Lord Howe Island

A tiny treasure rising out of the emptiness of the southern Pacific Ocean and part of the Australian state of New South Wales, Lord Howe Island is one of the world's last truly unspoiled Island destinations. Just 11 km long and 2 km wide, two thirds of its land mass is covered by Banyan, Pandanus and native Kentia Palm forests, its many perfect beaches are safe, pristine and tranquil.

Guided and self-guided bush treks, fish feeding at Ned's Beach, bicycling, bird watching tours, cruising around the Island, kayaking, reef walking, snorkelling and scuba diving, or just laying around in a world class world heritage environment, are some of the favourite things to do.

The crystal waters that abound in marine life comprises over 400 species of fish, 90 species of coral, 4% of which is unique to the Island. Perfect for snorkelling, scuba diving, and fishing.

There are 18 Accommodation properties - from budget to 5 stars. Cafes and restaurants for those who don't want to self-cater and general stores for those who do.

World Heritage listed in 1982 for its rare collection of flora, fauna and marine life and only one of four Island groups in the world to have this listing, Lord Howe is the perfect sanctuary for nature-lovers, adventure seekers (try the 8 hour rope-assisted climb up Mt. Gower), romantic getaways and 'stress-breaker' weekends.

Temperatures range from about 28 degrees Celsius in summer with lows of about 13 degrees in winter. The months of July, August and September can sometimes be windy.

Under a 2-hour flight with QantasLink direct from Sydney or Brisbane with national and international Qantas connections.

Anzac Day - Australia

Anzac Day is a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.

History

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand.This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same national day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

The Gallipoli campaign

When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a Federal Commonwealth for only thirteen years. In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an Allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula, under a plan by Winston Churchill to open the way to the Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of Germany. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Turkish Army commanded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . What had been planned as a bold strike to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stale-mate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

Though the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives of capturing Istanbul and knocking Turkey out of the war, the Australian and New Zealand troops' actions during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This shaped the ways their citizens viewed both their past and their future.

The foundations of Anzac Day

On 30 April 1915, when the first news of the landing reached New Zealand, a half-day holiday was declared and impromptu services were held. The following year a public holiday was gazetted on 5 April and services to commemorate were organised by the returned servicemen.^[3]

The date, 25 April, was officially named Anzac Day in 1916; in that year it was marked by a wide variety of ceremonies and services in Australia and New Zealand, a march through London, and a sports day for the Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Egypt. The small New Zealand community of Tinui, near Masterton in the Wairarapa was apparently the first place in New Zealand to have an Anzac Day service, when the then vicar led an expedition to place a large wooden cross on the Tinui Taipos (a 1,200 ft (370 m) high large hill/mountain, behind the village) in April 1916 to commemorate the dead. A service was held on the 25th of April of that year.^[4] In 2006 the 90th Anniversary of the event was commemerated with a full twenty-one gun salute fired at the service by soldiers from the Waiouru Army Camp.

In London, over 2,000 Australian and New Zealand troops marched through the streets of the city. A London newspaper headline dubbed them "The Knights of Gallipoli". Marches were held all over Australia in 1916; wounded soldiers from Gallipoli attended the Sydney march in convoys of cars, accompanied by nurses. Over 2,000 people attended the service in Rotorua. For the remaining years of the war, Anzac Day was used as an occasion for patriotic rallies and recruiting campaigns, and parades of serving members of the AIF were held in most cities. From 1916 onwards, in both Australia and New Zealand, Anzac memorials were held on or about 25 April, mainly organised by returned servicemen and school children in cooperation with local authorities.

Anzac Day at Manly, Brisbane, Australia, 1922

Anzac Day was gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand in 1920, through the Anzac Day Act, after lobbying by the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association, the RSA. In Australia at the 1921 State Premiers' Conference, it was decided that Anzac Day would be observed on 25 April each year. However, it was not observed uniformly in all the States.

Flags on a cenotaph in Wellington for the 2007 Dawn Service. From left to right, the flags of New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia

During the 1920s, Anzac Day became established as a National Day of Commemoration for the 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders who died during the war. The first year in which all the Australian States observed some form of public holiday together on Anzac Day was 1927. By the mid-1930s, all the rituals now associated with the day — dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions, sly two-up games — became part of Australian Anzac Day culture. New Zealand commemorations also adopted many of these rituals, with the dawn service being introduced from Australia in 1939.

A large commemoration march in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales (April 2008)

[edit] Anzac Day since World War II

With the coming of the Second World War, Anzac Day became a day on which to commemorate the lives of Australians and New Zealanders lost in that war as well and in subsequent years, the meaning of the day has been further broadened to include those killed in all the military operations in which the countries have been involved.

Anzac Day was first commemorated at the Australian War Memorial in 1942, but, due to government orders preventing large public gatherings in case of Japanese air attack, it was a small affair and was neither a march nor a memorial service. Anzac Day has been annually commemorated at the Australian War Memorial ever since.

Australians and New Zealanders recognise 25 April as a ceremonial occasion, to reflect on the futility of war, and to remember those who fought and lost their lives for their country. Commemorative services are held at dawn, the time of the original landing, mainly at war memorials in cities and towns across both nations. One of the traditions of Anzac Day is the 'gunfire breakfast' (coffee with rum added) which occurs shortly after many dawn ceremonies, and recalls the 'breakfast' taken by many soldiers before facing battle. Later in the day, ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centres.

Dawn service

After the First World War, returned soldiers sought the comradeship they felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. With symbolic links to the dawn landing at Gallipoli, a dawn stand-to or dawn ceremony became a common form of Anzac Day remembrance during the 1920s.

The first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927. Dawn services were originally very simple and followed the operational ritual; in many cases they were restricted to veterans only. The daytime ceremony was for families and other well-wishers and the dawn service was for returned soldiers to remember and reflect among the comrades with whom they shared a special bond.

The wreath laying at the 2008 dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Hyde Park Corner, London.

Before dawn the gathered veterans would be ordered to "stand-to" and two minutes of silence would follow. At the start of this time a lone bugler would play "The Last Post" and then concluded the service with "Reveille". In more recent times the families and young people have been encouraged to take part in dawn services, and services in Australian capital cities have seen some of the largest turnouts ever. Reflecting this change, the ceremonies have become more elaborate, incorporating hymns, readings, pipers and rifle volleys. Others, though, have retained the simple format of the dawn stand-to, familiar to so many soldiers.

Typical modern dawn services follow a pattern that is now familiar to generations of Australians, containing the following features: introduction, hymn, prayer, an address, laying of wreaths, recitation, the playing of "The Last Post", a minute of silence, "Reveille", and the playing of both New Zealand and Australian national anthems. At the Australian War Memorial, following events such as the Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services, families often place red poppies beside the names of relatives on the Memorial's Roll of Honour. In Australia sprigs of rosemary are often worn on lapels and in New Zealand poppies have taken on this role.

