Australian Informative Speech
Ever want to know about the land down under? The home of the oldest living culture, the Great Barrier Reef, Vegemite, and the famous rock band, AC/DC. I’m talking about Australia. Australia is a really fascinating place. It is a mysterious place that has a young history. Only 12 years younger than America, Australia has been founded in 1788 on January 26th. This great country’s roots lead to imported British convicts that came to the country long ago. It is a young country but an old continent. Australia has a vast population of different races of docile and happy go-lucky people. Now with any country comes with the topics of history, geography, and culture.
Let’s look at the history of our country of focus. In 1770, British captain James …show more content…
Cook sailed the Endeavor along the east coast of Australia. Eighteen years later, it officially began its life as a country. When it was discovered, natives to the land, Aborigines, have been there for quite a long time. “It is fitting that the land sometimes referred to as the oldest continent is also home to what is recognized as the world’s oldest culture. Australian Aborigines have inhabited the land for more than fifty thousand years.” (Grabowski, John F. Australia. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2002. Print.) Aborigines believe that the world was flat and unshaped until “Dreamtime”, as the Aborigines called it. Dreamtime was meant to be the time in which the land was shaped and living things were introduced. A greek philosopher believed that Australia was an unknown southern island there to counterbalance the earth’s weight. As I had mentioned earlier, the country had its start due to exported prisoners. Australia nowadays is one of the most successful countries. Over the years, Australia came from being a lowly populated continent, containing prisoners and Aborigines, to now having one of the most diverse populations in the world. They also have produced many inventions but we’ll talk about that later.
The climate of this country is hot and dry, to sum it up in few words. Australia is home to many unique plants and animals. Eucalyptus trees, for example, are commonly found here. There aren’t many outside of Australia. These trees grow quickly and typically reach about 480 feet tall. Of course Australia is famous for animals such as kangaroos, koalas, and dingos. Kangaroos are fairly common in Australia. The origin of the kangaroo’s name is actually thanks to the Aborigines. When James Cook asked them the name of the animal and the Aborigine replied “Kangaroo” which actually means “I do not understand you”. Dingos are wild canines. Dingos normally avoid contact with humans, but in 1980, a reported case of a murdered baby was actually caused by a dingo. The dingo ate her baby! It was a really intriguing story because of dingos’ shyness towards humans. Australia has lots of flora despite the heat and dryness. The inlands are practically covered in rain forests. These forested areas are referred to as the “outback”. Australia can reach over 100 degrees fahrenheit and you can probably imagine that the forests would catch fire. Well you may as well call Australia the home of the wildfires. In contrast of fire, Australia is also famous for their waters. Not just their waters but the worlds largest organism, found in its waters. I am talking about the Great Barrier Reef. The largest reef in the world lives here, off the coast of Queensland. Australia’s possession extends to seven other territories. They’re Norfolk and coral islands to the east of Australia. Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Island, and the uninhabited Ashmore and Cartier Islands. In 1974, A Cyclone hit Darwin on the morning of December 25th around 7 am. There were 66 recorded deaths. Some of which were out at sea. The geography of Australia is well enough to hold so many people.
“The Commonwealth of Australia is composed of six self-governing states and two mainland territories.” (Grabowski, John F. Australia. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2002. Print.)
Australians are believed to be happy, docile, and friendly people. A commonly used word to refer to a friend or a pal is “mate”. To an Aussie, a mate is a special friend who is there for them no matter what.
“We don't really have a national dish, although some people would argue for the meat pie and tomato sauce, others would say the Pavlova , while still others would nominate Vegemite, a well-known spread that only an Aussie will eat and enjoy.”
(Australian Culture." Australian Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2014.)
Australians will have barbecues all year-round.
A barbecue is called a “barby” there. Australians are also known to be huge sports fanatics. Cricket is the most popular sport there. The movie “The Crocodile Dundee” is said to portray the real Aussie within. Ned Kelly is a well-known name around Australia. Ned Kelly was a notorious lawbreaker way back in the earlier days of the AU. He stood up to the police and was seen as a hero, though he didn’t necessarily do anything good. I mentioned earlier that Australia is a successful country and has some products of its own. Some of these products are very famous and praised among many. Three of my favorite bands originated in Australia. Men At Work, AC/DC, and INXS. Some other popular bands that were born in Australia are Keith Urban, Nick Cave, and Gotye. Under technology, Australia has quite a few very well-known products of its own. Google Maps actually started in Australia. The Combine Harvester was also founded there. Common refrigeration as well! Last but certainly not least, what we commonly know as Wi-Fi. That’s right, our beloved internet connection buddy that almost everyone relies on originated in Australia. Who knows where we would be without that. Life in the southern hemisphere is different from our lives. For one, the seasons are backwards. They have Christmas in the summer. So I guess they have ruled out having a white Christmas. Because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis, they have temperatures in opposition to us and the other countries in the northern hemisphere. So Australia, if you think about it, is a backwards Britain. Where Britain is cold, rainy and in the northern hemisphere, Australia is hot, dry and in the southern hemisphere. They’re opposites though they’re “mother and
son”.
So from a country that started from convicts from Great Britain in the 1700s, barely explored even to this day, and containing the worlds longest-living culture, we have an interesting but successful country that has a culturally diverse population with some important inventions from their heads. Wi-Fi, one of the absolute most-used inventions, was born in this amazing country. Not to mention they have unique animals like the kangaroo and the koala. If Australians are as docile as they’re known to be, that makes it all the better. I could go for barbecues all year around, and the Crocodile Dundee was a great movie. Australians really aren’t that different from us, however. They’re sports fanatics, like Americans, they’re a young country, only 12 years younger than America, and they have many achievements under their belt. And he doesn’t like AC/DC? It’s been one of the most popular bands in America. So now you’ve seen what Australia is all about, the history, inside and out. Seen their unique ways, and the similarities, these days. Australia is an awesome country, don’t you forget, next time you want to connect to the internet.
