Adventure travel - AUSTRALIA and OCEANIA
In
geology, Australia (also called Australia-New Guinea,
Sahul, Meganesia, Greater Australia, Australasia, or
Australinea) is a continent comprising (in order of size) the Australian
mainland, New Guinea, Tasmania, and intervening islands,
all of which sit on the same continental shelf. These landmasses are separated
by seas overlying the continental shelf — the Arafura Sea and Torres
Strait between Australia and New Guinea, and Bass Strait between
mainland Australia and Tasmania.
When sea levels were lower during the Pleistocene ice age, including the last
glacial maximum about 18,000 years ago, the lands formed a single, continuous
landmass. During the past ten thousand years, rising sea levels overflowed the
lowlands and separated the continent into today's low-lying semi-arid mainland
and the two mountainous islands of New Guinea and Tasmania.
Geologically, the continent extends to the edge of the continental shelf, so the
now-separate lands can still be considered a continent. Due to the spread of
flora and fauna across the single Pleistocene landmass, the separate lands have
a related biota.
New Zealand is not on the same continental shelf and so is not part of
the continent of Australia but is part of the submerged continent Zealandia
and the wider region known as Oceania.
Australia is classified by the Australian Government Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade as the world's largest island and the world's smallest
continent.
Mainland Australia, with an area of 7.69 million square kilometres, is
alternately regarded as either the Earth’s largest island or smallest continent.
It stretches about 3700 kilometres from north to south and about 4000 kilometres
from east to west.
AUSTRALIA and OCEANIA countries
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American Samoa
Australia
Baker Island
Cook Islands
Coral Sea Islands
Fiji
French Polynesia
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Guam
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
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Howland Island
Jarvis Island
Johnston Atoll
Kingman Reef
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia, Federated States of
Midway Islands
Nauru
New Caledonia
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New Zealand
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Palau
Palmyra Atoll
Papua New Guinea
Pitcairn Islands
Samoa
Solomon Islands
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Tokelau
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Wake Island
Wallis and Futuna
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AUSTRALIA and OCEANIA latest edit
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Queenstown New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South
Island. It is built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin lake shaped
like a staggered lightning bolt, and has spectactular views of nearby mountains.
There are various apocryphal accounts of how the town was named, the most
popular suggesting that a local gold digger exclaimed that the town was "fit for
Queen Victoria". It is sometimes disparagaingly referred to as "Vegas by the
Lake" for a perceived fixation on commerce-oriented tourism, especially
adventure and ski tourism. It is popular with young international and New
Zealand travellers alike....... |
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