The Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of Australia's most well-known and photographed landmarks. It is the world's largest (but not the longest) steel arch bridge with the top of the bridge standing 134 meters above the harbour. It is fondly known by the locals as the 'Coathanger' because of its arch-based design.

Its construction started in 1924 and took more than 1,400 men, and eight years to build. Six million hand driven rivets and 53,000 tons of steel were used in this construction. It now carries eight traffic lanes and two rail lines, one in each direction, but at the time of its construction the two eastern lanes were tram tracks. They were converted to road traffic when Sydney closed down its tram system in the 1950s. It has pedestrian ways, cycle ways and, of course, motor ways. About 9 years later, Captain Francis De Groot officially opened it, on 19 March 1932.

Here are some facts about the bridge :

Finally, it will cost about 4.2 million Australian dollars; and 16 people will die during its construction.

But as we are unormal, strange and weird people. We didn't had enough by crossing it from one side to the other of Sydney's bay. We also needed to cross it by plane. It is reported that in 1943 a flight of 24 RAAF Wirraways flew under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with one of the pilots changing his flight path and going over the top of the Bridge. And on the 22nd of October 1943, Flight Lieutenant Peter Isaacson and his crew also flew under the Harbour Bridge, during a tour around Australia to raise funds for the war effort.

Some other ones prefered to climb the structure for having a better view of the bay. Bridgeclimbing started in 1998 and had attracted tourists but also locals to climb the monument. After climbing through catwalks and up ladders and stairs, the view is absolutely breathtaking. There are day, twilight and night climbs and a group of 12 people will leave for a climb every 10 minutes. By all reports, Bridgeclimbing is fantastic and one of the 'must dos' while on a trip to Sydney. I was actually lucky enough to get to its top, and it really is amzing. An if you are too afraid of heights, do as one of my freinds did: go at the Pylon Lookout to visit an exhibition about the bridge. You could as well have a 360-degrees view from its top. this Pylon is situated at the "Rocks END", in the South-Eastern part of the bridge. 

The Sydney Opera House

Everybody who wants to go to Australia has already heared about the Sydney Opera House. This large building with white roof shells as the sails of a boat. It is usually either in the back or in the front of picture from Sydney, as the photograph takes it either from the bridge or with the bridge. The Sydney Opera House is Australia's most recognizable building and, in a way, it became the icon of Australia's creative and technical achievement It took 16 years to build it - from 1957 to its inauguration on the 20th of October 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. It is a masterpiece of modern architectural design, engineering and construction technology thanks to its designer, the Pritzker Prize winner Danish architect Jørn Utzon; its successful engineering by the Danish firm Ove Arup and Partners; and its Australian building contractors M R Hornibrook. 102 million Australian dollars will eventually be needed for its construction.

The Sydney Opera House welcomes about 1,500 shows each year and has 5 rehearsal studios, 2great entry halls and one main hall, 4 restaurants, 6 bar lounges and many other souvenir shops for providing to its spectators a great moment. The 5 main theatres are : the Concert Hall, the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the Drama Theatre, the Playhouse and The Studio.

All its construction has been worked for giving to the House the best acoustic possible. That is one of the reasons the theatres and halls are so large, its roof is so high and has this shape of sails, on which they sometimes project images, and it has a white ceramic tiled surface.

It is really a great place ! And you can't go to Sydney without visiting it. Trust me !

The Royal Flying Doctor Service

The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (or RFDS) is one of the largest aeromedical organizations in the world. It provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in the rural, remote and regional areas of Australia. It is non-profit organization which provides health care to people who cannot access to it or general practice due to the vast distances of the Outback. They can now take care of mental diseases and have few dentists for dental care. And they also use telehealth, a program which consists on skyping with the patients so the doctors can help them even if they are too far away.

They have a 20 hours per day service as the Outback consists of more than 690,000 people, living in this isolated area. And every two minutes they take someone else in charge. 292,523 people where helped only last year. But sadly, most of the death are children death, from which 36% are due to injuries. 

The Doctor Service also needs to face some problems such as under investment and helicopter or planes accidents. The first aircraft operated by the "Aerial Medical Service" in 1928 was a de Havilland DH.50 hired from the fledgling Queensland an Northern Territory Aerial Service. Now, the South Eastern Section operates 19 King Airs, the Queensland Section has 15 King Airs, the Western Operations has 14 PC-12s and a Hawker 800XP, and the Central Operations has a  fleet numbering 14 aircrafts.

The Wine industry

In just 200 years, Australia's wine industry has grown from a few small plantings to an industry renowned throughout the world for quality, innovation and depth. Indeed, Australia is always part of the top ten wine producing countries in the world. So if you go to Australia, I have only one thing to tell you : go visit some vines and drink well !