From: wiki

Manufacturing in Australia - A Statistical Overview

Stephen Barber
Statistics Group

The manufacturing industry in Australia has come under much scrutiny in recent times, especially in relation to tariff protection for the industry as a whole and certain sections of the industry in particular. This note presents some of the statistics that are available for the manufacturing industry as a whole and gives an historical perspective over the last 30 to 35 years.

Size

Currently, the manufacturing sector has a gross product (GP) of nearly $70 billion. [Where gross product is the value of goods and services produced in Australia less the cost of goods and services used up in the production process and before allowance has been made for the consumption of fixed capital (depreciation)].

Manufacturing is Australia's largest industry, with wholesale trade ($50 billion), property and business services ($40 billion), retail trade ($35 billion) and finance and insurance ($35 billion) completing the top five.

However, Chart 1 shows the decline in the dominance of the manufacturing industry since the early 1960s. In 1962-63, it was over a quarter (26.2%) of Australia's gross domestic product (GDP) but by 1995-96 its contribution has declined to little more than a seventh (14.3%).

Employment

Thirty years ago, manufacturing provided over 1.2 million jobs and was a major source of employment. Its position as a significant employer was only rivalled by the combined wholesale and retail trade industries.

Today, however, manufacturing employment is still around the same level (1.1 million people) although total employment in Australia has increased from 4.8 million to 8.3 million over that time. The retail trade industry on its own has employed more people than manufacturing since the early 1990s.

Chart 2 shows the trend in manufacturing employment when expressed as a percentage of total employment. The picture is almost identical to that shown by Chart 1. In 1966, nearly 26% of jobs were in manufacturing. In 1996, this has reduced to just over 13%.

Exports

Exports of manufactured goods as a proportion of total merchandise exports have more than doubled over the last 30 years from less than 14% in 1963-64 to 33% in 1996-97. The evolving trend, shown in Chart 3, has two distinct periods of increasing share-the 1960s through to the early 1970s and from the mid 1980s-sandwiching a period of gradual decline.

Over the last four years exports of manufactures have become greater than either mining or agricultural exports. In 1996-97, exports of manufactures are valued at almost $26 billion while mining and agricultural exports are valued at just over $23 billion each.

The decreasing proportion of the manufacturing industry overall, measured in relation to GDP, combined with the above information on the increasing share of exports of manufactures means that the production of the manufacturing industry is now being directed away from sales and consumption within Australia and directed to foreign markets.

This can be seen from Chart 4, where exports of manufactures have been expressed as a percentage of manufacturing gross product. From the early 1960s the share of manufacturing production that was exported was around 8%. The share then increased gradually to 15% by the early 1970s and then plateaued until the mid 1980s. In the 9 years from 1986-87, the proportion has increased steeply so that in 1996-97 over a third of manufacturing production was exported.

STMs and ETMs

Australia's exports of manufactures can be split into two types, simply transformed (STM) and elaborately transformed (ETM).

These terms refer to the amount of processing that are made to the inputs to the manufacturing process. STMs are mainly basic metal manufactures, e.g., aluminium ingots. ETMs, which form the major portion of world trade in manufactures, are defined as finished goods or goods that have unique qualities that allow them to be differentiated from other manufactured goods. ETMs have a high degree of manufacturing value added.

Chart 5 shows the proportion of Australia's exports of manufactures that are STMs or ETMs since 1971-72. Over this period, it can be seen that ETMs hovered between 50% and 60% of exports of manufactures for nearly 20 years. However, over the last eight years exports of ETMs have trended upwards to around 70% of exports of manufactures. It seems that Australia has changed its focus to provide more finished goods and rely to a lesser extent on 'traditional' (STM) products of unworked iron, steel and non-ferrous products.

Sources:

ABS, National Income, Expenditure and Product (Cat nos 5204.0, 5206.0)

ABS, International Merchandise Trade, Australia (Cat no 5422.0)

ABS, Labour Force, Australia (Cat no 6203.0)

DFAT, Exports of Primary and Manufactured Products.

Melbourne Zoo (part 1)

Australian terms and references

First up, especially if you are an American or British tourist, DO NOT attempt to use Australian slang until you have lived here long enough to acquire it. We can tell what you are, you will get it wrong, and you will be considered a twit. The same advice applies to pretending to demonstrate your mastery of the Australian accent. If you try it, you will almost certainly give offence. Serious offence. You won't mean to, but you will offend.

Just talk normally: Australians are not dumb country cousins, and you don't need to speak our language, because we understand yours perfectly well. Even if we can be hard to understand, we get your accent on television, radio and films, all the time, and we will understand just about all of what you say.

On the other hand, you do not speak our language. This is not so much a question of slang, it is a question of intonation, usage and cultural references. Sooner or later, you will be in trouble if you think you speak the same language.

In short, this section is not intended to help you pass yourself off as an Australian. You won't get away with it, so don't try — we don't eat foreigners. Be yourself and you will find us friendly and helpful, but understand that you are guests in another culture.

If you speak another language, you may have a problem. Yes, we have SBS which broadcasts mainly in community languages, both on television and radio, but we aren't all that hot on other languages. No announcements at train stations will be in other languages, no street signs will appear in major world languages (though you may see a few welcome signs and danger signs in other languages), and no museum signage will be in other languages, mainly because it is too hard working out what other languages should be covered, when we speak a variant of THE world language.

Australian accents

According to the experts, there are three Australian accents. One is broad (think Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin, and you won't be far off). Most Asustralians can speak this if they wish to, and some speak nothing else. Broad Australian is more common in the bush. The second version is referred to as general Australian, and this is typically what you will hear radio announcers using -- or newsreaders on television. Then there is a dying form, educated Australian, which sounds closer to Received English.

As it happens, I generally speak in that accent, though I can switch. Britons who have been in Australia for more than about ten months may mistake me for a fellow-Briton (albeit one who has 'gone native' just a tad), and Americans in Europe always take me for British, but in Britain, nobody takes me for anything but Australian.

Most of the time, we use general Australian, and I try to do so myself, but put me behind a microphone, and I revert. How do i know about this? Well, as a schoolboy in 1959, I was selected as part of a sample of 4000 Australians, used by Alex Mitchell to try to pick regional and other variations, and I was interviewed again, about ten years ago. What a pity we don't still have the original tapes!

Regional variations

There are a few terms that are regional, and some people think that Adelaide is starting to break out and develop its own vowels, but it is very hard for us to pick, so foreigners will have little chance unless they are highly trained -- I used to know a Hoosier who could do it.

