Sydney Opera House is situated in Sydney, Australia. It is one of the most famous buildings in the world. Being so famous, this Theatre has surely become a business card of this wonderful country, forming a new understanding of national treasure.

The Sydney Opera House with its unique architecture and picturesque location is one of the most pictures and visited Australian places. The roof of the Theatre reminds of sea sails and is covered with millions of glazed tiles. Opera House is also famous not only for the number of tourists, who come to see this whimsical building, but for the number of agendas, which take place there. Sailing over the Harbor, diving, watching the Theatre during the romantic sunset is a great fun for all the people in Australia. The amazing red or pure blue in the day sky and the awesomely built in the form of the huge ship sales Opera House make up together something beautiful that can’t be narrated with the word.

Some people think that Opera House is a brilliant example of “frozen” music; The imagination of different people is various, meanwhile others think that it’s a white whale or a ship, which sails to a magical country of elves; nine ears, which listen to angel’s songs; nine nuns playing football. But the Opera House will remain the Opera House itself in spite of the people’s thoughts.

Although the Sydney Opera House is so unusual-looking building, its interior looks very impressive. It is simultaneously the Opera House and not. There are over 1000 rooms in the Opera House including 5 theatre halls, 2 main halls, 4 restaurants, some bars and souvenir shops so you can not only listen to calm and serious music in but spend your free time visiting good restaurants there.

There is a “Bennelog” restaurant in the smallest shell of the theatre.

Within the Harbor Bridge Sydney Opera House there is a brilliant background for fireworks. Don’t ever miss a chance to watch these wonderful and amazing events.

It’s hard to imagine Sydney without the Opera, but before the 1958 there was was a tram station there. The Sydney Opera House had been being built for over 14 years and had the cost over 102 million dollars. It looks like the construction of the Opera was too difficult for builders of that time, because it was planned to build the Theatre in 4 years and spend 7 million dollars.

Jorn Utzon was the Danish architect who modeled the Opera House.

The Sydney Opera House was opened in October 20, 1973 by the English Queen Elizabeth II.

Attending one of the performances in Sydney Opera House is a good way to relax and enjoy positive impressions

The wildlife of Australia is very diverse and interesting. Australia is the only continent where the animals like platypus and echidna hadn’t disappeared and are still resisting. The Australian continent is also famous for these unique animals like kangaroos, which consist of 50 species, dingo, marsupial devil, ant - bear and so on. Nevertheless koala is also a very interesting part of Australian fauna.

Koala is a small animal with solid frame: its height is 60 – 82 cm and the weight is 5 – 16 kg. The tail is very short, it almost can’t be seen. The ears are round and covered with thick fur.

Koala’s fur is very soft, the color of it varies from light to dark gray, there are also species with red colored fur.

The frame and color of koalas depend on the places they found in. For example, koalas of Victoria state are a lot bigger and heavier, than species of Queensland. The animals there are smaller and their fur is short.

 The Koala is found all along the eastern coast of Australia from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula. They live in eucalyptus forests, spending most of all their lifetime in the crowns of these trees. Koalas sleep in the daytime and in the night they actively climb trees searching for food. Even when koala isn’t sleeping, it can sit without any moves, clenching the branch of the tree with front paws. These animals don’t come down from the trees, but they do when they need to get to another tree which they can’t jump to. Also koalas can swim.

In the language of New South Wales tribes “koala” means “not to drink”. All the necessary water koalas get from the eucalyptus leaves and dew. They only drink water during long droughts and their illness.

It seems that only the yacht fans won’t think for long where Hobart is. It’s because of the famous yacht race Sydney - Hobart, which ends up on the same date every year.

Mysterious and distant Tasmania was developed in 1642 by Abel Tasman and was named “The land of Van – Dimen” after a governor of Dutch Ost – India. The sea way in those meridians was very dangerous at that time. The legend says that Van – Dimen sent Tasman to those places to stir the marriage of his daughter Maria with a sailor. But brave Tasman managed to survive and even perpetuate his mane by developing a new island. The name of the governor’s daughter was perpetuated with one of the Tasmanian north capes.

During the XVII and XVIII centuries the island was visited by travelers only, but in the XIX century it was occupied by the British to make Tasmania their colony. The Sullivan bay was the place of their settlement.

