Australia’s Longest River

Today’s Fun Fact Wednesday explores Australia’s longest river – the Murray. The Murray River is 2,375Km in length and is the world’s third longest navigable river after the Amazon and the Nile. It flows from the Australian Alps in New South Wales, along the New South Wales-Victorian border to Lake Alexandrina in South Australia, where it meets the ocean.

It joins the Darling River that flows from Southern Queensland to form the Murray-Darling system which is critical to the irrigation of much of Australia’s agriculture. The Murray River is responsible for irrigating 42% of over 1 million hectares of farm land.

One of the best ways to explore the Murray is in a houseboat which can be hired from various locations along the river.

Aboriginal Place Names

Did you know that the names of many places in Australia are of Aboriginal origin? European settlers would often adopt the names of locations and landmarks from Australia’s indigenous people. This also explains why several names – such as Woy Woy – are repeated, with the repetition creating a form or emphasis in the native language.

These are the translations of some well known places:

• Ballarat – Resting place;
• Bondi – Water breaking over rocks;
• Caboolture – Place of the carpet snake;
• Geelong – Tongue;
• Illawarra – A pleasant place;
• Indooroopilly _ Gully of running water;
• Mt Coot-tha – Dark honey;
• Parramatta – Place where the eels lie down;
• Pilbara – Mullet or Dry;
• Wagga Wagga – Place of many crows and;
• Woy Woy – Deep water.

There are many others and many are simply Aboriginal names for a particular place in their own right.

Australian Tropical Cyclones

As Tropical Cyclone Yasi heads towards the Queensland coast, today’s Fun Fact Wednesday discusses the phenomena of cyclones in Australia.

The Australian cyclone season runs from 1st November to 30th April. They are generated by warm ocean temperatures of 26.5^oC or higher, resulting in water evaporation that forms clouds. The rotation of the Earth then causes these cyclone clouds to rotate.

To be classified as a cyclone, wind speeds must exceed 63km/h. The severity of a cyclone is graded on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most extreme with winds above 280km/h resulting in almost total destruction on land. TC Yasi has been classified as category 5.

The names of cyclones are taken from a list of 104 names used by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Up until 1975, all of the names selected were female but now cyclones are given male and female names alternately. Cyclone names are reused unless the cyclonic event has a significant affect on Australia – such as TC Tracy. When a name is retired it is replaced by a name on a supplementary list. The Bureau  of Meteorology accepts requests for new names to be added to the supplementary list in writing.

2011 Australians of the Year

This evening the Australian Prime Minister Hon Julia Gillard MP announced Simon McKeon as the 2011 Australian of the Year. The 55 year Victorian has come to prominence due to his philanthropic efforts in supporting charities both nationally and internationally. Following a successful career as an investment banker, Mr McKeon has worked to support charities including MS Research Australia, World Vision International and Red Dust Role Models.

In the same ceremony the Prime Minister announced Jessica Watson as the Young Australian of the Year. The 17 year old from Queensland won the hearts of the nation when she successfully circumnavigated the globe, unassisted, in her yacht Ella’s Pink Lady in 2010.

The Senior Australian of the Year is Professor Ron McCallum AO of Artarmon, NSW. Having served as Professor and Dean of Law at the University of Sydney, Prof McCallum has been recognised as a fervent campaigner for equal rights. He is also totally blind and is a deputy chair of Vision Australia.

Australian research shows sharks are colour blind.

Researchers at the University of Queensland and University of Western Australia have conducted tests that conclude sharks are colour blind.

Professor Nathan Hart believes that wearing brightly coloured swimming costumes that are high contrast against the background, are likely to be more visible to sharks. This could be valuable knowledge in an attempt to reduce shark attacks.

Brisbane Floods

In January 1974, the city of Brisbane in the State of Queensland was flooded due to a combination of sustained rain over several months, high tides and heavy rain caused by Tropical Cyclone Wanda. The floods peaked at 6.6 metres on 29 January and nearly 7,000 homes were destroyed.

Today, the population of Brisbane is battling flooding once again with a flood peak expected at 2:30PM today. Please consider donating to the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal to help those whose lives have been devastated by this natural disaster.

Did you know that the common architectural style of homes in Queensland, known as the Queenslander, was designed to help keep homes cool in summer and to offer some protection from flooding? The design involves building the house on large stumps with the main living areas being a full storey off the ground. Quite useful as this picture from the 1974 floods demonstrates.

Australia’s 1st Cricket Test Match

Did you know that Australia’s first cricket test match was played in Melbourne in March 1877 against England?

Australia managed to win by 45 runs with a score of 349 to England’s 304.

The highest score was achieved by Charles Bannerman – who opened for Australia - with 165 runs in the 1st Innings. This was also his career best.

Those were the days.