22 June 2015

#918 Australia


For more info about Australia, see received card #325.

About some facts written on a postcard:

Indigenous Australians are members of groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonisation. The phrase is therefore somewhat broad in scope, including such ethnically diverse groups as Tiwi peopleNoongar people and Torres Strait Islanders, and does not generally imply a close relationship or common origin of all included groups.

Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), born Helen Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century. She was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from Melbourne, her home town.

Kylie Ann MinogueOBE (born 28 May 1968), often known simply as Kylie, is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She achieved recognition by starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, where she played tomboy mechanic Charlene Robinson. Appearing in the series for two years, Minogue's character married Scott Robinson, played by Jason Donovan in an episode viewed by nearly 20 million people in the United Kingdom and become one of the most watched Australian TV episodes ever worldwide. Since then, Minogue has been a recording artist and has achieved massive commercial success and critical acclaim in the entertainment industry. Minogue has been recognised with many honorific nicknames in contemporary music. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop" and "Goddess of Pop".

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor, producer, and singer who is involved in film, musical theatre and television.

Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his leads in the romantic-comedy fantasy Kate & Leopold (2001), the action-horror film Van Helsing (2004), the magic-themed drama The Prestige (2006), the epic historical romantic drama Australia (2008), the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel (2011), the film version of Les Misérables (2012), and the thriller Prisoners (2013). His work in Les Misérables earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 2013. He is also a singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian-born professional tennis player and former world No. 1 who is now resident in The Bahamas.

The Dingo Fence or Dog Fence is a pest-exclusion fence that was built in Australia during the 1880s and finished in 1885, to keep dingoes out of the relatively fertile south-east part of the continent (where they had largely been exterminated) and protect the sheep flocks of southern Queensland. It is one of the longest structures in the world and is the world's longest fence. It stretches 5,614 kilometres (3,488 mi) from Jimbour on the Darling Downs near Dalby through thousands of kilometres of arid land ending west of Eyre peninsula on cliffs of the Nullarbor Plain above the Great Australian Bight near Nundroo. It has been partly successful, though dingoes can still be found in parts of the southern states. Although the fence has helped reduce losses of sheep to predators, this has been countered by holes in fences found in the 1990s through which dingo offspring have passed and by increased pasture competition from rabbits and kangaroos.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of QueenslandAustralia.

The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labeled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland.

The kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning 'large foot'). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus: the red kangarooantilopine kangarooeastern grey kangaroo and western grey kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to Australia and one genus, the tree-kangaroo, is also found in Papua New Guinea. The Australian government estimates that 34.3 million kangaroos lived in Australia in 2011, up from 25.1 million one year earlier.

The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus, or, inaccurately, koala bear) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats. The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting QueenslandNew South WalesVictoria and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body; round, fluffy ears; and large, spoon-shaped nose. The koala has a body length of 60-85 cm (24-33 in) and weighs 4-15 kg (9-33 lb). Pelage colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in colour than their counterparts further south. These populations possibly are separate subspecies, but this is disputed.

Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, part of the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves, in New South WalesAustralia.



Thank you, Bridget !
Sent on: June 15, 2015
Received on: June 22, 2015

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