Reading list

• G. A Wilkes, A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, Collins, ISBN 0732224330
• The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, Aussie Talk, Macquarie Library, ISBN 0949757225
• Lenie (Midge) Johansen, The Dinkum Dictionary, Claremont, ISBN 1854719293
• Maureen Brooks and Joan Ritchie, Words from the West, Oxford, ISBN 0195536282

I hope to add some Afferbeck Lauder references later.

Australian terms

Slang, the vernacular, the peculiarly Australian form of English can be difficult to understand. Slang aside, there are the words that all Australians use in a special way, like "bush". Even those Australians who speak "educated" or "cultivated" English will talk about "the bush".

There are no forests or woods in Australia, just bush. When people disappear into the wilds, they "go bush" (or bushwalking), if they stray from the made path, they are bush-bashing. Thieves who roamed the bush were called bushrangers, and if somebody has come up to the "Smoke" (Sydney) from the bush, then he or she probably lives on a farm or in a country town. So you have to listen to the context.

The "cultivated" style of English is fancied by most Australians to be indistinguishable from English, and it is fairly close: after a few months in Australia, most English people lose the ability to tell whether or not a "cultivated" speaker is English or Australian. Americans have problems in distinguishing that accent from the English accent. This style of "speaking properly" seems to be getting less common, if only because most "cultivated" speakers can and do use at least one other form of more local accent.

The New Zealand accent is common in Australia, and can be hard to pick, even for an outsider who has been here for some time. Australians say it is easy: ask the suspected New Zealander to count to seven. For Kiwis, the number between five and seven is sux, and lists are lusts. It's a subtle difference, and not really important. The 'Kiwi accent' is apparently more common in those from the South Island.

There are two other distinct forms of English that we detect in our own speech. The "general Australian" is broader, and less "English", and it is more likely to contain references to manufactured products and cultural allusions and clever similes ("Vegemite", or "as mean as Hungry Tyson" or "as flash as a rat with a gold tooth"). "General Australian" usually involves less lip movement.

The broad Australian accent involves no lip movement at all (to keep flies out of the mouth, some say), more reliance on tones (perhaps because it carries over longer distances), and many impenetrable slang terms, including rhyming slang, often similar to (but differing from) Cockney rhyming slang. It is a gross error to see the Australian accent as deriving from Cockney, just because of a few fancied similarities in a few vowels and diphthongs (which many Australians wear on their feet).

Some of the slang terms can be traced to regional English usages, others are of unknown origin. The correct and safest procedure for any foreigner is to smile engagingly and look agreeable without actually agreeing to anything when slang is used in their presence. As a rule, unless you know people, if you use slang terms that the listener knows to be Australian (like 'dunny'), some Australians will assume you are being patronising. It's a pity, but that's the way it is.

So far as swearing is concerned, Australians use the same terms as other English-speakers, although with different frequencies. You should have no problem in recognising when you are being sworn at, but context and tone of voice are more important than content. A poor old bastard is an altogether different beast from a miserable bastard or a rotten bastard.

Then there are the aboriginal words, names for places, animals or things that are used quite unconsciously, like billabong, an oxbow lake in other places, or maybe tucker, which is food, and which may or may not be an aboriginal word, as well as bingey (stomach), dilly-bag and waddy.

Last of all, there are words that are used in Australia in some way that the scholars of Oxford know not, that you will never find in the Oxford English Dictionary. Just as the Americans needed their Webster's, so we now have our own Macquarie Dictionary that tells us (and others) what we mean. Try looking up "jam" in all three!

Australian place names

If you aren't an Australian, you will have problems with some of the names used here. The name that is either Larnston or Lawnston in Britain (the Cornish and the Devon men don't agree) is Launceston, pronounced Lawn-cess-tn, with the stress on the second syllable when it is in Tasmania. Call it anything else, and you are indelibly branded a New Chum.

Americans in particular have trouble with the various capitals. Melbourne is pronounced Melbn, and Brisbane is pronounced Brizbn: at least there is some regularity there. Canberra is a problem one that even Australians could not decide about. The legend runs that the Important Lady who declared Canberra open in 1913 was given the name on a piece of paper, and everybody waited to see how she pronounced it. Whatever the truth of that, we swallow the second syllable, so it becomes CANb'ruh, with the emphasis on the first syllable.

The large regional town, Wagga Wagga rhymes with logger logger, but it is usually called Wagga by those who don't live there.

Canowindra is pronounced "Canowndra", and Woolloomooloo is Wooluhmuhloo. The ending "-warra" or "-warrah" is pronounced "worrer". If you are American, keep in mind that we do not pronounce the final "r" - if you are from Maine, forget I mentioned it :-)

Most suburb names in Sydney are either British (English, Scottish or Irish), or of aboriginal origin. In the first two cases, pronunciation tends to be as it was in Britain, while aboriginal names were rendered into our alphabet according to no particular rules. When in doubt, write the name down.

Sydney Suburbs

For an allegedly egalitarian society, Australians practice a great deal of snobbery about suburbs, and Sydneysiders are typical in this. Every so often, correspondence will break out in the newspapers about the limits of the North Shore. Then somebody who lives in the Eastern Suburbs will say that the North is all tacky anyhow, and somebody from the Western Suburbs will cry a pox on all their houses.

The people of the north and the east then join in raising their collective eye-brows, amazed that anybody from "out there" should have heard of the Montagues and Capulets. From a visitor's viewpoint, the east and the north may offer more than the west, but the west is slowly coming into its cultural "own". Take a look at the Riverside theatres!

In the beginning, there was Sydney, and there was Parramatta. At one stage, the capital of New South Wales could well have been established at Parramatta, but it was probably too hot for the early settlers. Parramatta misses out on the sea breeze, and there were no port facilities that far up the Parramatta River.

While Parramatta is now the demographic centre of Sydney, it is only slowly recovering its role as a major administrative centre. Most of the beach-side Sydneysiders have only a hazy notion about the other half of Sydney, west of Parramatta. Take their advice guardedly, if at all. On the other hand, most of the tourist attractions are located in the east, close to the coast.

The Eastern Suburbs were so-named because they were east of the city, from Kings Cross through to Bondi, but generally the name is taken as referring to the harbour's edge suburbs, with sea views. People with money settled here, rather than to the west of the city, where the temperature soon rises, out beyond the reach of the sea breeze. This social division can be traced back to the earliest days of the colony, when officers congregated on the eastern ridge near what is now Macquarie Street, and other ranks were confined to the western shore of Sydney Cove, near what is now The Rocks.

The original Western Suburbs are those around Glebe, Annandale, Leichhardt, Stanmore, Petersham, Lewisham, Summer Hill and Ashfield, which are these days described as "Inner City" suburbs, and greatly prized by the middle classes, so that many of the suburbs have been completely gentrified, more or less in proportion to their distance from the cooling sea breezes.