Let’s look at the history of our country of focus. In 1770, British captain James …show more content…
Cook sailed the Endeavor along the east coast of Australia. Eighteen years later, it officially began its life as a country. When it was discovered, natives to the land, Aborigines, have been there for quite a long time. “It is fitting that the land sometimes referred to as the oldest continent is also home to what is recognized as the world’s oldest culture. Australian Aborigines have inhabited the land for more than fifty thousand years.” (Grabowski, John F. Australia. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2002. Print.) Aborigines believe that the world was flat and unshaped until “Dreamtime”, as the Aborigines called it. Dreamtime was meant to be the time in which the land was shaped and living things were introduced. A greek philosopher believed that Australia was an unknown southern island there to counterbalance the earth’s weight. As I had mentioned earlier, the country had its start due to exported prisoners. Australia nowadays is one of the most successful countries. Over the years, Australia came from being a lowly populated continent, containing prisoners and Aborigines, to now having one of the most diverse populations in the world. They also have produced many inventions but we’ll talk about that later.
The climate of this country is hot and dry, to sum it up in few words. Australia is home to many unique plants and animals. Eucalyptus trees, for example, are commonly found here. There aren’t many outside of Australia. These trees grow quickly and typically reach about 480 feet tall. Of course Australia is famous for animals such as kangaroos, koalas, and dingos. Kangaroos are fairly common in Australia. The origin of the kangaroo’s name is actually thanks to the Aborigines. When James Cook asked them the name of the animal and the Aborigine replied “Kangaroo” which actually means “I do not understand you”. Dingos are wild canines. Dingos normally avoid contact with humans, but in 1980, a reported case of a murdered baby was actually caused by a dingo. The dingo ate her baby! It was a really intriguing story because of dingos’ shyness towards humans. Australia has lots of flora despite the heat and dryness. The inlands are practically covered in rain forests. These forested areas are referred to as the “outback”. Australia can reach over 100 degrees fahrenheit and you can probably imagine that the forests would catch fire. Well you may as well call Australia the home of the wildfires. In contrast of fire, Australia is also famous for their waters. Not just their waters but the worlds largest organism, found in its waters. I am talking about the Great Barrier Reef. The largest reef in the world lives here, off the coast of Queensland. Australia’s possession extends to seven other territories. They’re Norfolk and coral islands to the east of Australia. Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Island, and the uninhabited Ashmore and Cartier Islands. In 1974, A Cyclone hit Darwin on the morning of December 25th around 7 am. There were 66 recorded deaths. Some of which were out at sea. The geography of Australia is well enough to hold so many people.
“The Commonwealth of Australia is composed of six self-governing states and two mainland territories.” (Grabowski, John F. Australia. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2002. Print.)
Australians are believed to be happy, docile, and friendly people. A commonly used word to refer to a friend or a pal is “mate”. To an Aussie, a mate is a special friend who is there for them no matter what.
“We don't really have a national dish, although some people would argue for the meat pie and tomato sauce, others would say the Pavlova , while still others would nominate Vegemite, a well-known spread that only an Aussie will eat and enjoy.”
(Australian Culture." Australian Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Dec. 2014.)
Australians will have barbecues all year-round.
A barbecue is called a “barby” there. Australians are also known to be huge sports fanatics. Cricket is the most popular sport there. The movie “The Crocodile Dundee” is said to portray the real Aussie within. Ned Kelly is a well-known name around Australia. Ned Kelly was a notorious lawbreaker way back in the earlier days of the AU. He stood up to the police and was seen as a hero, though he didn’t necessarily do anything good. I mentioned earlier that Australia is a successful country and has some products of its own. Some of these products are very famous and praised among many. Three of my favorite bands originated in Australia. Men At Work, AC/DC, and INXS. Some other popular bands that were born in Australia are Keith Urban, Nick Cave, and Gotye. Under technology, Australia has quite a few very well-known products of its own. Google Maps actually started in Australia. The Combine Harvester was also founded there. Common refrigeration as well! Last but certainly not least, what we commonly know as Wi-Fi. That’s right, our beloved internet connection buddy that almost everyone relies on originated in Australia. Who knows where we would be without that. Life in the southern hemisphere is different from our lives. For one, the seasons are backwards. They have Christmas in the summer. So I guess they have ruled out having a white Christmas. Because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis, they have temperatures in opposition to us and the other countries in the northern hemisphere. So Australia, if you think about it, is a backwards Britain. Where Britain is cold, rainy and in the northern hemisphere, Australia is hot, dry and in the southern hemisphere. They’re opposites though they’re “mother and
son”.
So from a country that started from convicts from Great Britain in the 1700s, barely explored even to this day, and containing the worlds longest-living culture, we have an interesting but successful country that has a culturally diverse population with some important inventions from their heads. Wi-Fi, one of the absolute most-used inventions, was born in this amazing country. Not to mention they have unique animals like the kangaroo and the koala. If Australians are as docile as they’re known to be, that makes it all the better. I could go for barbecues all year around, and the Crocodile Dundee was a great movie. Australians really aren’t that different from us, however. They’re sports fanatics, like Americans, they’re a young country, only 12 years younger than America, and they have many achievements under their belt. And he doesn’t like AC/DC? It’s been one of the most popular bands in America. So now you’ve seen what Australia is all about, the history, inside and out. Seen their unique ways, and the similarities, these days. Australia is an awesome country, don’t you forget, next time you want to connect to the internet.