Seeds, Flowers, and Trees

Check out these photos.

1. These seeds will only germinate after a forest fire. Fires often occur in Australia's forests.
2. This is the national flower of Australia. I forget the name. If you do a Google search for "Australian national flower", I bet you will find the name.
3. This tree has scribbles on it. It is called the Scribbley Gum tree. It used to have bark. Moths would burrow under the bark, making the marks. Then the bark would burn off in a fire, revealing the marks on the layer beneath the bark.



 

Sydney Opera House

Sydney is Australia's largest city. It's most famous building, is the Syndey Opera House. Here are some photos of it.

Driving Downunder

Here is a short video clip of us driving down a road in the desert.
Do you notice anything odd?

Desert Wildlife

Here are 2 critters that were on the path between our hotel and the market. Both are desert reptiles. The first one is a Thorny Devil which is about the size of your foot. It didn't move at all when we got close to it. The second photo is a some kind of desert dragon - quite small - a bit larger than a mouse. It would jump about 30 cm at a time. Below is a video of the desert dragon jumping.

More Animals

A Dingo (like a wild dog)
An Emu (kind of like an ostrich)
An Echidna (looks like a porcupine)
A Tasmanian Devil (do you know the cartoon character Taz on Looney Tunes?)

 

Kangaroo

Here is a short video of a wild Kangaroo.
We were able to get close to it.
Notice how it uses its tail to move.

Flying Foxes

Someone asked about the Flying Foxes. Here is a close-up photo of a flying fox.



It's not really a fox, more like a bat.

Often, the Europeans who settled in Australia incorrectly named animals. For example, the Koala Bear isn't a bear at all. It may look like a small bear, but it isn't related to bears and should only be called a Koala. 

Kata Tjuta and Uluru

Hello. Here are two significant rock formations located in the middle of the desert in Australia. The first two photos are of Kata Tjuta (also called the Olgas). There are 39 domes of rock, with the tallest one being over half a kilometre high! Notice the full moon in the second photo.


These next 2 photos are of Uluru (also known as Ayer's Rock). This first photo was taken from our hotel approximately 15 kilometres away. In the last photo you can barely see the people who have climbed to the top.



Finally, here is a video clip of what it was like to climb up Ayer's Rock. It is steep and windy, so there is a chain to hang onto.

 

Coins

Here is a photo of some Australian coins.
From left to right:
5 cents; 20 cents; 50 cents; 1 dollar; 2 dollars
They also have a 10 cent coin which is larger than the 5 cent coin, but smaller than the 20 cent
Do you notice any similarities or differences from Canada's set of coins? (I will give some coins to your teacher so you can see them up close)


 

Australian Items - Answers

Hello.

The weapon is a boomerang. It looks like flat stick with a bend in it. Australian Aboriginies would use a boomerang to hunt with. They would throw it at small animals. When you throw a boomerang, it comes back to you.

The musical instrument is a didgeridoo (pronounced: 'didge - ur - ee - doo'). It is a hollowed out tree trunk - usually made from bamboo or eucalyptus.

Here is a video clip of a person playing a didgeridoo.

Some More Answers

Hello.

Here are some more answers to your questions.Cairns is the city that has the enclosed beach. It is in the northeast corner of Australia. We also went to Uluru-Kata Tjuata National Park (in the middle of Australia) and Sydney (in the southest corner). Have a look at the map at the bottom of the main page.

We went swimming in the ocean. We went out on a large boat with approximately 50 other people. We then snorkeled around the Great Barrier Reef. We saw thousands of fish - kind of like in the movies Finding Nemo and Shark Tale. We actually saw a large shark swim beneath us as well. The last time someone was killed by a shark in Australia was in 1932 - so the sharks there are not very dangerous. We didn't see any stingrays, but other people on the boat with us did.

Australian Items

Hello. Here are 2 photos of items that are native to Australia. Do you know what they are?

Hint: the first one is a weapon and the second one is a musical instrument.


 

Strange Animals

Australia is definitely known for its wildlife. Here you can see Flying Foxes hanging upside down in a tree in downtown Cairns. They look kind of like bats, but are bigger and furrier.


 

Pacific Ocean

Here is a short video clip of part of the beach here in Cairns, Aus. A swimming area has been built here so that kids don't have to swim in the ocean. Apparently the waters here have many crocodiles and jelly fish, so they are kind of dangerous.

Some Answers

Hello. Here are some answers to your questions.

The animals in the photos are:
Kangaroo
Koala
Wombat

I didn't think you would know the Wombat. I didn't either until someone told me. They are all "marsupials", meaning that they all carry their babies in a pouch. The Kangaroo lives on land (hops around), the Koala lives in Eucalyptus trees, and the Wombat digs into the ground. The Wombat may look cuddly, but they have a saying here in Australia - "as mad as a Wombat" - so they are kind of mean. The Wombat's pouch is upside-down, so that it doesn't fill with dirt when it digs in the ground.

The ride in the train up the mountain took about 90 minutes. The ride down in the gondola took about 45 minutes. Yes, the gondola is like the ones at Banff and other ski resorts...good observation! We couldn't see any animals in the trees. Animals don't want to be seen, since they could get eaten by predators. We did see some white cockatoos and brightly colored butterflies. I don't think there are any zebras here...probably only in Africa.

The Australian Rainforest

I bet you didn't know that Australia has a tropical rainforest. Here is a video clip of us high above the trees tops looking down at all the green vegetation. There are lots of different plants and trees.

Marsupials

Hello grade 3/4.
Many of you asked us about animals. Here are 3 Australian animals we have seen so far. We went to a night zoo that allowed us to get close to the animals.

Do you know what these 3 animals are?

Also, besides being from Australia, what do these animals have in common? (hint: it has something to do with the way they look after their babies)

 

Symbols

Hello grade 3/4 class. Mr. Taylor told me that you are studying symbols of Saskatchewan in Social Studies. One thing I have noticed so far is that Australia has many symbols. Below are 2 photos with symbols. Both are on airplanes. One is an Air Canada symbol (or logo), and one is the Qantas logo. Qantas is an Australian airline. Can you tell from the symbols which belongs to Canada and which belongs to Australia? What if Saskatchewan had an airline? What do you think the tail of "Saskatchewan Airlines" plane would look like?


PS - "Qantas" does not have a "u" after the letter Q. Isn't that strange?