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In A Sunburned Country
''Down Under'' is the British title of a 2000 travelogue book about Australia written by best-selling travel writer Bill Bryson. In the United States and Canada it was published titled ''In a Sunburned Country'', a title taken from the famous Australian poem, "My Country". It was also published as part of ''Walk About'', which included ''Down Under'' and another of Bryson's books, '' A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail'', in one volume. Summary Bill Bryson describes his travels by railway and car throughout Australia, his conversations with people in all walks of life about the history, geography, unusual plants and animals of the country, and his wry impressions of the life, culture and amenities (or lack thereof) in each locality. In a style similar to his book ''A Walk in the Woods'', or William Least Heat-Moon's ''Blue Highways'', Bryson's research enabled him to include many stories about Australia's 19th-century explorers and settlers who su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Bryson
William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the U.S. between 1995 and 2003, and holds dual American and British citizenship. He served as the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011. Bryson came to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication and accompanying television series of ''Notes from a Small Island'' (1995), an exploration of Britain. He received widespread recognition again with the publication of '' A Short History of Nearly Everything'' (2003), a book widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science. In October 2020 he announced that he had "retired" from writing books, although in 2022 he recorded an audiobook for Audible, entitled 'The Secret History of Christmas'. He has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Highways
''Blue Highways'' is an autobiographical travel book, published in 1982, by William Least Heat-Moon, born William Trogdon. Summary In 1978, after separating from his wife and losing his job as a teacher, Heat-Moon, 38 at the time, took an extended road trip in a circular route around the United States, sticking to only the "Blue Highways". He had coined the term to refer to small, forgotten, out-of-the-way roads connecting rural America (which were drawn in blue on the old style Rand McNally road atlas). He outfitted his van with a bunk, a camping stove, a portable toilet and a copy of Walt Whitman's ''Leaves of Grass'' and John Neihardt's ''Black Elk Speaks''. Referring to the Native American resurrection ritual, he named the van " Ghost Dancing", and embarked on a three-month soul-searching tour of the United States, wandering from small town to small town, stopping often at towns with interesting names. The book chronicles the 13,000-mile journey and the people he meets along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canberra
Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. As of June 2021, Canberra's estimated population was 453,558. The area chosen for the capital had been inhabited by Indigenous Australians for up to 21,000 years, with the principal group being the Ngunnawal people. European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John's Anglican Church and Blundells Cottage. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia was achieved. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: the new capital would be b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demonym ''Adelaidean'' is used to denote the city and the residents of Adelaide. The Traditional Owners of the Adelaide region are the Kaurna people. The area of the city centre and surrounding parklands is called ' in the Kaurna language. Adelaide is situated on the Adelaide Plains north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between the Gulf St Vincent in the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges in the east. Its metropolitan area extends from the coast to the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges, and stretches from Gawler in the north to Sellicks Beach in the south. Named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for the only freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropolitan area known as Greater Melbourne, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local municipalities, although the name is also used specifically for the local municipality of City of Melbourne based around its central business area. The metropolis occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines of Port Phillip Bay and spreads into the Mornington Peninsula, part of West Gippsland, as well as the hinterlands towards the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong and Macedon Ranges. It has a population over 5 million (19% of the population of Australia, as per 2021 census), mostly residing to the east side of the city centre, and its inhabitants are commonly referred to as "Melburnians". The area of Melbourne has been home to Aboriginal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boomerang (roller Coaster)
Boomerang is a model of roller coaster manufactured and designed by Vekoma, a Dutch manufacturer. The roller coaster model name is from the hunting implement based on the traditions of the Indigenous Australians. there are 55 Boomerangs operating. The roller coaster model was created in the early 1980s and was first introduced at four different parks around the world in 1984. Design and ride experience The Boomerang consists of a single train with seven cars, capable of carrying 28 passengers. The ride begins when the train is pulled backwards from the station and up the first lift hill by a catchcar. After being released, the train passes through the station, enters a Cobra roll element (referred to as a boomerang by the designers) and then travels through a vertical loop. After being pulled up a second lift hill, the train is released to head backwards through each inversion once more, making the total number of inversions per ride six. The train slows down as it pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Currumbin Beach, Queensland, Australia
