What to See in Darwin and Sydney (Australia)
Darwin (Australia)
Just as St. Petersburg has become a window to Europe for Russia , Darwin has become a real “window to Asia” for Australia. Despite its relatively young age (Darwin was founded in 1869 by Goyder and was originally named Palmerston in honor of the British Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston) due to its geographical location, the history of the city is the most dramatic among all its Australian counterparts.
In the 30s of the last century, in connection with the development of air transport, the importance of the city for Australia became exceptional. The first international airport was built here, accepting direct flights from Europe and Asia, and DarwinReceived the title of “Australian Gateway”. However, the Second World War began…
As a result of Japanese air raids, the city suffered significant damage. Although the entire civilian population was evacuated, the rebuilding of Darwin took some time. After the opening of an international airport and the development of a nearby uranium deposit, city affairs began to pick up again. But the unexpected happened.
Tropical hurricane Tracy hit Darwin on December 25 (on Christmas Day!) 1974, causing Darwin to almost flattened to the ground. The wind speed of Cyclone Tracy was 217 km / h (according to some reports, some gusts reached 230 km / h), which led to the destruction of over 90% of city buildings.
However, there was already experience in restoring the city. Therefore, in just two years, about 2,000 new houses and buildings were erected, capable of withstanding winds at a speed of 3,000 km / h, that is, with more than a tenfold margin of safety compared to the second possible Tracy cyclone.
Nowadays Darwin is a modern resort town.
White sand beaches, international casino Mindil Beach, the reputation of “Australia’s pinnacle” and the mysterious history of the city attract to Darwin a large number of tourists, which contributes to its rapid development. Cultural highlights include the Darwin Arts Center and the Beaufort Hotel complex, which connect a state-of-the-art theater and concert hall.
The city has its own traditions. Every year in June, on the waters of Fannie Bay, a “beer regatta” is arranged from ships glued together from empty beer cans. Excursions to the world’s second-largest Kakadu National Park depart from Darwin, which, in an area of 20 thousand square kilometers, is home to more than 60 species of mammals, 290 species of birds, thousands of species of insects and 120 species of various reptiles, the most famous of which is the salt water crocodile. The main landforms in the park are tropical rivers and their floodplains, sandstone plateaus, wooded savannahs, rainforests, mangroves, and silty tide-flooded seashore. The park is located 200 km from the city. It is visited by more than 200 thousand tourists annually, some areas of the park can only be accessed at certain times, some are closed to the public or require special permission, and the amount of water in most waterfalls is highly dependent on the time of year and seasonal conditions. Entrance to the park is paid.
Sydney (Australia)
According to diseaseslearning, Sydney is the oldest and most populated city in Australia. It was founded back in 1788, when the first English ships, whose passengers were mostly convicts, approached the shores of the bay, which today bears the name of Port Jackson.
Over two centuries, the city has turned into a huge metropolis (its area is more than five times the size of Moscow), which is home to about 20% of the country’s population. Masterpieces of modern architecture can be seen already from the sea – Sydney Opera House at first glance, it resembles an incompletely peeled orange, and almost every tourist strives to visit it, no matter how tender feelings he has for opera art. And our compatriots are always pleased to know that when the building was completed (this happened in 1973), the first piece that sounded here was Sergei Prokofiev’s opera War and Peace.
Do not ignore the Rocks quarter – the site of the first European settlements in Australia. Here you can visit recreated and restored houses of that time, as well as the oldest pub in Australia, the Lord Nelson.
The famous bridge over Sydney Harbor is amazing, which is an important transport artery of the city. The Royal Botanical Garden will also be of interest, most of the plants in which, like most of the city’s residents, are immigrants who have taken root well in the hospitable Australian land. And the no less famous Sydney Aquarium will help to form your opinion about the rich underwater world of the ocean washing the shores of Sydney. Sydney provides rich opportunities for a beach holiday. The most famous local beach – Bondi Beach is divided in half – the southern half is reserved for swimmers, and lovers of other water sports are located on the north. At the annual windsurfing festival, the water rescue service puts on demonstration shows here.
40 km east of Sydney is a well-known wildlife sanctuary that lives in natural conditions. It is here that you can personally feed the kangaroo and take a picture with another symbol of Australia – the koala bear.
104 km east of Sydney is the Blue Mountains National Park. Relic forests have been preserved in it, where the age of individual trees reaches two thousand years. The park is visited by more than three million tourists a year. “Blue Mountains” is named so because it is the color of the haze that forms over the magnificent eucalyptus forests, which many tourists specially come to see. Especially popular here, as in other similar parks, is “bushwalking” – the Australian name for cross-country hiking.
