About
I've been to Australia a few times already. My first visit there was at Perth in 1990, followed by Gold Coast in 1995 and Melbourne and Sydney in 1999. What you'll be seeing in this site will be photos taken during my trips accompanied by a small caption to each to tell you about the place. I took most of the photos in Melbourne and Sydney but my parents took those of Gold Coast and Perth. You'll also see me in y childhood age in the photos of Gold Coast and Perth. Hope you'll enjoy the tour and don't forget to sign my guestbook before you leave.

Harry LMH

Australia
Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere which is why it's sometimes called the Land Down Under. There are 6 states and 2 territories in Australia, namely Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory. The capital of Australia is Canberra .

Australia is actually is part of Great Britain. Their head of state is Queen Eliziberth of the UK. In 1999, Australians voted to keep the Queen as their head of state. Most fear that a republic would not do the country good yet because of some political dislikes although its clear that most of the country would like Australia to be independent.

Citizens of Australia are called Australians or Aussies. The Land Down Under has some of the world's most famous landmarks, including the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Australia is also home to the  the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world, which is in turn home to one of the most diverse underwater ecological systems in the world. 

Weekday office hours including shops in Australia 9am-5pm this is in sharp contrast to Singapore where shops are open from 11am to 9pm. 

Australia has strict laws prohibiting or restricting the bring of foodstuffs into the country. Don't ask me why. Even if it's instant noodles, if their customs find it, they'll throw it away for you.

If you take a cab, always be sure to give the driver a tip. This applies to all Caucasian countries. You can also find monorails in the CBD areas of cities. These monorails runs through buildings and across bridges on elevated tracks. This would be great for sight seeing around the city. 

Although, the Australian currency exchange rate is more or less equal to that of Singapore's, I find shopping there is a little bit more expensive than the latter. Expect prices to go higher when the GST is implemented. Smoking is allowed in air-conditioned shopping centres, so if you're used to going into air-conditioned places to take cover from cigarette smoke, be prepared to take some in.

Entertainment-wise, Australia's got big theme parks such as Warner Bros., Dreamland and Seaworld. The recent opening of Fox Studios Australia should give the country a boost too.

The Aussies are very friendly people. Probably the most friendly of all the countries I've visited. Their society is multiracial, made up by the migration of people into the country from all parts of the world. The country also has a relatively low crime rate. When I was in Sydney, I took a night stroll and I don't feel the slightest discomfort at all.

 minghong

All photographs and images are own and scanned by me. I did not use images from other sites in Harry's Aussie Online. There fore, if you would like to use any of my pictures for use in your website, please request permission from the owner himself.