The life of modern Tasmania is calm and quiet. Most people live in Hobart and Lonserstone. There isn’t any mist, hard city rhythms, rush hours. Everything is surrounded with nature. The landscape is various: beautiful eucalyptus forests, Australian bushes, quiet beaches, mountains. The fauna of Tasmania is amazing. Some charming animals like Tasmanian devils are found in there.

Tasmania is a very beautiful and amazing island. Don’t ever miss a chance to see it

Australia is the sixth biggest country in the world, and the only country, which is situated on the whole continent. The Australian Union includes the Australian continent itself and some islands, the biggest one is Tasmania. Beautiful nature is in neighborhood with modern mega polices. Although there are huge deserts on the continent, you can see wonderful landscapes in Australia: from tropical jungles to alpine meadows. Australia became a nice dwelling to unique species of flora and fauna, some of them cannot be met anywhere else.

Australia – it’s a cloudless blue sky, bright sun, multikilometre beaches with snow-white sand and ocean to horizon. Along the north-eastern coast of Australia the Large Barrier reef was stretched out, where an unique marine national park, borne in the list of the World legacy, is located. The large Barrier reef is a ridge of coral reefs and islands in the Coral sea, on which elite hotels are located some from.

The Australian continent is a wonderful place for doing water sports. Surfing, windsurfing, diving, water skiing, rowing and yachting  - all of it to services of holiday-makers on a coast. If you are not interested in it, you can visit various preserves, ride a bike or a horse. Apart from that you can climb the mountains and go on safari.

Australia is not only attractive because of its nature. Modern cities and cultural centers bring in the small contribution too. In all mega polices – Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne or other cities – historical sights are in neighborhood with sky-scrapers, comfortable parks – with populous streets, and various museums – with chic shops.

Melbourne.  Melbourne is the capital of Australia and Victoria state. It is the second biggest Australian city where nearly 15% of the population live.

Nauru-house is one of the highest buildings of Melbourne, situated on a small island.

You can find the business center on the right coast, and the left coast is the side where people live.

Turak, the place where the richest people of the state live, is placed near the Royal Garden. Here you can find the location of an Australian company Broken-Hill.

Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman, a farmer, who bought the local land near the river Yare. Melbourne became the first Australian city which was founded by free people.There were nearly 500 people in it in 1837. Melbourne got the “city” status in 1847.

Due to the gold and rich of Melbourne it is developing nowadays too.

 Sydney. Sydney is the biggest city of Australia, the gates of this continent. Vast variety of local buildings (Opera House, Harbor Bridge, Haymarket) attract not only those, who wish to see the beauty of Sydney, but those who want to get a brilliant education at the famous universities.

Sydney is not the capital of Australia, how many people think. It is the largest and the oldest mega polis, famous as “The pearl of the continent”. It is the city of architecture contrasts. Sydney is also known as “the capital of emigrants”. You can meet people of all nationalities in Sydney.

Brisbane. Brisbane is a beautiful tropical city, but people don’t pay much attention to it. No one stops here more than for two days, because everyone hurry to visit the Gold Harbor, which is two kilometers far from Brisbane.

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland state and also one of the main cities of Australia. Due to nice climate it makes him an important center of conferences, exhibitions and more.

The Brisbane airport is one of the main international and local airports of Australia. Many people come here or stay here to vary their vacation.

Non-Australian people are always used only to dream about a trip to Australia. Terra Australis Inkognita is a mysterious continent situated in the South hemisphere. The sky there seems to be turned: the stars are south. And the power of Carioles makes the water turn to another way. And the local Australian people, aborigines,  are so original, that this word, which means the ethnic group, became the symbol of the Australian life. The contrast with the city life and a farm inhabitance is very clever either. Due to the isolation from the other continents, the wildlife is amazing. Flora and fauna are presented with endemic and relict species, which can’t be met anywhere else. The nature of Australia is original.

It’s hard to imagine that the life in the country, where everyone is polite and correct, where you can be met with a smile, started since XVIII century. Australia used to be a colony for English prisoners. The English government paid attention to that land. Since that time Australia became to a rich and nice country with very low criminal levels. Australia took the fifth place in “The best country to live” chart and the capital of it – Melbourne – was named “The best city in the world to live” by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The group AC/DC was formed by the English: Angus and Malcolm Young in Australia, 1973. The eldest of Young brothers, George, was a famous rocker in the group “Easybeats”, so the musical career wasn’t something new for them. But remaining on the level of a local group, giving concerts in the clubs wasn’t enough for Angus and Malcolm. So they wanted to create their own famous group.