Currumbin ( ) is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Currumbin had a population of 2,920 people. Geography The suburb extends from Currumbin Creek in the north to Wyberba Street in the south. The Pacific Motorway bounds the suburb to the west and the Coral Sea to the east. The Gold Coast Highway enters the suburb from the north ( Palm Beach) and exits to the south ( Tugun). The highway is characterised by commercial development along much of its route, but this is absent in Currumbin where the highway winds through bushland over the headland through the Currumbin Hill Conservation Park and then past the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Along the coast, Currumbin Rock () on Currumbin Point on the southside of the mouth of Currumbin Creek is the start of Currumbin Beach (), a surf beach, which extends to Elephant Rock (). Currumbin Alley is a popular surfing site formed on the bar of Currumbin Creek, particularly well-suited for longboar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Australia (1788–1850)
The history of Australia from 1788 to 1850 covers the early British colonial period of Australia's history. This started with the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson on the lands of the Eora, and the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales as part of the British Empire. It further covers the European scientific exploration of the continent and the establishment of the other Australian colonies that make up the modern states of Australia. After several years of privation, the penal colony gradually expanded and developed an economy based on farming, fishing, whaling, trade with incoming ships, and construction using convict labour. By 1820, however, British settlement was largely confined to a 100 kilometre radius around Sydney and to the central plain of Van Diemen's land. From 1816 penal transportation to Australia increased rapidly and the number of free settlers grew steadily. Van Diemen's Land became a separate colony in 1825, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Maritime Exploration Of Australia
The maritime European exploration of Australia consisted of several waves of European seafarers who sailed the edges of the Australian continent. Dutch navigators were the first Europeans known to have explored and mapped the Australian coastline. The first documented encounter was that of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, in 1606. Dutch seafarers also visited the west and north coasts of the continent, as did French explorers. The most famous expedition was that of Royal Navy Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook 164 years after Janszoon's sighting. After an assignment to make observations of the 1769 Transit of Venus, Cook followed Admiralty instructions to explore the south Pacific for the reported ''Terra Australis'' and on 19 April 1770 sighted the south-eastern coast of Australia and became the first recorded European to explore the eastern coastline. Explorers by land and sea continued to survey the continent for some years after settlement. Pro-Iberian hypotheses and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Cliffs, New South Wales
White Cliffs is a small town in outback New South Wales in Australia, in Central Darling Shire. White Cliffs is around 255 km northeast of Broken Hill, 93 km north of Wilcannia. At the , White Cliffs had a population of 156. The primary school opened in 1895, and has operated continuously since then. White Cliffs was one of the many places visited by Bill Bryson in research for the book ''Down Under''. History The town was established in the late 19th century when opal was discovered. Opal has been mined ever since. The first Australian opal was found 20 years before in Queensland in 1872, when a party of kangaroo hunters were operating in the White Cliffs area. One of them, who had left the party to track down a wounded kangaroo over some low stony hills, picked up a pretty stone which appealed to him. When taking back the stone, they suspected it could be opal which the local jeweller confirmed. He advised to get as much opal as possible since this could be more prof ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Mountains (New South Wales)
The Blue Mountains are a mountainous region and a mountain range located in New South Wales, Australia. The region borders on Sydney's metropolitan area, its foothills starting about west of centre of the state capital, close to Penrith on the outskirts of Greater Sydney region. The public's understanding of the extent of the Blue Mountains is varied, as it forms only part of an extensive mountainous area associated with the Great Dividing Range. As defined in 1970, the Blue Mountains region is bounded by the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers in the east, the Coxs River and Lake Burragorang to the west and south, and the Wolgan and Colo rivers to the north. Geologically, it is situated in the central parts of the Sydney Basin. The ''Blue Mountains Range'' comprises a range of mountains, plateau escarpments extending off the Great Dividing Range about northwest of Wolgan Gap in a generally southeasterly direction for about , terminating at . For about two-thirds of its len ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