The city has had to spread to the west, the north and the south, but settlement to the north was limited by access problems. The Manly area was well-served by ferries, and there was a train line from the northern shore of the harbour, running along the main ridge towards Hornsby, from last century. Logically enough, this was called the North Shore Line, and defined the "North Shore", where the suburbs are all far from any shore, but their train line runs down to it.

Manly stayed isolated by road until rather later, so people had to catch ferries and pass through "The Village" (as Manly is still known to locals) to catch trams further north. This gave the people of Manly and Warringah a distinct feeling, summed up in their name for the area: 'The Peninsula'. These days, though, they tend to call this are 'The Northern Beaches', especially when talking to outsiders.

South of the city, to the west of Botany Bay, and running down to the Georges River, the St George district developed, while to the north-west of the city, the "Hills District" has developed. Most of the other areas derive their names from local government boundaries, as these have applied to football and other sporting teams.

Regional names

There are many local names given to regions, names which do not appear on maps, but which you may need to understand. The entries below are given in dictionary form: you can always disagree with a dictionary definition, but these have been based more on public perception, rather than on geographers' carefully made distinctions. More importantly, some of these terms are used by advertisers and tourist groups in some special way that depends on who is paying the bills. I have tried to be useful to you, not them.

Blue Mountains: the part of the Great Dividing Range behind Sydney, which provided a barrier to the white settlers in the first 25 years of settlement. Rising to a bit over 1000 metres, they are visible from some high parts of Sydney on a clear day. In tourist terms, that part of the Great Dividing Range which lies along or fairly close to the Great Western Highway (Route 32) over the mountains. To you, it will probably mean the Blue Mountains National Park.

Central Coast: north of Broken Bay, running up towards Newcastle, a pleasant holiday area which is fast becoming a living place for Sydneysiders.

The Illawarra: this may well have been "The Illawarra Plain" originally, but the flat area around Wollongong is now known by that name. The "Illawarra line" is the railway to Otford. Governor Macquarie mentioned an alternative, "Allowrie", now only found in a brand name for butter.

New England: inland from the North Coast, this is the part of the high country around Armidale. Considering the early settlers and the conditions there, "New Scotland" would be more apposite.

North Coast: the north coast of New South Wales generally past Port Macquarie. This is sometimes sub-divided by the tourist authorities.

The Riverina: the fruit-growing area in the south of NSW, along the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers.

South Coast: the coast of New South Wales south of Nowra, though some would say south of Kiama.

Southern Highlands: the area straddling the Great Dividing Range from about Mittagong to Moss Vale. Don't miss Berrima and Bowral, if slightly artificial tweeness is your thing.

Obtaining a drivers license in Australia

How do I get an Australian drivers licence?
Australian driver licences are administered at state/territory level, and regulations vary as a result. You will normally need to obtain a state licence within 3 months of taking up residence in the state (you can use your overseas licence in the meantime).

You may need to do a practical test unless:

• you have a New Zealand licence; or
• you hold a current overseas licence and have previously held an Australian licence - the exact regulations in this area can be complex and vary from state to state
• you hold a current licence issued by an overseas country - including most of the European Union nations, Canada, the USA and Japan - whose licensing system is recognised as similar to Australia's. All Australian states and territories are moving to grant this exemption - as of May 2002 it has been implemented in WA, Victoria and Queensland, with NSW set to follow on 20 May 2002.
  If you are moving to another state/territory you will need to check with the government directly as to whether they have implemented this scheme or not.

If you have held your overseas licence (even from a non fully-recognised country) for a number of years, you should be exempt from probationary restrictions once you pass your test.

In NSW the theory test is computer based and can be taken at any RTA office. It does not matter if you fail the theory test - you just try it again, except that since January 2002 there is a fee of AUD30 for each attempt. The theory test can be practised online. However, if you fail the practical test you lose your visiting driver privileges straight away. You need to obtain a NSW learner licence until you pass the test, and until then you are subject to learner restrictions (eg you can't drive alone and you are subject to an 80kph speed limit). However, even if you only pass the practical test a second time, you are still not subject to probationary restrictions once you do pass as long as you have held an overseas licence for three years.

Under NSW regulations, you can keep your overseas licence once you obtain a NSW licence (whether learner or full) but your overseas licence will be endorsed so that it is no longer valid in the State.

You need proof of address in the State to get an NSW licence. This can be quite simple, any offical letter addressed to you there should do. If you are staying with friends and don't have anything official, one of them can sign the form to vouch for you as long as he/she holds a NSW licence.

People on temporary visas in NSW can keep using their overseas licences for longer than three months. They can get a NSW licence if they wish, but will need to go through the testing process. One 'advantage' of continuing to use an overseas licence is that as far as I know you can't get demerit points for things like speeding (although you can still be fined, and in extreme cases your visiting driver privileges could be taken away).

Bear in mind that in Australia, you generally have to carry your driving licence (whether Australian or overseas) with you at all times. This is different from the practice in the UK

New South Wales traffic authority
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/

The RTA is responsible for promoting road safety and traffic management, driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is also responsible for the maintenance and development of the National Highway and State Road network in NSW. It provides funding assistance to Local Councils for Regional Roads and to a limited extent, for Local Roads. The RTA manages the operations, maintenance and enhancement of 17,620km of State Roads including National Highways. It also manages 2,971km of Regional Roads and Local Roads in the unincorporated area of NSW where there are no Local Councils. The RTA assists Local Councils in managing 18,939km of Regional Roads and, to a limited extent, Local Roads, through funding and other support

Victoria
http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/

VicRoads serves the community by managing the Victorian road network and its use as an integral part of the overall transport system. VicRoads works to achieve improved access, safety and mobility for Victoria's road users. This Web site provides information about VicRoads services, products and strategies.

Western Australia
http://www.onlinewa.com.au/enhanced/getaround/motoring/

Insurance	Buying or Selling a Vehicle	Car Licence Payments
On-line Drive Safe Handbook	Driver Safety	Learning Driver's Licence
Changes	Fines & Infringements	GST and Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance Premiums
Interstate Vehicle Registrations	Learner's Permits for Drivers	Marine Safety
Motor Vehicle Accidents	Motor Vehicle Registrations	Older Road Users' Handbook
Road News	Road Safety	Road Safety Council
Roadworks Bulletin	Safe Touring in WA	SaferWA - Vehicle Immobilisation Program
Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance	Touring WA	Traffic & Road Faults Reporting
Traffic and Road Conditions	Traffic Cam	Traffic Management Information
Transfering Driver's Licences	Vehicle Examinations	Vehicle Licencing and Registration

Southern Australia
http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/

On the 23rd of March 1927, the Highways and Local Government Department was formed by administrative fiat, commencing the history of a Department which through the efforts of its many faithful employees has sought to serve the people of South Australia well. It's a story of the Department and its work and of the men and women who made the Department and helped develop its unique culture. The growth and development of the Department reflects the increased significance of the role of the motor car and road transport in the social and economic life of South Australia. Initially the provisions of roads and bridges was considered a local government matter, but in the early 20th century, with the increased popularity and ownership of motor vehicles, the central government assumed an increased responsibility for the provision of improved roads. As road transport became increasingly significant, so too did the role of the Department, particularly during the critical years of World War II and the long period of economic boom which followed. Transport SA now services all areas of transport, including air, rail, marine, freight, vehicle registration & licensing and of course roads. The history of Transport SA is more than a history of a government department. It is a history of South Australia, albeit from a particular perspective.

