Australia boasts a varied culture. Influences from European, indigenous, and Asian sources can be seen in its cuisine, arts, and language.
Australian culture embraces an easygoing and outdoor lifestyle that celebrates nature, so expect to find locals crowding pubs for rugby games, cheering on their national cricket team at cricket matches and spending weekends relaxing on the beach.
The Eastern Highlands
The Eastern Highlands or Great Dividing Range is a long and narrow mountain range that runs along Australia’s east coast, comprising one of its two mountain systems; Mount Kosciuszko is its highest peak located in New South Wales.
Australia was initially formed during continental drift as its coastline collided with other countries and continents, leading to collisions of tectonic plates which eventually folded the mountains and created highland landscapes.
Winter brings highland regions a lot of snow due to the Foehn effect, which increases air temperatures on leeside of mountain range and decreases atmospheric moisture. In addition, this region is home to many native animals like frogs and koalas; making it an excellent place for hunting.
The Western Plateau
Australia, being a flat and dry continent like Antarctica, does not experience as dramatic earth movements to form its landscapes as does Antarctica. Instead, river erosion provides most of the detail on the terrain: rivers cut valleys into highland sources then fill them up with alluvium before running to either the sea or salt lakes.
Many southern plateaus have been cut up by erosion into rugged hills with high escarpments on their eastern edges; many of Australia’s finest waterfalls can be found where rivers pass over such escarpments.
The country is dominated by numerous ranges, such as the Macdonnell and Musgrave Ranges and individual mountains such as Ayers Rock (Uluru). Most of this region was originally comprised of vast flat plains which over time have been gradually worn away by erosion to reveal more uniform surfaces.
The Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (NT) is an expansive federal territory known for its diverse landscapes and iconic natural icons like Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta’s red rock domes – major tourist draws.
Mining is an integral industry in this region, hosting such minerals as bauxite, gold, copper, nickel, silver, uranium and petroleum. Tourism also plays an integral part of its economy while vast cattle ranches known as stations also contribute.
The Northern Territory (NT) is administered independently from Australia; however, certain aspects of governance remain under Commonwealth control. Darwin serves as its capital city; crime rates in major urban centers like Darwin and Alice Springs can be particularly severe while remote communities often experience violent crime as well. A high proportion of its population are comprised of Aboriginals.
The Coastal Plain
The Coastal Plain of Australia’s eastern coastline spans 30 kilometers west of Darling Scarp uplands. This region comprises coastal sand dunes, river estuaries and several wetlands protected from exposure by dunal systems.
Flora and fauna here thrive, including eucalypt forests with various species of tree found in some areas; most vegetation consists of dense shrubby kwongan heath which has evolved in response to poor soils, dry summers and regular fires – providing home for numerous endemic plants such as yellow flame and toothbrush grevilleas, fan-flowers as well as banksia trees bearing red-blossomed quandong (desert peach).
Lakes Cooloongup and Walyungup lie along the coast, formed when land rose considerably and created a barrier against the sea.
The Deserts
Australian deserts are extremely harsh environments. Defined by vast areas of dry land that receive minimal precipitation and are home to unique Australian desert animals.
Sturt-Stoney Desert, Australia’s largest desert, covers north-eastern South Australia, Queensland’s far western edge and New South Wales in its entirety. This expansive desert contains an array of landscapes including dunes fields, salt lakes, river country and floodplains – offering plenty of diversity!
The Simpson Desert, on the other hand, is an immense expanse of parallel sand dunes interspersed with lakes and oasis. This mysterious environment is home to spinifex and mulga shrubs as well as rare River red gum trees; plus an astonishing variety of water-holding frogs and unique pine trees as well as high levels of endemism in fish species.
