James' World 2

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The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (Phascolarctos cinereus), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats, which are members of the family Vombatidae. The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland’s eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is easily recognizable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears, and large, spoon-shaped nose. The koala has a body length of 60–85 cm (24–33 in) and weighs 4–15 kg (9–33 lb). Fur color ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in color than their counterparts further south. These populations possibly are separate subspecies, but this is disputed.

Koalas typically inhabit open eucalypt woodlands, and the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet. Because this eucalypt diet has limited nutritional and caloric content, koalas are largely sedentary and sleep up to 20 hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding exists only between mothers and dependent offspring. Adult males communicate with loud bellows that intimidate rivals and attract mates. Males mark their presence with secretions from scent glands located on their chests. Being marsupials, koalas give birth to underdeveloped young that crawl into their mothers’ pouches, where they stay for the first six to seven months of their lives. These young koalas, known as joeys, are fully weaned around a year old. Koalas have few natural predators and parasites but are threatened by various pathogens, such as Chlamydiaceae bacteria and the koala retrovirus.

Koalas were hunted by indigenous Australians and depicted in myths and cave art for millennia. The first recorded encounter between a European and a koala was in 1798, and an image of the animal was published in 1810 by naturalist George Perry. Botanist Robert Brown wrote the first detailed scientific description of the koala in 1814, although his work remained unpublished for 180 years. Popular artist John Gould illustrated and described the koala, introducing the species to the general British public. Further details about the animal’s biology were revealed in the 19th century by several English scientists. Because of its distinctive appearance, the koala is recognized worldwide as a symbol of Australia. Koalas are listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The animal was hunted heavily in the early 20th century for its fur, and large-scale cullings in Queensland resulted in a public outcry that initiated a movement to protect the species. Sanctuaries were established, and translocation efforts moved to new regions koalas whose habitat had become fragmented or reduced. Among the many threats to their existence are habitat destruction caused by agriculture, urbanization, droughts, and associated bushfires, some related to climate change.

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An image of a Koala

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Victor Harbor is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located within the City of Victor Harbor on the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 82 kilometers (51 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide. The town is the largest population center on the peninsula, with an economy based upon agriculture, fisheries, and various industries. It is also a highly popular tourist destination, with the area’s population greatly expanded during the summer holidays, usually by Adelaide locals looking to escape the summer heat.

It is a popular destination with South Australian high school graduates for their end-of-year celebrations, known colloquially as schoolies.

Victor Harbor lies in the traditional lands of the Ramindjeri clan of the Ngarrindjeri people.

Matthew Flinders in HMS Investigator visited the bay on 8 April 1802 while on the first circumnavigation of the continent, mapping the unsurveyed southern Australian coast from the west. He encountered Nicolas Baudin in Le Geographe near the Murray Mouth several kilometers to the east of the present-day location of Victor Harbor. Baudin was surveying the coast from the east for Napoleonic France. Although their countries were at war, each captain was given documents by the other nation’s government, stating that the ships were on scientific missions, and were therefore not to be regarded as ships of war. Together, the ships returned to the bay and sheltered, while the captains compared notes. Flinders named the bay Encounter Bay after the meeting.

In 1837 Captain Richard Crozier who was en route from Sydney to the Swan River Colony in command of HMS Victor, anchored just off Granite Island and named the sheltered waters in the lee of the island ‘Victor Harbor’ after his ship. About the same time two whaling stations were established, one at Rosetta Head (popularly known as “the Bluff”) and the other near the point opposite Granite Island. Whale oil became South Australia’s first export. From 1839 the whaling station was managed for a time by Captain John Hart, a later Premier of South Australia. The town of Port Victor was laid out on the shores of Victor Harbor in 1863 when the horse-drawn tramway from Goolwa was extended to the harbor. The last whale was caught off Port Victor in 1872.

The municipality of the town of Victor Harbor was proclaimed on 7 May 1914, with Oliver Alexander Baaner appointed as the first mayor.

On 26 December 1936, a one-off motor race meeting was held to the east of the town to commemorate the centenary of South Australia – the “South Australian Centenary Grand Prix”. The circuit was made of public roads, measured 12.6 kilometers in length, and featured two long straights, two short straights, and several corners, including the banked Nangawooka Hairpin. Winner of the 240-mile Grand Prix, which was held as a handicap, was Les Murphy in an MG P-type, from Tim Joshua in another P-type and Bob Lea-Wright in a Terraplane Special.

The beaches of Victor Harbour and nearby Port Elliot have been facing rising seas and more has to be done to stop this. . Wikipedia

An image from Victor Harbor, South Australia

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Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia’s east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south, and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, spread across 33 local government areas. Residents of the city are known as “Sydneysiders”. As of June 2020, Sydney’s estimated metropolitan population was 5,367,206, meaning the city is home to approximately 66% of the state’s population. Nicknames of the city include the ‘Emerald City’ and the ‘Harbour City’.

Indigenous Australians have inhabited the Sydney area for at least 30,000 years, and thousands of engravings remain throughout the region, making it one of the richest in Australia in terms of Aboriginal archaeological sites. Around 29 clan groups of the Eora Nation inhabited the region at the time of European contact. During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, Lieutenant James Cook and his crew became the first Europeans to chart the eastern coast of Australia, making landfall at Botany Bay and inspiring British interest in the area. In 1788, the First Fleet of convicts, led by Arthur Phillip, founded Sydney as a British penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Phillip named the settlement after Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney. Penal transportation to New South Wales ended soon after Sydney was incorporated as a city in 1842. A gold rush occurred in the colony in 1851, and over the next century, Sydney transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural and economic center. After World War II, it experienced mass migration and became one of the most multicultural cities in the world. At the time of the 2011 census, more than 250 different languages were spoken in Sydney. In the 2016 Census, about 35.8% of residents spoke a language other than English at home. Furthermore, 45.4% of the population reported having been born overseas, and the city has the third-largest foreign-born population of any city in the world after London and New York City. Between 1971 and 2018, Sydney lost a net number of 716,832 people to the rest of Australia but its population has continued to grow, largely due to immigration.

Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world, Sydney frequently ranks in the top ten most liveable cities in the world. It is classified as an Alpha Global City by Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has an advanced market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing, and tourism. There is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as Australia’s financial capital and one of Asia Pacific’s leading financial hubs. Established in 1850, the University of Sydney was Australia’s first university and is regarded as one of the world’s leading universities. Sydney is also home to the oldest library in Australia, the State Library of New South Wales, opened in 1826. Wikipedia

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An image from Sydney, Australia

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