need homework help from Australia

[BeJoyous]

Hi.

We are learning about Australia and I was wondering if you might be able to send a postcard our way or maybe give us a bit of information on the town you live in or what ever else you think we should know about Australia.

Thanks,
Karen

[wayseer]

Hi Karen - what is it you want to know - remember I'm rather aged so I'm out of the loop as far as youth is concerned.

give us a bit of information on the town you live

Well, I guess it's like most other American or Canadanian towns which does not seem sufficient.

I think you have to remember that Australia is busy cloning itself to the US as far as eco-politics are concerned.

Australia is a big mine - we export iron ore, coal and uranium by the giant bulk carrier mode. Apparently there are something like 150 bulkies anchored off the eastern seaboard waiting for their turn of the coal loader. I'm not sure what's happening over in the west where the iron ore deposits are held. The world's biggest uranium mine is set to get even bigger.

But perhaps you have somthing you would like to ask in particular.

[luv1another]

hey be joyous what exactly are you wanting to know? I would think most info could be found online but yeah I am happy to send ya a postcard or whatever and answer any questions

[BeJoyous]

Ok I guess that I am being too vague.

We would like to know about your town.

What sort of food do you eat?

What religions you have there?

What is the climate like?

Are kangaroos a common sight? (I think they are wondering if they are like waterfowl out here or really reserved to wildlife like the bision on the plains)

What sort of wildlife do you have?

What are some things that make Australia like/different than the USA?

We will do some more research on the country and get back with more questions.

[wayseer]

Ok I guess that I am being too vague.

We would like to know about your town.

I live about 20 kilometers outsode Maryborough which is in Queensland, a town of about 30,000. The town is situated on the Mary River which empties into the sea now far from where I live - actually into a rather large bay called Hervey Bay well know for its whale sightings. Emigrants from England arrived at M in the mid 1840s, some 40,000 of them. M is about 30 kilometers from the sea so the ships had to navidate a widing shoaling river with some difficulty. I live near one particular obstruction to navigation called Beaver Roach, most likely named after the american beaver by an American Captain - or just through common usage.

What sort of food do you eat?

Probably the same as you guys - a blend of English and Asia. Beef, lamb, chicken and of course lots of fish from the river.

What religions you have there?

All Christian categories. The nearest Mosque is over 100 kilometers north in another town.

What is the climate like?

Pretty mild really. Lows of 8-9 C in winter and up to 35-37 C in Summer.

Are kangaroos a common sight? (I think they are wondering if they are like waterfowl out here or really reserved to wildlife like the bision on the plains)

Kangeroos - year heaps of them - you have negotiate your way past them on the way to town. We have possums and snakes, lots of them living near water, and goannas roaming around. Heaps of bird life as we are surrounded by marshes and waterholes - and lots of small biting insects which make life uncomfortable at sundown when they came out looking for warm flesh to attack. The river supports an Australia love - mud crabs and lot of fishermen work out of here looking for mudcrabs.

What sort of wildlife do you have?

Wedge tail eagles, sea eagles and osprey, wrens, kookaburras and magpies, butcher birds and a whole host of others I don't know by name.


What are some things that make Australia like/different than the USA?

To understand Australia you have to understand what Anzac (Australian and New Zealnad Army Corps) Day means to Australians - it is a one and true holy day when what it may mean to be an Australian is celebrated. The fact we actually celebrate a defeat makes the observance more significant. I have not go time to go into all that here.

We will do some more research on the country and get back with more questions.

Hope this helps