Due to sister’s advice it was named AC/DC. Apart from that Angus was so inseparable with his guitar, that, even when he came home from school, he started to play, always forgetting to take off the school uniform. The same sister advised him to stay like this forever. So it became the style of a group – hooligan schoolboys. Soon Dave Evans, bassist Rob Baley and drummer Peter Clark joined Malcolm and Angus. The first concert was given on the 31^st of December, 1973, in one of the Sydney clubs.

It wasn’t very successful, but due to it the local record company “Albert Records” became interested in AC/DC. After that the group came to their studio and recorded a couple of songs from their concert: “Rockin’ In The Parlour” and “Can I Sit Next To You Girl”. The new single was produced by George Young and Harry Wanda.

Suddenly the arguments because of the group’s musical career appeared. The Youngs wanted to play rock’n’roll and American blues, but the other members of the group preferred pop rhythms. Straight before the recording debut album there were only Youngs in AC/DC left. But nothing could stop the brothers, so they offered the job of a vocalist for the driver of their bus – Bon Scott. The other members were collected very quickly. Now the AC/DC consisted of Bon Scott (vocals), Angus Young (guitar), Malcolm Young (guitar), Mark Evans (bass) and Phil Rudd (drums). As a result the debut album “High Voltage” was released.

In 1975 the new album named “T.N.T.” appeared. It was produced by the same people: George Young and Harry Wanda, who, seeing the great success of AC/DC in Australia, decided, that the group must conquer the worldwide fame. The copies of their albums were sent to USA and England for promotion, and the local Atlantic Records and EMI Records were so amazed that the contract with AC/DC was signed immediately.

In the April of 1976 the group headed to England. After giving some concerts there they returned to Australia and released a new album “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”. It was sold in Australia only.

The album “Let There Be Rock” was released in 1977. It was full of AC/DC super hits, and the track “Let There Be Rock” became the hymn of the group.

A very unpleasant moment for a group happened when Evans left AC/DC. Cliff Williams became their new bass guitarist. After the new AC/DC tour the group started to record a new album and released “Powerage” in 1978. It performed a cool energy with Angus’s guitar. The album was very successful.

New album “Highway To Hell” was released in 1979. This CD also had a huge success.

Suddenly a weird thing happened to Bon Scott. On the 2^nd of February, 1980 he was found dead in his own car. The death was caused by a huge amount of alcohol. Everyone was shocked, because nobody could imagine AC/DC without Bon’s unique vocals.

But soon Bryan Johnson became their new vocalist. So in 1980 AC/DC headed to Bagam Islands to record a new album “Back In Black”. In England it became number one album in their charts.

The next album was “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” (1981).

After a couple of years AC/DC gathered in a studio in spring of 1985 and in a few months released “Fly On The Wall”. Soon it was awfully criticized by the critics.

The next album “Blow Up Your Video”, 1988, brought two hits: “Heatseeker” and “That’s The Way I Wanna Rock’n’Roll”. The group headed for a tour and finished it at the end of 1988.

The next album “The Razor’s Edge” blew up all the barriers on its way. It was so successful, that the group decided to shoot a concert video.

The new CD named “Ball Breaker” appeared in 1995 and shocked all the fans of the group. The genre of it performed hard blues. The only interesting track in it was “Hard As A Rock”.

Kylie Minogue was born in Melbourne, Australia. Her parents are Ron Minogue and Carol Minogue. Kylie was the eldest child in the family. Dannie Minogue, Kylie’s younger sister, is also a pop singer, but her brother Brandon didn’t want to work in show-business. So the Minogue sisters started their career since early childhood, and when Kylie was eleven, she took part in soap operas “Skyways”, “The Sullivans” and “The Henderson Kids”, but too much attention wasn’t paid to her. Dannie was more popular, than Kylie, but Kylie became more famous after shooting in the soap opera “The neighbors”.

