Just How Many Beaches Are There in Australia?
Just How Many Beaches are in Australia?
&
Spanish Highlighted at Beaumont Road This Week!
Hello Elementary Friends,
I am blogging a bit earlier this week due to the fact that I will be traveling on Thursday evening (my normal blogging time). I will tell you more about my travels a bit later in the blog, but first, I want to focus on this week's highlights - the Australian Beaches!
I am blogging a bit earlier this week due to the fact that I will be traveling on Thursday evening (my normal blogging time). I will tell you more about my travels a bit later in the blog, but first, I want to focus on this week's highlights - the Australian Beaches!
The other day on a trivia show on TV the question was "How Many Beaches are in Australia?" The answer choices were A) 2,600 B) 5,600 and C) 10,600. Of course I immediately thought that 5,600 was too many, but I went ahead and chose the middle answer. I was amazed to hear that the answer is 10,600! Actually the official number is 10,685!
Mitch and I have traditionally not thought of ourselves as "Beach People." We classify ourselves more on the "Mountain People" side, but living in Australia for the past seven months has required us to develop an appreciation for the beach. This past weekend we took a Sunday afternoon drive up to a few of the "Sydney Northern Beaches." Here is a map of the northern beaches:
We started at my principal, Malcolm's favorite beach - Mona Vale and headed on up past Bungen, Newport, Bilgoa, Avalon, Whale, and Palm. All of these beaches are beautiful, but are not as well known as a tourist stop like Manly (the first of the northern beaches) or Bondi (east of Sydney).
Here is some information on Australian beaches from the Australian government.
The Australian Beach
Most of Australia's population lives close to the coastline and the beach has long occupied a special place in the Australian identity. The Australian coastline is where three of the world's great ocean's meet: the Pacific, Indian and Southern oceans. The beach is also a place where people from all over the world meet, mix and live.
The coastline of the Australian mainland stretches more than 30,000 km. With the addition of all the coastal islands this amounts to more than 47,000 km. The coastal landscape ranges from broad sandy beaches to rocky cliffs and mangrove swamps.
A beach can be defined as a stretch of sand longer than 20 metres and remaining dry at high tide. Based on this definition, the Coastal Studies Unit at the University of Sydney has counted 10,685 beaches in Australia.
History of the Beach
The recorded history of people in their interaction with the beaches of Australia is peppered with disaster, tragedy, discovery and delight.
In the past 600 years, visitors as far away as China, Portugal, Spain and Holland visited Australian beaches. The evidence of their visits lies in the remains of ships wrecked along the coastline as well as artefacts, cave drawings and paper maps. It has always been risky sailing in Australian waters, and so many failed to reach their destinations. The Encyclopedia of Australian Shipwrecks records more than 16,000 wrecks.
For tens of thousands of years the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have fished the coastal waters. People on the north coast, from the Arafura Sea to the Torres Strait, used to trade with those from present day Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on the beaches of Australia. Until the present day, senior Goorewal women of New South Wales use their knowledge of the natural calendar, currents, winds and biology of the sea creatures to journey to the coast to collect shells for food. The making of necklaces from shells in family patterns has been passed down through the generations.
As a Place for Leisure
There are no privately-owned beaches in Australia - beaches are public places for all to enjoy. Australians make use of the coast as a destination for relaxation and fun. Many people live close enough to a beach to visit regularly, and others use the beach for annual holidays. Popular destinations range from crowded city beaches and popular holiday spots, to quieter beaches located in coastal national parks.
Some people go to the beach simply for the sun and surf. Others go to sail, parasail, fish, snorkel, scuba dive and beach comb. Coastal sight-seeing is a very popular pursuit for Australians and international tourists as there are many scenic coastal drives with well appointed lookouts.
Beaches around the country attract large crowds for celebrations such as New Year's Eve and Australia Day. City beaches such as Manly in Sydney and Glenelg in Adelaide provide entertainment and fireworks on New Year's Eve, and on Australia Day many beaches host citizenship ceremonies and provide family entertainment. It has become traditional for international visitors who are in Sydney at Christmas time to go to Bondi Beach where up to 40,000 people visit on Christmas Day.
Many international visitors spend time at some of Australia's famous beaches such as Bondi and Manly in Sydney, St Kilda in Melbourne, Surfers Paradise on the Queensland Gold Coast, Cottesloe in Perth, and Glenelg in Adelaide.
Since we have been in Australia we have "over-dosed" on beaches and boats. We have said on many occasions that we have been on many more flotation devices since we have been here than in all of the other 59 years of our lives! Here is a listing of the places we have been since we have been in Australia where we visited beaches:
So, with all of those beaches and about 20 more within an hour of our home here in Sydney, we have developed a love for them and for the sea. It will be interesting to see how we do when we are landlocked again in Colorado upon our return in December.
Wollongong and then South on the Princes Highway Toward Melbourne
Melbourne, Victoria
Tasmania - Mitch says his favorite beach thus far is the one we enjoyed on Bruny Island, Tasmania
Nelson Bay (with Mary Beth and Kevin)
Byron Bay (with Andy and Robyn)
Cairns - Port Douglas - Yorkey's Knob, Queensland (over Winter School Holidays)
Education Week at Beaumont Road Public Road - Spanish Highlighted!
This week is Education Week at School. This is a week where parents are invited to school for several special events. During K-2 Assembly on Monday the Year Two students sang a song in Spanish to highlight the Spanish Classes that Mitch has been teaching. Los Pollitos is a traditional Latin American children's song. Click on this link for a video of our children singing in Spanish for you!
Hitting the Road on Thursday (4th) - 5 Hours West to Dubbo, NSW
It is Professional Development!
I am looking forward to an experience this Friday (5th). I have been given the opportunity to visit a school in a town about five hours west of Sydney. I am eager to see an educational environment that will likely be different from the placement where I am at Beaumont Road. The exchange program values the benefits of professional development while on exchange, so we are given a few days to observe in other schools. Last year while still in Colorado, I attended a few meetings of the Colorado International Teachers Exchange League (CITEL). At one of those meetings I met Susy, an Australian teacher from Dubbo, NSW. She was on exchange in Colorado for 2015. During the course of our conversation of where I would be placed while on exchange in Australia, she made the invitation that I might want to come to see her school as a comparison. I am now taking her up on her invitation! Mitch and I will drive to Dubbo after school on Thursday - if you look at a map, you will see that we will travel to Katoomba, over the Blue Mountains, past Bathurst, and into what is referred to as "Country," NSW. We have not ventured that far west, so it should be interesting, although my principal, Malcolm did warn us to be on the look-out for "roos" after dark! On Friday, I will attend school with Susy for a portion of the day. The other part of the day will be an observation at a different primary school in Dubbo. Then, on Saturday we will go the Taronga Western Plains Zoo!
The Taronga Western Plains Zoo is located in Dubbo, in central west New South Wales. The Zoo is home to hundreds of animals from around the world and consists of free access Visitor Plaza and a 6km circuit that meanders through natural bushland and around large open style exhibits. We have heard many good things about the Dubbo Zoo and how the free range exhibits mirror the natural habitat of many endangered animals from around the world. There was a news report a few weeks ago that two baby giraffes were born at the Dubbo Zoo!
Here is a link to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo website:
So, in next week's blog I will share my learning about the Dubbo schools and the zoo! Until then, teachers in Colorado and Texas are getting ready to start a new year with professional development days! I wish all of you the best as you begin the 2016-2017 school year. The theme this year at Mortensen is:
Take Care, Dear Friends!
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