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Driving in Australia

• Note that the urban speed limit in New South Wales was decreased to 50 kilometres per hour from November 1, 2003. See Australian Traffic Rules. Many other cities and towns also now impose a 50km/h limit.

Thinking of driving in Australia? Well, fine.

If you’re a visitor and hold a valid driver’s licence (in English) from your own country, fine, you’re allowed to drive throughout all of Australia. (But an international driver's licence, if you have one, does not by itself give you the right to drive in Australia.)

If your driver's licence is not in English, a translation may be necessary and you may also need to have an international driver's licence.

If you come from a country where motorists drive on the left-hand side of the road, there’s not much more to know, and you should easily adjust to driving in Australia by following local driving customs and laws.

Be a leftist, man

If you come from the US, or from another country where people drive on the right-hand side of the road, there’ll be a bit to get used to, the main thing being that you drive on the left-hand side of the road in Australia; and that if you turn left or right, you must remember to go, as you complete your turn, into the left-hand side of the road you are turning into, instead of to the right as you’re used to.

Okay so far?

Australia Travel Planner

An Australia travel planner helps organise your trip to Australia especially if you're visiting Australia for the first time.

Yes, it's rather a large continent and an Australia travel planner is certainly a good idea.

If it's your first visit

For Australia travel, particularly if it is your first visit, this Australia travel planner should give you an overview of what you might expect in Australia.

See how much time you want to spend on your Australia travel and where you might want to go.

Do you need a visa?

Find out if you need an Australian visa for your Australia travel. Also remember that Australian entry requirements change, so up-to-date information is important. Your travel agent should be able to help you.

When do you plan to visit?

When do you want to schedule your Australia travel and what kind of clothes should you pack? If you’re in the northern hemisphere, remember that the seasons in Australia are the opposite of those you have.

Check out the weather

Having an idea of what the Australian weather will be like will be of immeasurable help in deciding what clothes to bring on your Australia travel.

Australian Traffic Rules

Once you get on the road, here are some Australian traffic rules to remember:

• If you’re driving slowly — getting used to the traffic, y’know — the lane for you is the leftmost lane if there is more than one lane in the direction you’re going.

• If you’re traveling on a highway or freeway, Australian traffic rules say you should stay on the left lane (or one of the left lanes if there are more than two lanes going in the one direction) unless you're overtaking. There would be signs to remind you of this.

• If you’re entering and crossing an intersection, drivers customarily defer to the motorist on the right unless he or she is stopped by a STOP or YIELD sign. At a T intersection, the motorist driving straight through has the right of way.

• Don’t beep your horn — unless you’re in a situation where you need to warn another driver, for instance, when he’s about to hit you.

• The speed limit in a built-up residential area has for a long time been 60 kilometres per hour (35mph), but this has been reduced in many places to 50 kilometres per hour as in the Brisbane suburbs and a number of Sydney aeas. Other cities may have adopted the lower limit as well. Be watchful of posted speed limits and do check with the locals. On country roads and highways the usual speed limit has been 100km/hr (62mph) or 110km/hr (68mph), particularly on freeways, unless signs indicate another speed limit. Already, the speed limit on certain stretches of the Newcastle Highway and on Sydney's M4 freeway has been reduced.

  From November 1, 2003, the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority has decreed that the urban speed limit in NSW is 50km/h. This is in line with the recent adoption of a national 50km/h default urban speed limit. Streets that are mainly used for traffic movements and access to main roads will remain signposted 60km/h, or faster, even if there are residential properties on the street.

• If you’ve been drinking, don’t drive — unless your blood alcohol level is less than .05.

• Seat belts must be worn by drivers and passengers at all times.

Some road signs to take note of:

• NO STANDING. Well, sure, you can’t be standing while driving a car. What it means is you can’t stop in the area indicated except to let a passenger get in or off a vehicle, and you certainly can’t park there.
• NO STOPPING. Except in the event of medical emergencies, don't stop in the area indicated.
• NO PARKING. Just what it means. You can unload and unload passengers but shouldn’t leave your vehicle parked there.
• BUS ZONE. Well, leave that to the buses. Taxi zone. Ditto for taxis.
• LOADING AND UNLOADING ZONE. If you’re driving a truck, ute, van or wagon, you’re allowed to park here if you’re delivering or picking up some sort of cargo. If you’re driving a passenger car, you may have to explain what you’re loading or unloading.
• The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, and some of the highways and roads are tollways, so have change ready to go through the tollgates quickly. A growing number of cars are fitted with transponders which allow these vehicles to drive through specially marked gates without stopping. An encoded magnetic card has also been available for some tollways. On some tollways, only transponders called e-Tags (and temporary e-Way passes) can be used.

PUNTERS will this year be able to place bets on Good Friday for the first time.

Tabcorp yesterday told The Daily Telegraph that TAB agencies and pub TABS will be open for business this Good Friday for punters in New South Wales and Victoria.

Good Friday and Christmas Day were previously sacrosanct, but managing director of wagering Robert Nason said it would be open for business on Good Friday, April 10.

He said Tabcorp would encourage Australian race clubs to race on Good Fridays.

As well as agencies and pub Tabs, Tabcorp's call centre will operate, with Tabcorp beaming two international meetings into agencies and pub TABs.

Punters will be able to bet on 12 races from Singapore and five races from South Africa.

The Singapore meet would run from 2.45pm until 8.25pm while the South African meeting would run from 7.35pm to 9.55pm.

Tabcorp will also offer punters betting on NRL's Good Friday matches - Parramatta Eels v St George-Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters v Brisbane Broncos.

"We think this is the start," Mr Nason told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.

"Whether the domestic races are on, we will be looking for other international product over time.

"We will also be encouraging anyone who wants to race on Good Friday if they can get approval from their local jurisdiction around Australia. We are keen to give punters something to bet on Good Friday. It's in the same way the NRL has eaten into that and are playing games on Good Friday.

