springs. Its so jam packed with hotels, gift stores, resturants, etc., that a person can't even try to pretend that they accomplished something by reaching this once nigh-inacessible city. The irony in this situation is too rich. A city that was famous for bieng remote now draws hundreds of people who come to see how remote it no longer is.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Glenrowan

Glenrowan is a small, one street town located 184 kilometers west of Melbourne. It has a population of 952, and is able to get by. Glenrowan is mainly famous as the last stand of bushranger Ned Kelly. The story of Ned Kelly is a famous one. Ned Kelly was a Irish-Australian bushranger considered by some to be a folk hero by standing up to English oppression. After killing three policemen in a fight, Ned and his gang went on the run for three years in the bush. In 1880, authorities finally tracked him down to Glenrowan where a final gunsight ensued. in the dawn of the next day, Kelly emerged in his homemade armor and tried to escape. He was shot in the leg, captured, and sent to Melbourne to be tried. He was tried, convicted, and swiftly executed. Glenrowan now thrives by exploiting the Ned Kelly gunfight and legend.

Adelaide

Adelaide is the state capital of South Australia. It is the fifth-largest city in Australia and is about 1408 kilometers away from Sydney. It is filled with parks and is designed in a peculiar way. It is shaped like and irregular figure eight, with the two halves of the city filling the holes, and the surronding parks making the outline. It was founded by a shady man by the name of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who had the intention of turning it into a colony of freeman. Adelaide is one of the most overlooked places in Australia. In esscence, it is the "Australia" of Australia., existing but people hardly taking notice of it. It appears that the porblems of Adelaide is geographical in nature. It is on the wrong side of Australia, and is therefore removed from the vital trading markets of Asia. If you ask anybody outside of Adelaide about it they say" yeah, its nice, but its dying ya know?".

Tanunda

Tanunda is a town located in the Barossa Valley of South Australia. It is about 170 kilometers northeast of the state capital of Adelaide. Tanunda is a very handsome and well-touristed town. It is built mostly around one main street. It has deep Germanic roots but it does not choose to exploit it. The only refrences to its Dutch heritage are a couple of resturants with the word "Haus" in it. One would think from eavesdropping on conversations that you had landed in Yuppieville, as many were talking about how objects in shop windows look like something that belongs to a friend of theirs. Tanunda is a very nice and hospitable town, but i'm afraid that there is nothing terribly interesting or fascinating that occurs or has occured there.

Cowra

Cowra is a town that is located about 310 kilometers away from Sydney. It is a compact and tidy community with a population of about 8207. It enjoys success as a historical town, and it is home to one of the most massive prison escape attempts in history. Cowra used to be a Prisoner Of War (POW) camp for captured Japanese and Italian soldiers. The italians were pleased with the sunny land and being removed from the roars of gunfire and the scream of bombers, and so they sttled in quite nicely. However, the Japanese were the complete opposite. They felt immense shame at their capture and refused to cooperate. In August 1944, 1100 of the Japanese POWs staged a suicidal escape attempt. They stormed the machine-gun emplacements and tried to make a break for it; However, the plan failed horribly, and by the end of the day, the POWs suffered 231 KIAs and 112 WIAs. Four Australian guards died during the breakout. It is regarded as one of the most suicidal and fruitless escape attempts in WWII. The farthest any of them got was 15 miles away.

Katoomba

Katoomba is a small town located up in the Blue Mountains. It is somewhat famous for the luxurious and reamy views of the Mountain that are available from there. However, i was disappointed when i first arrived there. There was a monstrous fog that surrounded the treacherous way up, and it only got worse once i actually arrived in town. I finally reached one of the more popular viewpoints at Echo Point. I was the only one there, but this did't suprise me at all; i tried to see if i could glance at the view from the lookout, but to no avail. I resigned to try again tommorrow after the fog had cleared. The view when i returned was outstanding; lush, green forests that was broken up by pinnacles and square outcroppings. Katoomba used to be a retreat for the refined back int the 30's and 40's, and it now gets by by clinging to its former glory.

Broken Hill

Broken Hill is also a very small and quaint town. It is located 197 kilometers away from White Cliffs, and is a staggering 1,170 kilometers away from Sydney. There is not much to see in Broken Hill, except if you go out to Silvertown, a small and once rowdy mining town, you will see a big pub, which is said to be one of the most filmed and photographed in Australia. This pub has been used for a film location for 142 times by such movies as A Town Like Alice, Mad Max 2, and just about every Aussie beer commercial. Broken Hill used to be a bustling mining site. At its peak in 1893, it had 16 mines and employed about 8700 miners. today there is only one mine and 16 workers that use dynamite and bulldozers, compared to miners of the past who were equipped with picks and mine carts. However, Broken Hill now gets by somewhat pleasantly with a lining of hotels for tourists, and a couple of shops down main street. I rather liked this place due to the air of busyness and prosperity it had about it.

White Cliffs

White Cliffs is an old opal mining community that is located 250 kilometers North of Menindee. It is a very small town with a population of only 80. However, it was not always like this; it was once a boomtown with a population of around 4500, filled with hospitals, pubs, brothels, resturants, a library, and a line of general stores. Today, downtown consists of a pub, laundrette, an opal shop (obviously), and a cafe/gas station. conditions in the White Cliffs Hotel were like any other hotel. Air-conditioned, cold water and beer, and electricity are some of the comforts one can enjoy here. However, technology had only recently come to White Cliffs; Electricity was introduced to the town in 1993. The manager was even pleased to show me that they had acquired television not too long ago, and proceded to show me the three channels that they recieved there.

Sydney

Sydney is a beautiful and historic city located in New South Wales. Sydney was the site of the first British Colony in Australia; founded in 1788 by Arthur Phillips as a penal colony. The people here are very friendly and accomodating: "Need a glass of water?, "No worries, mate. I'll get right on 'er." Sydney also has some of the nicest beaches. For example, Freshwater Beach is a great U-shaped bay with huge waves that frequent it.  The only hazards for such beaches are the strong currents, migrating jellyfish, and the occaisonal shark attack. Sydney is also home to many clubs and casinos. The largest one, called World of Entertainment, contains theatres, nightclubs, resturants, and even a nursery for children.