I am excited to begin our journey traveling around the world, letter by letter, through the alphabet. Today we have landed at our first destination! It is the country, and also continent, that begins with the letter A: Australia.
I am also featuring a FREE GIVEAWAY this week! Starting today Jan. 1st, and continuing until Jan. 7th, win the book Children’s Atlas of God’s World by Craig Froman. Scroll down to the Rafflecopter sweepstakes below to enter! And be sure to keep checking in with me because I will be giving away a new prize each week in January.
A map of Australia is pictured below. You can print and color your own map with this coloring page.
We will unpack our suitcases in Australia to spend time learning about this fascinating country. We will be here for four weeks. So open those suitcases because week one starts now. Here’s a brief itinerary of our trip.
Week 1: Map, Country Flag, and Interesting Facts
Week 2: An interview with my Australian Friend Andrew
Week 3: A Kangaroo Craft
Week 4: A recipe for Land Down Under Biscuits (or cookies as we say back in the U.S.)
And for your information (FYI), I will be including FYI’s in different colors throughout my posts to help us understand new words, concepts etc…
Australian Flag
Australia Country Facts
1. Australia is the only country that is also a continent. It is sometimes called the “island continent”. It is the 6th largest country in the world by land mass.
(FYI: land mass and area are the same thing)
2. Population: 23,247,280 (Australian Bureau of Statistics on Oct. 14, 2013)
3. Capital City: Canberra
4. Religion: Roman Catholic
5. Currency: Australian Dollar
(FYI: currency just means the kind of money used in a particular country. You can see a picture of an Australian Dollar here.)
6. Biggest City: Sydney
7. Most Common Language: Australian English (76.8 %) Minority Languages: Mandarin Chinese (1.6%) Italian (1.4%) Arabic (1.3%) Cantonese (1.2%)
8. Names Of Common Rivers: Murrumbidgee (say that one three times fast), Murray, Darling
9. Highest Mountain: Mt. Kosciusko 7,130 ft. above sea level
10. A vast desert area called “The Outback” covers much of the land
11. The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest reef system, is found off the northeastern coast
12. Home to a variety of unique animals including the koala bear, kangaroo, emu, kookaburra (maybe a good name for your next pet), and platypus
Cutest Koala
from Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
(FYI: you can see more cool pictures of Australian animals here)
This Week’s Giveaway!
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This is awesome. My lil guy Bryce is 7 and loves to learn about different countries. He has been hooked on talking about Egypt. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad Bryce enjoys learning about other countries! I think he’ll like what I have planned for letter E!
If I went to Australia, I would love to hold a koala bear. They look so cute and cuddly. This is an awesome idea. My 7yo love learning about other countries. He is obsessed about Egypt.
When we were first married, my husband and I built a beautiful salt water aquarium and would often travel to various shops in Florida to acquire new treasures for it. Were we ever to travel to Australia, we would definitely choose to go snorkeling to see the amazing aquatic life the Great Barrier Reef so famously houses.
Wow. What a great memory you have with that aquarium. My only attempt to keep a fish as a pet was a purchase of a little blue gamma fish I believe. I named him Bubbles and he had a very humble bowl abode.
I would love to visit Australia. I love koala bears so my dream would be to hold a koala bear – they are beautiful, majestic creatures. The website is amazing…very easy to navigate and very informative.
I like koala bears too. I enjoyed seeing one at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They have a great section called Australian Adventure.
I’ve been to Australia…years ago. I got to see koalas & kangaroos. Next time maybe snorkeling should be on my list! 🙂
I have snorkeled in Hawaii and the Galápagos Islands. Both experiences were incredible. In the Galapagos I actually swam with sea lions. One of them was chewing on my flipper! I felt like it was a dream. I just laughed underwater and took pictures with an underwater camera.
I would hold a koala bear. Since I can remember they have always been my favorite animal.
I really like koalas too.