"At least internationally we will be wagering on something on Good Friday and we will leave it up to the racing industry to decide what they want to do about racing on Good Friday."

Asked if Good Friday should be bet-free, Mr Nason replied: "All this is discretionary. People have a choice as to what they do on the day and how they wish to spend it. We are a multicultural society."

Good Friday in Australia

Good Friday is a religious and national holiday in Australia, and is held on the Friday before Easter Sunday. On this day, Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Good Friday
Hot cross buns are a popular treat to eat during the Easter break. ©iStockphoto.com/Mike Bentley
What do people do?

In Australia, Good Friday is the start of a four-day weekend and falls during the Easter school holidays. Many people take a short vacation around this time, often within Australia. Others take the opportunity to spend time with their family or friends.

Traditionally, people eat hot cross buns on Good Friday. These are small, bread-like buns flavored with spices and raisins or currants. Some modern recipes add cocoa to the the dough and replace the dried fruit with chocolate chips. All hot cross buns are marked on the top with a cross. The cross is sometimes cut into the top of the bun and sometimes made with a different, paler dough. Some people eat hot cross buns just as they are and others split them in half, toast them, spread them with butter, jam or cream and eat them warm.

A lot of sporting events are held on or start on Good Friday. The Three Peaks Race in Tasmania starts in the afternoon of Good Friday. This event is three-tiered , consisting of a section to be sailed and a section to be walked or run. During the sailing sections, all members of a given team sail a set course down Tasmania's west coast. During each of the running or walking sections, two members of each team leave their boat and run or walk up and then down one of three mountains. Other well-known sporting events that start on Good Friday are the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race, the Stawell Easter Gift, a long distance running race and the Easter Racing Carnival in Sydney.
Public life

On Good Friday schools, post offices and many other organizations are closed. Stores and other retail outlets are closed. Some small or specialty stores may be open, according to local policy. There were traditionally tight restrictions on alcohol sale on Good Friday. Stores may not sell any alcoholic drinks and pubs may have restricted opening hours. However, there have been moves to relax the laws in some states.

Public transport services are often restricted or may not run at all. As many people take a short vacation at this time of year, there may be substantial congestion on major roads and airports may be very busy.
Background

Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is a day of mourning for Christians. It is a very important day in church calendars, as the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are central events in Christian beliefs. Members of different churches mark the day in various ways. Some churches, especially Catholic churches, see Good Friday as a fast day and people only eat three small meals and, often, no meat at all. Some people substitute meat with fish. Most churches hold special services and some may hold long prayer vigils.

For many people who are members of other faiths or are not particularly observant, Good Friday is not a day of religious observance, but the start of a four-day weekend at the end of the summer. For some, it is a good opportunity to take a short vacation or spend time with family or friends. Others use the time to carry out maintenance on their homes or cars or to attend sporting events.
Other holidays in April 2009 in Australia

* Palm Sunday (Sunday, April 5, 2009)
* Maundy Thursday (Thursday, April 9, 2009)
* First day of Passover (Thursday, April 9, 2009)
* Holy Saturday (Saturday, April 11, 2009)
* Easter Day (Sunday, April 12, 2009)
* Easter Monday (Monday, April 13, 2009)
* Easter Tuesday (Tuesday, April 14, 2009)
* Last day of Passover (Thursday, April 16, 2009)
* Orthodox Good Friday (Friday, April 17, 2009)
* Orthodox Holy Saturday (Saturday, April 18, 2009)
* Orthodox Easter (Sunday, April 19, 2009)
* Orthodox Easter Monday (Monday, April 20, 2009)
* Yom HaShoah (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)
* Anzac Day (Saturday, April 25, 2009)
* Yom HaAtzmaut (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)

About Australia (for study)

Australia is the world’s smallest continent and the largest island. It is like nowhere else in the world. It has an area as big as mainland of the United States but has a population of only 20 million people.

It’s a friendly, young, adventurous and stylish nation that welcomes international students. The entire country has unique animals and a fabulous climate. Aussies like the great outdoors, they love sport, worship their beaches, having BBQs with their mates and eating out at the 1000’s of multicultural restaurants.

The population is comprised of over 130 nationalities which makes Australia one of the most multicultural countries in the world. This broad ethnic mix has created a rich cultural blend of languages, fashions, architecture and cuisines..

The Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for over 50,000 years and it is believed they are the oldest,
continuous civilisation in the world. You can enjoy a tour with an Aboriginal guide to learn about their unique relationship with the country and listen to their stories that have been handed down for generations.

You can also view their rock art which is the oldest in the world. When Aussies go to the beach they try and wear as little as possible.
Australia is a land of extremes so make sure you come prepared. Up in the mountains down in the southern part of the continent its cold and snows from June to October).

Up further north its hot and humid from November through to March. Sharpen your spirit with an Australian adventure.

Credit: Tourism Australia Copyright

There are literally endless adventures you can take including a boat ride in the tropical rivers where you’ll see crocodiles as you cruise by. You can drive for days through the red deserts in the outback where kangaroos, lizards and emus thrive.

Along the coastal plains you can visit the rainforests where there are prehistoric plants like the 200 million year old Wollemi Pine.

The tree is thought to be one of the world’s oldest and rarest plants dating back to the age of the dinosaurs.

There are less than 100 trees known to exist in the wild. The remarkable discovery of the Wollemi Pine in the Blue Mountains near Sydney was an essential factor in the park being created as a World Heritage area in December 2000.

If you’re into adventure travel you can do a vast range of thrill seeking activities like rock-climbing, white water rafting, bungy jumping, ballooning, abseiling, skydiving, scuba diving, para-sailing and horse riding.

Australia is vast with over 46,000 kms of coastline, over 3,000 national parks and 15 World Heritage sites.
Many beautiful national parks are quite close to the major cities like the Blue Mountains National Park which has incredible mountain trails, flora and fauna and is only an hour away from Sydney. Tours run to almost all the national parks downunder.

The wildlife is often thought of as quite frankly - weird. Australia has kangaroos which bounce along at a rapid clip, wombats which look like big ungainly dogs, cuddly fluffy koalas who spend most of time asleep in gum trees, platypus that live in rivers and have a duck-like beak and fur, wild dingos, emus which are a peculiar looking animal with a long neck and a funny haircut!

There are over 1000 bird species in Australia with one of the most famous being the kookaburras which laughs almost like a human, and pretty pink galahs.

Because Australia is so multicultural you will notice there is a very sophisticated cafe society just like in Europe. Aussie restaurants provide outstanding food, wine and service. You can walk down the street and see a Thai restaurant next to an Italian trattoria alongside a Greek food house with a fish and chip shop.

Starting at the budget level there are endless accommodation options including hostels, backpacker lodges, motels, cabins, camping grounds through to boutique hotels and resorts and onto major international hotel chains.