During the charitable event in Melbourne Kylie sang the song “The Loco-Motion” of the American singer Little Eva and the contract with “Mushroom records” was signed in 1987. The “Locomotion” single became the number one single in Australian charts and the most sold single of the year.

So Kylie was invited to London to work with Stock, Atken and Waterman. The song “I should be so lucky” was written to her. When the first album “Kylie” was released, it took the first place in the British album chart and became the most sold album of the year. At the end of 1988 Kylie stopped shooting in “The neighbors” to concentrate on her musical career.

Being amazed with Kylie’s tour “Intimate and Live”, the Australian film director Bez Lurmann gave her a role in “Moulin Rouge”. Kylie played a small green fairy, although her film career was unsuccessful before. In 2004 Kylie sounded a small girl Florence in a cartoon “The Magic Roundabout”.

Minogue has established one of the longest and most successful careers as a performer in contemporary pop music, and in Europe and Australia, she has become one of her generation's most recognizable celebrities and sex symbols. In Australia, after being dismissed early in her career by some critics, she has been acclaimed for her achievements.

Although her later albums did not see the same commercial success as her more poppy tunes, Kylie is still one of Australia's greatest exports (along with "The Body" Elle MacPherson and fellow singer "Tiny" Tina Arena). She was last seen performing "Dancing Queen" and "On A Night Like This" at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Discography:

Kylie – 1988

Enjoy yourself – 1989

Rhythm of Love – 1990

Let’s Get To It – 1991

Kylie Minogue – 1994

Impossible Princess – 1998

Light years – 2000

Fever – 2001

Body Language – 2003

The wombats are the biggest marsupials in Australia. It is an amazing animal one meter in length with a very short tail and covered with thick fur. Its color can vary from a sandy to brown, or from gray to black.. Name “wombat” comes from the Eora Aboriginal community, the inhabitants of the Sydney area. Wombats are usually found in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Most of their lifetime wombats spend under the ground, digging small caves in the ground with their sharp nails, some of them form tunnel systems. The back legs are used to push earth and take it out of the way. As a rule, some of the tunnels are 20 m long and 3,5 m deep. Wombats are active in the night, when they start searching the food. They have very slow metabolism, so it takes them 14 days to complete digestion. Although wombats look very big, phlegmatic and seem to be very slow,  they can run very fast forming speed at around 40 km per hour. In the daytime wombats rest in their caves.

Wombats are not afraid of the people. There are many Australian reservations where these animals can be met close. Unfortunately many people's only contact with wombats is on highways at night, when many are killed in accidents, often doing considerable damage to vehicles.  Wombats are animals, protected by the law.

An adult wombat doesn’t have natural enemies except the dingo, which was brought to Australia by human. The most guilty things in wombats’ deaths are the automobiles and the people.

If you need to forget about the world of office and work – go to the islands of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef is a unique alive creature with length for more than 2000 km. It started to form 10 000 years ago and this reef continues forming nowadays.

The situated along the reef tropical islands attract the tourists from all over the world because of their beauty: bright corals and coral reefs, the white sand of the beaches, an amazing life of water creatures and wonderful opportunities of active rest.

Because of never-ending summer warmth, the water remains warm and transparent the whole year. The most magnificent thing in the Great Barrier Reef is its climate. It is very hot, subtropical with constant temperature during the whole year.

This eighth world’s wonder is the biggest coral reef in the world, consisting of 2500 reefs – from small to huge ones.

These reefs make up 71 coral islands. Most of the reefs are under water, they only can be seen during the ebb. They make up an opal colored chain among the blue ocean. Some reefs surround white coral islands with amazing flora and animals like crown-of-thorns starfish, green sea turtle, and so on. Around 125 species of shark, stingray, skates or chimera live on the Great Barrier Reef. The irukanji jellyfish also lives on the reef. Over 5000 species of mollusk have been recorded on the Great Barrier Reef.

Billions of coral polyps form the basis of the Barrier Reef. This is an amazing colorful world of tropical fish, mysterious caves, beautiful corals and wonderful plants.

Due to its various biodiversity this reef system has become the center of ecology and tourism. There are more than 400 kinds of corals and 1500 kinds of tropical fish – this is a dream of a scuba diver! Daily offered boat trips are also offered there. Queensland government control the fishing industry in Barrier Reef.