Chirpy Visits Australia

Chirpy and I have just returned from a two-week vacation in Australia. My friend, Nancy from New York, joined us. We had a GREAT time!

Although many Americans get New Zealand confused with Australia, they are very different countries!

If you look at Google Earth, you'll see that both of the countries are in the southern and eastern hemispheres, but Australia is much larger than New Zealand. It is located northwest of New Zealand, which means it's closer to the equator. This is good for me, because it's fall here and getting cold in New Zealand, but it's still nice and warm in Australia. Some people call the country Oz. The people who live there call themselves Aussies.

We flew one hour to the North Island of New Zealand, and then changed planes and flew three more hours northwest to get to the city of Sydney in Australia. Sydney is a very big city and has lots of highrise buildings, just like Manhattan although not as many.

I took this picture from a boat in Sydney Harbor. Can you see the tallest building in Sydney? It is very narrow - just big enough for an elevator. At the top is a circular building - a revolving restaurant! We went to the restaurant at nighttime and ate our dinner while the restaurant slowly spun around. An hour and a half later, we had seen all of Sydney with its bright lights and beautiful buildings. What an experience!

The most famous structures in this city are the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge. Many people recognize them in pictures before even reading the names. At night they are all lit up and look really beautiful. In this photo you can see the opera house to the left of the bridge if you look closely (or click on the picture to enlarge it). There's a close-up picture below.

We took a tour of the opera house to learn about its architecture. It was very interesting to hear about the man who was so creative that he was able to design a performance hall that looked like no other building in the world. Since it sits right on Sydney Harbor, he wanted it to resemble the boats, sails, shells, and the waves. Do you think he succeeded?

One evening we attended the ballet of Don Quixote (a Spanish name pronounced don-kee-hoe-tee). We enjoyed the ballet and just being in this famous building, and we LOVED the views of the city and the bridge from the balcony during intermission.

Australia is the home of amazing animals found nowhere else in the world! One day we visited a wildlife park to see a wide range of its animals. The most famous Australian animal is the kangaroo. When my family and I lived in Australia many years ago we saw kangaroos in the wild. They are afraid of people and hop off quickly. Do you see its powerful-looking tail and feet? If it feels threatened, it will stand up, rock back on its tail and then kick its enemy with its feet. It may also hit with its little hands, making it look like it's boxing.

In this park the kangaroos are very tame and used to people. You can even buy ice cream cones filled with hay and seeds to feed the kangaroos!

A kangaroo is a marsupial. That means the female has a pouch in front of her stomach. When she has a joey (a baby kangaroo), it rides in her pouch so she can keep it safe. As you might have guessed, the adult kangaroo can jump far and go very quickly with those long feet and strong legs.

Another marsupial is the koala. Some people think it's a bear, but it's not. Since it's a marsupial it also has a pouch for its baby, just like a kangaroo, so don't call it a koala bear! The koala in this photo looks fake, but he's real. He turned just in time for me to take the photo. If you're still not convinced, click below!

Click here to see a koala in action. Isn't he cute?! I got to pet one of the koalas. Its fur was very thick and soft. Its breath smelled of eucalyptus leaves - its favorite food.

Both the kangaroo and the koala are nocturnal animals, so most of them were asleep when we were at the park. We were lucky to see some that were awake between naps.

Do you know the song, "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree"? There are many kookaburras in the forested areas of Australia. A gum tree is a eucalyptus tree, and there are lots of them throughout the country.

Kookaburras make a noise that sounds like they're laughing. When one starts that gets all of the other kookaburras in the area "laughing" as well! It's lots of fun to hear them. Click here to see the kookaburra song and hear a real kookaburra.

There are also many colorful birds in Australia. This is a picture of a lorikeet. Isn't its coloring amazing? I got this close-up picture in the wildlife park, but we saw many flying in the wild. It camouflages itself among brightly colored fruit in trees.

Needless to say, Chirpy liked the birds the best. In this photo you see he's having a cultural exchange with an Australian pelican. He learned that there are many pelicans around the country, especially near the coast where they can catch fish in that long bill. The pelican has the longest bill of any bird in the world. Click here to find out more interesting facts about the Australian Pelican.

After a week in Sydney, we took another three-hour plane ride to get to the center of Australia. We wanted to see the famous Uluru (also called Ayers Rock). Here is a picture of it from the plane. It's a mountain in the middle of a desert. It looks strange because all of the other mountains have eroded away, leaving Uluru by itself. The native people of Australia are the Aborigines (just as the native people of the United States are the Native American Indians). The Aborigines believe that Uluru is very sacred, or holy. They have many legends about the gods and goddesses who formed this mountain.

One day we walked around Uluru. There is a walking trail near the base of the mountain. We began the 11 kilometer walk early in the morning when it was still cool. Soon however, the sun began beating down on us. The red earth soaked up the heat and radiated it back. The flies came out and pestered us mercilessly. It was hot and dry. Three hours later we reached our starting point. We had made it all the way around. We were glad we had experienced Uluru up close. It was so interesting and beautiful. Later we agreed it had been one of our favorite days.

You're probably wondering why the earth is so red in the Australian outback. There's lots of iron mixed in the soil. Iron is red so the dirt looks red.

On our walk around Uluru we met Jordan and his mom, who were also taking the walk. They're Aussies from Perth, a city on the other side of the country. Jordan is nine years old. He liked meeting Chirpy and holding a bird that had come all the way from New York. He'd like to visit the United States some day (And go to Disneyland!).

One morning we rode camels through the outback. As the sun rose on Uluru in the distance we could hear dingoes howling. Dingoes are wild dogs, similar to our wolves, but they look very different. I had hoped to see them, but they stayed well-hidden from our camel train. Click here to see pictures and to learn more about dingoes.

As usual when visiting another country, we learned lots, had loads of fun, and had new experiences we will long remember.

Click here to go to an Australian kids' Internet site.

Boy with a Thorny Devil.