You can also get away from it all staying in wilderness lodges, romantic tropical island resorts, B&Bs and very friendly farm and home stays.

If its entertainment your after you wont be disappointed. This is after all the country that produced such
singing greats as Cold Chisel, Silverchair, Midnight Oil, INXS, AC/DC and Kylie Minogue. Its film stars include Mel Gibson, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman,Cate Blanchett, Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, Anthony LaPaglia and Eric Bana

Australia is truly a gem in the South Pacific with its amazing natural and man made icons such as Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, the Daintree rainforest, the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge which you can walk right over the top of, the ever-popular Gold Coast and the amazing Skyrail near Cairns.

So do your self a favour. Come and visit Australia. For an international student its the adventure of a lifetime.

Source: www.StudyinAustralia.com

Easter day

Easter commemorates the resurrection (return to life) of Jesus Christ following his death by crucifixion. It is the most significant event of the Christian calendar.

On Good Friday, Jesus Christ was executed by crucifixion. His body was taken down from the cross, and buried in a cave. The tomb was guarded and an enormous stone was put over the entrance, so that no-one could steal the body. On the following Sunday, some women visited the grave and found that the stone had been moved, and that the tomb was empty. Jesus himself was seen that day, and for days afterwards by many people. His followers realised that God had raised Jesus from the dead. BBC

Easter celebrates the promise of life in the face of death. Easter celebrations also reflect on peace and forgiveness which has come out of aggression. It is also a time for thinking about suffering, injustice and hardship. During Good Friday services Christians meditate on Jesus's suffering and on his words spoken from the cross: 'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.' (New International Version, Luke 23: 34).

Origins, dates and days of Easter

The date on which Easter falls varies from year to year. Easter falls on the Sunday after the ecclesiastical Full Moon that falls on or after March 21. Easter is therefore observed between late March and late April and can extend to early May in the Eastern Christian churches.

A system for calculating the dates for Easter was begun around 532 AD when a Scythian monk named Dionysius Exiguus reconciled the Eastern and Western church calendars with the Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar. Dionysius Exiguus established the date of Christ's circumcision at 1 January, 1 AD, or Anno Domini, translated as 'the year of our Lord'. While this calendar was adopted by the Church, the old Julian calendar remained in civil use for another thousand years. Eventually, these were reconciled with the current Gregorian calendar, adopted in 1582.

We know that Easter was being observed as early as 180 years AD. The first black African Pope, Pope Victor (189-199 AD) decreed that Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday. However, churches in different regions, such as those represented by a synod of Asiatic bishops, celebrated Easter on different dates, not always on Sundays. The Council of Nicea (AD 325) finally clarified this by stating that Easter would be celebrated on Sundays.

A Christian scholar, the Venerable Bede (672-735 AD), first asserted that Easter was named after Eostre, the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring, eastre. Pagan festivals associated with birth, the renewal of life, fertility and sunrise date back long before Christianity. Pagan religions in the Mediterranean area are recorded as having a major seasonal day of religious celebration at or following the Spring Equinox. Many of the present-day customs of Easter have their origins in these festivals.

Religious observances

There are a number of observances and feast days related to Easter.

R. Malden, Palm Sunday celebrations on Yew Street, Barcaldine, Queensland, 1928. Courtesy of Barcaldine Shire Library and State Library of Queensland.

Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. In many churches, during Palm Sunday services, large palm branches are carried in processions. Members of the congregation also hold small crosses made of palm leaf. The palm leaves are a reminder of when the people of Jerusalem waved palm leaves when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, and to remember the cross on which he died. The crosses used in the Palm Sunday service are converted to ashes for later use in Ash Wednesday services.

Ash Wednesday draws on the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting. The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic. Some churches hold special services at which worshippers are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a symbol of penitence and mortality.

Lent is the period of forty days which comes before Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday. Lent is observed as a time for prayer and penance recalling the events leading up to Jesus' crucifixion. Only a small number of people today fast for the whole of Lent, although some maintain the practice on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Purple drapes and altar frontals are used in some churches throughout Lent, because it is associated with mourning and so anticipates the pain and suffering of the crucifixion. Purple is also the colour associated with royalty, and celebrates Christ's resurrection and sovereignty. Most Christians regard Jesus' time 40 days fasting in the wilderness as the key event for the duration of Lent.

Christians remember Maundy Thursday as the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and established the ceremony known as the Eucharist. The night of Maundy Thursday is the night on which Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. Roman Catholic church services feature a ceremony in which the priest washes the feet of 12 people to commemorate Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and is a day of mourning in church.

Easter Sunday is the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is celebrated with great enjoyment by Christians. Churches are usually filled with flowers and the celebrations include the singing of special hymns.

Ascension Day marks the last earthly appearance of Christ after his resurrection. Christians believe Christ ascended into heaven. It is celebrated 40 days after Easter.

Pentecost is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter. Pentecost comes from a Jewish harvest festival called Shavuot. The apostles of Jesus were celebrating this festival when the Holy Spirit descended on them. Pentecost marks the birth of the Christian Church.

Easter traditions

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day

Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent. In earlier days there were many foods that observant Christians would not eat during Lent such as meat and fish, eggs, and milky foods. So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn't last the forty days of Lent without going off.

Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday because they were a dish that could use up perishable foodstuffs such as eggs, fats and milk, with just the addition of flour. Pancake races are thought to have begun in 1445. A woman who was busy cooking pancakes in her kitchen lost track of the time on Shrove Tuesday and when she heard the church bell ringing, she woman raced out of her house and ran all the way to church; still holding her frying pan and wearing her apron.

Many Australian groups and communities make and share pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Selling pancakes to raise money for charity is also a popular activity.

Hot Cross Buns

S. Saunders, Sel's hot cross buns, 2006. Courtesy of Australian Government Antarctic Division.

Hot cross buns are sweet, spiced buns made with dried fruit and leavened with yeast. A cross, the symbol of Christ, is placed on top of the buns, either with pastry or a simple mixture of flour and water. The buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, however in Australia they are available in bakeries and stores many weeks before Easter.

A recent variation on the traditional fruit bun has become popular in Australia. A chocolate version is made with the same spiced mixture, but cocoa is added to the dough and chocolate chips replace the dried fruit.

Easter Eggs

Eggs, symbolising new life, have long been associated with the Easter festival. Chocolate Easter eggs, are a favourite part of Easter in Australia. Some families and community groups organise Easter egg hunts for children in parks and recreational areas. Easter eggs are traditionally eaten on Easter Sunday, however stores start stocking Easter treats well before the Easter holiday period.

The Easter Bunny

Early on Easter Sunday morning, the Easter Bunny 'delivers' chocolate Easter eggs to children in Australia, as he does in many parts of the world.

