Colloquial Australian names include Oz and Land Down Under (generally abbreviated as Down Under). Other epithets include Great Southern Land, Lucky Country, Sunburnt Country, and Wide Brown Land. The Sydney Opera House is the most iconic venue in the country and, without a doubt, something you've heard of. The performing arts center is famous for its spherical shells, which attract millions of tourists every year.
In fact, the UNESCO World Heritage site is one of Australia's most visited tourist attractions and one of the most distinctive buildings of the 20th century. Bondi Beach is a beach and the surrounding suburb to the east of Sydney. It is one of the most visited tourist spots in Australia, famous for its blue waters, sand and beautiful rocks. It appears in just about everything related to Australia, from postcards to television shows.
Another reason why Bondi Beach is so popular is its proximity to Sydney's CBD, the country's main financial and economic center. Bondi Beach is also a great spot for surfing, and the waves are suitable for all skill levels. Whether you're a professional or learning, you can have fun and ride the waves in Bondi. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world and one of Australia's most famous natural attractions.
It has the largest coral reef system in the world, with more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands. It is located off the coast of Queensland, in the Coral Sea. The Great Barrier Reef extends over an area of about 344,400 square kilometers and can be seen from space. The largest reef in the world is so popular that Google even released an underwater street view for it.
You can explore incredible 360-degree panoramic photographs and see exactly what all the fuss is about. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is perhaps the only thing that Australia is absolutely associated with. The cross arch bridge connects Sydney's financial district to the north coast and transports pedestrian, rail, car and bicycle traffic between the two areas. And it is considered an Australian National Heritage Site, along with the Opera and other highlights in the country.
The view of the bridge with the Sydney Opera House is an iconic symbol not only of the city, but also of the entire country. And if you want to live a truly unique experience, you can climb the bridge: at 134 meters above sea level, the view is unlike anything you've ever experienced before. The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is named after the two most famous attractions there: Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
Uluru is the large stone monolith, which is estimated to be about 600 million years old. It's one of the most famous places in the country and the most popular attraction in the Outback. At its highest point, Uluru is 348 meters high; for reference, the Eiffel Tower is only 324 meters high. Katja Tuta is a group of dome-shaped rock formations, quite close to Uluru.
It is made up of 36 domes, and the highest is Mount Olga, which rises 546 meters above sea level. The Great Ocean Road is a 243-kilometer stretch of road on the south-east coast of Australia. It is considered an Australian National Heritage Site and a popular tourist attraction in the area. It's also the largest war monument in the world: the road was built by returning soldiers and is dedicated to soldiers who died during the First World War.
Aboriginal Australians are the indigenous people of mainland Australia, Tasmania and the Tiwi Islands. Today, they represent only 3.1% of the country's population, but there are many of them living in various parts of the world. Koalas are often called bears, but in reality they are not: they are marsupials, just like kangaroos. Koalas are adorable little creatures that sleep 18 to 22 hours a day and have an average lifespan of about 10 years.
There are a total of four movies in this post-apocalyptic action series: the first three were released in the late seventies and early eighties, while the last one was released recently. Mad Max: Fury Road is the most recent installment in the series and is a joint venture between the United States and Australia. It was shot on both continents and is considered one of the best live-action movies of the 21st century. It's no secret that Australians love beer: in 2004, the country was the fourth country in the world in terms of beer consumption per capita.
And while that was a long time ago, beer is still one of the country's favorite alcoholic beverages. We all remember the Australian who checked in a single can of beer as luggage for his flight, right? Australia is also one of the top 10 wine-producing countries in the world. The country has several incredible wine regions, full of excellent vineyards and wineries. The Barossa Valley, in South Australia, is by far the best wine region in the country, home to some of the most prized Australian wineries.
Visiting these wine regions will take you to discover some of Australia's hidden gems. The most popular tourist destination in the Outback is Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, with a 600-million-year-old monolith. Another popular destination is Kings Canyon in the Watarrka National Park. You can take a helicopter ride above the canyon and enjoy stunning views, or you can ride the waterfall trail, accompanied by a local Aboriginal guide.
His iconic single Can't Get You Out Of My Head was considered the catchiest song in history by Yahoo Music, and is one of the best-selling singles of the 2000s. Minogue was also dubbed the Princess of Pop and compared to Madonna throughout her career. The hunting spider, in particular, is a terrifying sight: its average size is about 1 inch, with a leg length of about 5 inches. Yes, that's the average size, they can grow much larger than that.
The good news is that they're completely harmless; the bad news is that they'll scare the hell out of you. The Overland via Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park is one of the best known and most demanding trails in the country. It is located in Tasmania and is about 65 kilometers long.
It is estimated that it takes about six days to cover this track, and it's definitely not for beginners. The track has many highlights, some of which are views of Cradle Mountain, D'Alton and Ferguson Fall and Marion's Lookout. If that's too extreme for you, there's a more beginner-friendly track in this same national park. The Dove Lake circuit takes you along the shore of Lake Dove and you can complete it in about two hours.
Most of the time you'll be on a waterfront and admire the incredible views of the mountains. And we'll stop by the iconic 1940s boat shed, which was built by the first ranger on Cradle Mountain. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the British had serious problems of overcrowding in their prisons. This led them to transport convicts to other places, originally to the American colonies, but that ended once the American Revolution began.
After that, they began transporting convicts to penal colonies in Australia. Most of them were transferred for minor crimes, since the most serious crimes, such as rape and murder, were punishable by death. Around 165,000 convicts in total were transferred to Australia, and the vast majority of them remained there. In fact, around 20% of modern Australians are considered to be descended from these convicts.
Australia's total coastline (including the islands) is more than 59,000 kilometers long. And a lot of them are beautiful white sand beaches that attract people from all over the world. While Bondi Beach may be the most famous, there are several others that will take your breath away. Australia is known for a lot of things historically, geographically and culturally.
Its ownership by Great Britain and its original use as a place for prisoners make the country historically important. The Outback, beaches and the Great Barrier Reef are its important geographical aspects. It's always interesting to hear what other countries think of Australia; some are true and others not so much. One of the most common objects associated with Aboriginal culture is the boomerang, a hunting weapon that is incredibly difficult to throw.
Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Tasmania Photo by Michael Fromholtz on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. This light and airy dessert is named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova and is a popular choice for special occasions in Australia. This bat-and-ball game is played between two teams of 11 players each and is a popular sport in many Commonwealth countries. They decided to take control and use Australia for marginalized citizens, which is the story of Australia that many of us are familiar with today.
Westernization has modified and destroyed much of their culture, but groups continue to live on land, in the jungle and in the interior of Australia. Cricket is a particularly important part of Australian culture and the country has produced some of the best cricketers in the world, including Sir Donald Bradman. Explore Celebrity's range of luxury cruises to Australia to visit destinations such as Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns. Warne played for the Australian national cricket team for more than 15 years and earned more than 1000 points in his career.
When Europeans began to land in Australia by ship in the mid-18th century, Aboriginal people had already occupied almost all of the land. This attitude is reflected in many aspects of Australian life, from the way in which people are treated the same to the way in which opportunities are shared. .