( ! Attention ! Alcohol is to be dunk moderately and can't be consumed by young people under 18 in Australia) 

Origins of the Wine industry :
Wine was imported to Australia by the settlers. As Australia had no native grape varieties suitable for wine-making, grapes were imported from Europe and much of the wine produced was shipped back to the United Kingdom.
Encouraged by early successes, settlers gradually established vineyards on the island, between 1820 and 1840.

The discovery of gold in eastern Australia in 1852 initially meant a temporary loss of labour from vineyards. However, as the population was increasing, vineyards begun to expand their operations to supply the diggers' demands.
The Land Selection Acts passed in the colonies between 1860 and 1872 led to a rapid expansion of vineyards as land was unlocked for development; between 1851 and 1871 the area under vines increased from 2,510 hectares to 6,880 hectares and export of Australian wines to England increased dramatically.

The coming of the Federation in 1901 removed trade barriers between the states and expanded the market for wines.
In 1925, the British government allowed preferential duty for Empire wines, meaning that Australia could now economically export fortified wines; this stimulated even more the industry.

During World War Two, exports to Britain almost ceased due to a lack of shipping space. But the end of the Second World War saw an influx of European immigrants into Australia, bringing new skills in wine production.

From the mid-1970s to today, Australia's love affair with wine has continued to grow. The industry is stronger than ever, employing thousands of people. It has now become a lifestyle; there are even some wine festivals.        

               

Australia is such a large country that almost every climate and soil type can be found. This means that they are able to produce most of the major wine types, from red wines to white wines, fortified wines, sweet wines and sparkling wines. 

A multicultural Australia : the indegenous ceremonies & cultural heritage

Australia was first a state of immigrants. 10 million of its inhabitants were born overseas.

Multiculturalism

Even with about 2 people living per km², Australia gathers more than 260 different languages. But the evils from the past haven't quite ended yet. The country still faces some racism against the Arborigiines even if the situation has quite improved. The Harmony Day was created to celebrate diversity. This year it took place on the 21st of March.

There are two kinds of indegenous tribes : the Arborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders. But people mostly call them all Arborigines or  indegenes.
Their ceremonies are part of their heritage from the past. During those, they play music and they dance. The most famous instrument used by the Arborigines is the Didgeridoo or Yidaki. But sadly this instrumen has also been taken by the non-natives for producing non-native music. One of the most famous singers of the Torres Strait Islanders is Christina Aru. She considers herself as a spokeswoman of her tribe and of all the other indegenes. Now most of their songs ar protest songs, except from those they play during their ceremonies along with their dances. Indeed their culture is based mostly on music and dance. They celebrate almost everything, and their ceremonies can take place for any occasion such as for fire and rain.

The man is holding a Didgeridoo.

When I went to the Kakadu National Park, I met some indegenous people. It really is something to do. It can bring you so much, humanly and culturaly speaking. These people are great.

The indegenous art is also very important in their culture. They have the oldest living culture in the World. Their ancestors were nomadic hunter who lived in harmony with nature. Their art is mainly paintings, engravings and sculptures, but they also paint their bodies during the ceremonies.

A tribe ceremony

The Dreaming

Their culture heritage is also based on myths and legends.

Mount Uluru (or Ayers Rock), a larg sandstone rock formation in central Australia lying 335km South West of Alice Springs, is considered as a sacred land by the Arboriginal people of the area as it is home to an abundance of springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Unesco is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Those myths and legends are based on a what is called TJUKURRPA (translated as the Dreaming). It is their equivalent, in a way, of our Bible's stories, but there is no book existing that contains all its stories.

The Dreaming talks mainly about the creation of Earth. The Arboriginal World is divided into 3 parts : the physical world, with the land, animals and plants; the human world, with humans; and the sacred world, with spirits. This stories were transmitted through the years by ceremonies and paintings.

Mount Uluru

There are a number of accounts differing from each other and especially on the origins of Mount Uluru. One of them talks about the mountain built during the creation period by two boys who played in the mud after rain. When they had finished their game they travelled south to Wiputa ... Fighting together, the two boys made their way to the table topped Mount Conner, on top of which their bodies are preserved as boulders.

But often the creation of Earth is assigned to Warramirrungundjui, a sort of Godess who came out of water and created the first human being and then transformed herself into a rock.

There is also the story of the Rainbow Serpent, that is assigned to the creation of animals, ranges, and colours; and the story of Tagai that decided of the arboriginal constellations.

The Rainbow Serpent