The rabbit and the hare have long been associated with fertility, and have therefore been associated with spring and spring festivals. The rabbit as a symbol of Easter seems to have originated in Germany where it was first recorded in writings in the 16th century. The first edible Easter bunnies, made from sugared pastry, were made in Germany in the 19th century.

The Easter Bilby

Image courtesy of The Australian Bilby Appreciation Society.

Rabbits are an introduced species in Australia and are unpopular because of the damage they do to the land.

In 1991 a campaign was started by the Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation to replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby (an endangered species). Author Jenny Bright wrote a children's story called Burra Nimu the Easter Bilby to support the campaign.

Greek Orthodox Easter traditions

The celebrations for Greek Easter begin two months before Christian Easter celebrations with Mardi Gras. The Carnival or Apokria season starts on the Sunday of Teloni and Fariséou and ends on Shrovetide Sunday with the Burning of the Carnival King , which involves setting fire to an enormous papier-mâché effigy of Judas.

For Greeks, Clean Monday is one of the most festive holidays of the year. As Lent begins, children and their parents go to fly kites and feast at local tavernas or outdoor picnics.

On Holy Thursday the bright dyed red eggs that are symbolic of Easter in Greece are prepared. Tradition says that the Virgin Mother, Mary, dyed eggs this colour to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and to celebrate life. On Good Friday or Great Friday, flags at homes and government buildings are set at half mast to mark the mournful day.

Celebrations continue with the cracking of eggs and The Resurrection Table. The dyed red Easter eggs that are found on the Resurrection Table become pieces of a traditional game. Each person takes an egg and challengers attempt to crack each others' eggs, which is meant to symbolise Christ breaking from the Tomb. The person whose egg lasts the longest is assured good luck for the rest of the year.

Blessing of the Fleet

Photograph by A. Bisckos. Courtesy of Ulladulla Blessing of the Fleet.

The Ulladulla Blessing of the Fleet Festival at Easter on the New South Wales south coast is an old tradition which originated in Sicily to ensure that the fishermen would return to port and have a bountiful catch.

In 1956, Italian fishermen and their families organised Ulladulla's first Blessing of the Fleet, with St. Peter being chosen as the patron Saint of Fishermen. Activities included the spaghetti-eating contest, climbing of the greasy pole, apple on a string, greasy pig and the naming of the Fishermen's Princess, traditions which still continue.

The Easter holiday in Australia

The four-day 'weekend'

In addition to its religious significance, Easter in Australia is enjoyed as a four-day holiday weekend starting on Good Friday and ending on Easter Monday.

This extra-long weekend is an opportunity for Australians to take a mini-holiday, or get together with family and friends. Easter often coincides with school holidays, so many people with school aged children incorporate Easter into a longer family holiday. Easter is the busiest time for domestic air travel in Australia, and a very popular time for gatherings such as weddings and christenings.

Sydney Royal Easter Show

Rusty the rodeo clown, Easter Show, Sydney, 1991. Photo by Jon Lewis. Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia.

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is Australia's largest annual event and celebrates all everything from our bush heritage to the vitality of city life. It takes place annually at Sydney Olympic Park over a two-week period which includes the Easter long weekend.

The Show is part of the long tradition of agricultural shows that are held in towns and cities across Australia. At these shows, rural and farming communities showcase their livestock and produce, and exhibitors, organisations and companies provide people in urban areas with a glimpse of rural life.

Shows are also a time for competition, spectacle and entertainment. The Sydney Royal Easter Show includes the Sydney Royal Rodeo, and the visitors to the show can enjoy the latest on offer in the way of extreme rides and attractions.

Festivals

There are many festivals held over the Easter holiday in Australia. Performers and audiences travel long distances to attend music festivals as diverse as the National Folk Festival in Canberra, the East Coast International Blues & Roots Festival at Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, and the Australian Gospel Music Festival in Toowoomba in Queensland.

There are also festivals with a more local or regional nature such as the Bendigo Easter Festival, in Victoria.

Sport

The football season is well under way by Easter and all football codes schedule major league matches over the Easter holiday period which are well attended.

The Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race, a 308 nautical mile ocean race, is Queensland's premier blue water classic and one of Australia's major sporting events over the Easter weekend.

For horse racing fans there is a four-day Easter Racing Carnival at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne holds an Easter Saturday Meeting and an Easter Monday Meeting, and other cities and regional centres also schedule racing events at this time of year.

The Tasmania Three Peaks Race, a four-day, non-stop 335 nautical mile sailing and endurance running race around Tasmania's east coast every Easter attracts contestants from around the world. Teams of two runners leave their yachts at three points on the coast for 133 km of running. Each run involves scaling a rugged mountain peak.

The Stawell Easter Gift began as an athletics competition between miners in the Victorian goldfields in 1878, and has run for all but four years since its inception. This event is Australia's 'best-known, richest and oldest professional footrace' and is held every Easter in the small town of Stawell, located near the Grampians National Park in Victoria.

Destination Queensland

Pristine beaches, tropical islands, lush rainforests, vibrant cities and the authentic Australian outback, Queensland is the ultimate holiday destination. Known as Australia’s Sunshine State, Queensland offers an abundance of diverse experiences to create lasting memories.

Brisbane is the state’s capital city, a city full of energy, style, arts and culture. The Brisbane River snakes through the metropolis and is peppered with alfresco dining options. By night, the city comes alive with vibrant bars and live music venues to keep you entertained into the early hours of the morning.

Brisbane is also the perfect hub to explore the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, only an hour away by road. Both coastal regions offer stunning beaches, fabulous food and wine experiences and shopping that rivals many of the great shopping strips. Head further north to swim in the freshwater lakes of Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, and just one of Queensland’s five World Heritage listed areas.

Another is the Great Barrier Reef, stretching 2300km along the Queensland coast. Home to a myriad of sea creatures and hidden gems, the best way to explore the reef is to snorkel or scuba dive. There are literally hundreds of Queensland islands where you can relax and indulge in all that island life has to offer. Sail the Whitsunday Islands or take a seaplane to a remote getaway where you can truly escape.

Unwind at a rainforest retreat in Tropical North Queensland. The World Heritage listed Wet Tropics offer spectacular scenery, deep gorges, numerous waterfalls and mountain summits providing expansive rainforest views.

The Queensland Outback is nature of a different kind, one that delivers Australia’s final frontier. Desert sand dunes and lush fishing holes make an interesting combination the friendly locals are only too happy to show you. Travel back to the dinosaur era, listen carefully for the ghost in the home of Waltzing Matilda, or sit back and enjoy a cold beer in one of the iconic outback pubs.

Whether you're relaxing on sun-kissed beaches, trekking through ancient rainforest or snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, there's an experience waiting to become your treasured memory in Queensland.