Australia / New Zealand Travel Information 2004

All feature articles are regularly updated.

• Australia Articles Alphabetically Indexed
• New Zealand Articles Alphabetically Indexed
• Sydney Walking Tour: Circular Quay to Hyde Park
• Sydney Walking Tour: Hyde Park to Darling Harbour

12/22/04 - Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2004
As in previous years, the 2004 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race started at Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day, December 26, and finished in the Derwent River in Hobart, Tasmania. Rough seas and stormy weather meant nearly half the starting fleet failed to make it to Hobart.

12/08/04 - Christmas in Australia: Forget the Sleighbells and the Snow
Forget the snow, forget the sleighs. It's never a white Christmas in Australia where Christmas Day occurs in the first month of the southern summer. Unless of course, you are at the top of Mt Kosciuszko where you still might find some unmelted snow.

11/24/04 - Was Errol Flynn Australian?
The actor Errol Flynn, who was to become the swashbuckling hero of such films as Captain Blood, Sea Hawk and The Adventures of Robin Hood, passed himself off as Irish but was actually born in Tasmania, Australia.

11/10/04 - Who Is Makybe Diva?
Makybe Diva is the six-year-old mare (at the time of the 2004 Melbourne Cup) who entered the Australian horse racing record books by being the first mare to win two consecutive Melbourne Cup races (2003, 2004).

10/27/04 - Was Merle Oberon Born in Australia?
The exotic screen goddess of the 1930s and 1940s is said to have been born in Tasmania (like that other screen star, Errol Flynn). But was she really?

10/13/04 - John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been returned for a fourth term following the win by the Liberal-National Coalition in the federal elections held on October 9, 2004.

09/29/04 - What Are Australian Postcodes?
They're the numbers you see after addresses and they divide the country into specific sectors.

09/15/04 - Who Wrote The Bride Stripped Bare?
If you've read - or heard of - the bestseller The Bride Stripped Bare, a sex-and-the-married-woman confessional novel which doesn't blink its eye on eroticism and the sexual act, you'd know that the book published by HarperCollins in early 2004 is anonymously authored. Here's who Anonymous is.

09/01/04 - Port Stephens
Two and a half hours north of Sydney by road, Port Stephens is popular for its boating, fishing, sightseeing and dolphin watch cruises, water sports, walking tracks, resort towns and villages, heritage buildings, bushland.

08/18/04 - Ian Thorpe: Australia's Most Successful Olympian
Swimmer Ian Thorpe has become Australia's most successful Olympian with his gold medal harvest in the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Also check out Australia's 2004 medal winners and compare this with the list of Sydney 2000 medal winners. Also see New Zealand's medal winners.

08/04/04 - Is Mel Gibson Australian?
Well, he wasn't born in Australia but is quite often regarded as Australian. He grew up in Australia, studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, and kick-started his movie career in Australian films.

07/21/04 - Shark Bay: World Heritage Site
On the western coast of Western Australia, Shark Bay is a World Heritage site and home to dugongs, dolphins and stromatolites: a fascinating aquatic world, a diver's paradise (where diving is allowed), and a place for close encounters with the friendly dolphins.

07/07/04 - Sydney in Seven Days
First-time visitors to Sydney can often be faced with questions of what to see and where to go in the time they have. Sydney in Seven Days is an ordered but flexible guide to the city's many attractions and includes side trips to regions outside the city. Day-by-day information sent to you daily for seven days.

06/23/04 - Naracoorte National Park
Naracoorte Caves in South Australia are a World Heritage site and a popular attraction on the Limestone Coast in the state's southeastern section.

06/09/04 - Australia's World Heritage Sites
Fifteen United Nations-inscribed World Heritage sites are located in Australia and its territories.

05/26/04 - Wollongong: Seaside City
The third largest city in New South Wales (after Sydney and Newcastle), Wollongong is an hour's drive south of Sydney. Fast facts.

05/12/04 - Dunedin, New Zealand - Fast Facts
Dunedin lies on the southeastern coast of New Zealand's South Island, a place of historical richness and natural attractions. As Mark Twain said after a visit in the mid-1890s: "The people here are Scots. They stopped here on their way to heaven, thinking they had arrived."

04/28/04 - Botany Bay National Park
This is where Captain James Cook first landed in Australia in 1770. Not only is it a historical site but a place for seaside picnics and many leisure activities.

04/14/04 - Yackandandah: Town of Strange Bedfellows
Historic Victorian town and movie location of Strange Bedfellows starring Paul Hogan, Michael Caton and Pete Postlethwaite. Worth visiting in its own right for its country town charm. Close to Victorian skifields.

03/31/04 - Easter in Sydney
Two-week Sydney festival encompassing the Royal Easter Show and various sports and cultural events.

03/17/04 - Te Papa: National Museum of New Zealand
One of the world's most comprehensive national museums. Located in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, on the southeastern end of the North Island.

03/03/04 - Melbourne Moomba Festival
The Moomba Festival in Melbourne is one of the largest outdoor city festivals in Australia with a huge parade of floats and masked participants on the festival's last day. Traditionally held on the Labor Day weekend.

02/18/04 - Labor Day
This public holiday falls on different dates in New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia. Labor Day (Eight Hours Day in Tasmania, May Day in the Northern Territory) occurs in March, May or October, depending on where you are.

02/04/04 - Sydney Opera House: Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed it? When did it open? What are its performance venues? Are there restaurants in the building? What's on at the Opera House? Where is it and how do you get there?

01/21/04 - Newcastle: Between River and Sea
The second largest New South Wales city and just two hours north of Sydney by road, Newcastle lies on a peninsula bounded by the Hunter River in the north and the Pacific in the southeast. Water sports and leisure activities abound, there are harbour cruises to take, and a variety of restaurants and live-music venues give added dimension to Newcastle life.

01/07/04 - Australian Flag, New Zealand Flag
The national symbols. They may look similar but they aren't identical. Note the differences. Illustration, description.

More Features... continually updated...

2008: What's Up Down Under This Year?
2007: Sydney Opera House Named World Heritage Site
2006: World Heritage Sites, National and Strate Flowers
2005: From Sydney Festival to Sydney to Hobart
2004: Makybe Diva, Mel Gibson, Merle Oberon, Moomba
2003: A Prince of the Church... a Princess for Denmark...
2002: The Best Time to Visit Sydney, and More
2001: We Explore More of the Wonders of New Zealand
2000: Sydney Holds the Olympics: What a Year That Was!
1999: From Port Arthur Ghosts to Monkey Mia Dolphins
1998: We Begin in Sydney and Move Farther Afield