Australia
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR
Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We’ll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
Healesville Sanctuary
One of my favourite places to take visitors from overseas is the Healesville Sanctuary just outside of Melbourne in Victoria.
The Sanctuary opens at 9.00am every day and closes at 5.00pm. My tip to visitors is to get there early and book a magical moment with the Kangaroos. This allows you to cross over the rope barriers with a Zoo Keeper and get up close and personal with some Kangaroos from Kangaroo Island. These particular species of Kangaroo are very placid and you will be able to feed them, pat them and get some really good photo opportunities.
While a Magic Moment with a cuddly Koala may seem like a better idea you dont actually get to hole the Koalas and they really aren't that interested in you. There are many other animals that you can have a magic moment with such as the dingo and some animals that I wouldn't like to get to close up-to such as the Emu and even the snakes.
Getting there early also means you can walk at a more leisurely pace between attractions and you will do a lot of walking often backtracking to get to all the attractions at their time of showing.
You can take your own lunch as there are picnic grounds, tables and chairs available. Leave you stuff in the car as if you got there early you will be parked right next to the entrance and you won’t have to carry your stuff all day and it will be nice and close when you want to go and get it.
I hope you enjoy your trip whether you are going for a family day out, with or without the kids or If you are taking an overseas visitor they will find it fascinating.
By Kalliyan.