Landmarks

Australian War Memorial

More than a million people visit the Australian War Memorial each year, remembering the bravery and dedication of the people involved in Australia’s war efforts. The Memorial stands at the head of Anzac Parade in Canberra and serves to honour the memory of Australian soldiers and to educate the Australian public. There are numerous displays in the Memorial, such as diaries, medals, photographs and weapons. Individual battles are recreated and explained with plaques. The Australian War Memorial was not built to display weapons of war but rather in the memory of people, places and events.

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is actually a series of more than 2500 reefs that together make up the greatest living structure in the world, stretching more than 2000 kilometres along the coast of Queensland. Geologists estimate that the Great Barrier Reef is probably about 8000 years old! There are over 400 different kinds of corals in the Great Barrier Reef providing food and protecting for more than 1500 tropical fish species, worms, sea urchins, snails, sponges, crabs, starfish and more. Although in 1981 is gained a World Heritage listing, tourists still effect this environment when they destroy corals by braking pieces off to keep as souvenirs.

Kakadu

Kakadu National Park is located in the Northern Territory, is Australia’s largest National Park. One of the most recognised features of Kakadu National Park is the bird life, which are drawn to the tropical wetlands. Another well-known feature of Kakadu is the abundance of Aboriginal rock art, one of the greatest collections anywhere in the world. The painting depicts such things as events, maps, ceremonies and stories of Creation.

Parliament House

Located in Canberra on top of Capital Hill, Parliament House was opened in 1988. The design for Parliament House was chosen from a competition, won by an American architectural firm. It is set into the hill rather then on top of it and grass covers the roof of the building. As it was intended to be “the people’s house”, it is open to the public 24 hours a day. Sailing at the top of the hill is an Australian flag, the size of two double-decker buses!

Port Arthur

Port Arthur, in Tasmania, was originally opened in 1830 as a penal settlement. To stop prisoners escaping soldiers with dogs guarded the grounds and to ensure they wouldn’t swim to freedom, the guards started rumours that the waters, which almost completely surrounded the settlement, were infested with sharks.

Sovereign Hill

Sovereign Hill is an outdoor working museum of the first ten years after Ballarat’s discovery of gold. The shops at the museum stock the goods that were sold back in 1851 – 1856 and although the buildings look like originals they are actually carefully built reproductions. The museum also features people dressed in period costume walking the streets talking to visitors and demonstrating skills appropriate to their profession such as potters and blacksmiths. Another feature of Sovereign Hill is that visitors can pan for gold in the river just as was done during the 1850’s.

Sydney Opera House

The most popular and most visited landmark in Australia is the Sydney Opera House. In 1956 a competition was held to design the Sydney Opera House and a Danish architect won. The Opera House was completed in 1973, comprises of four main auditoriums, a reception, four restaurants, a library and archives. The largest of the auditoriums in the Concert Hall, which can seat 2690 people!

Twelve Apostles

 Along the western section of Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, are the Twelve Apostles, a natural landmark of giant rocks emerging from the ocean towards the sky. The strong wind and forces of the sea have shaped the limestone rocks into the wonders they are today.

Uluru

Uluru is Australia’s largest rock monolith, standing 348 metres high and stretching 3.1 kilometres long and 1.9 kilometres wide. Visitors are able to climb the rock, which is 1.6 kilometres high. The red colour of the rock is formed because of the high iron content in the rock. Uluru is best known for it’s Aboriginal rock art, which has now sadly started to be destroyed as a result of tourists. The area that Uluru is located in is deemed as sacred land by Indigenous Australians.

 Information from this page was gathered from the following sources:

Campbell-Muir, A. (1998). Australia Files: Landmarks. Victoria: Reed Educational and Professional Publishing.