Liberal Arts Blog — Australia IV: Tasmania, The Great Barrier Reef, Anzac Day (And Biscuits)
Liberal Arts Blog — Sunday is the Joy of Humor, Food, Travel, Practical Life Tips, and Random Stuff Day
Today’s Topic: Australia IV: Tasmania, the Great Barrier Reef, Anzac Day (and biscuits)
Five weeks ago, in Part One, a little geography from the Torres Straits and the Timor Sea to the Great Australian Bight, from Shark Bay to the Great Barrier Reef. And a little history from Ned Kelly, the outlaw, to Donald Bradman the super- natural cricketeer. Four weeks ago, a little refresher course on iconic Australian wildlife from the kangaroo and the wallaby to the koala and the wombat. Three weeks ago, a little look at urban life in the southeastern coastal region — from Adelaide to Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane. One week ago, a far-ranging survey of three more Australian cities — from Perth in Western
Australia, to Darwin in the Northern Territory, to Canberra in the Capital District. Today, Tasmania, the Great Barrier Reef, and Anzac Day.
The general theme of all my travel posts is the more you know about other countries and cultures, the greater your potential for shared joy with anyone you meet anywhere on this beautiful planet.
Are you Australian? Have you been there? What do you know about Australia that the rest of us may not but would be delighted to learn?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
TASMANIA — 150 miles off the southern coast, separated by the Bass Strait, 569,825 people, capital Hobart (40% of state pop), least centralized of all Australian states, home of Tasmanian Devil
1. “Evidence indicates the presence of Aboriginal people in Tasmania about 42,000 years ago. Rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago and by the time of European contact, the Aboriginal peole in Tasmania had nine major nations or ethnic groups. At the time of the British colonization in 1803, the indigenous population was estimated at between 3,000 and 10,000.” The aboriginal population was decimated by disease, war, and forced removal. Today, “between 6,000 and 23,000” Tasmanians self-identify as aboriginals.
2. “The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on 24 November 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who landed at today’s Blackman Bay.”
3. “Tasmania is in the shape of a downward-facing triangle, likened to a shield, heart, or face.”
NB: “Tasmania’s population is more homogeneous than that of other states of Australia, with most of its population being of British (primarily English) descent. Approximately 65% of its residents are descendants of an estimated 10,000 “founding families” from the mid-19th century.”
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF — “the world’s largest single structure made of living organisms” — coral “bleaching” and pollution threaten its survival
1. In the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, 2,900 individual reefs, 900 islands, stretching 1400 miles, covering an area of 133,000 square miles (about the size of Louisiana or Alabama).
2. “This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps.”
3. “Bleaching occurs when heat-stressed coral turn white after expelling symbiotic alga that provided food and color.”
NB: “In the Great Barrier Reef marine park, 73% of the reefs surveyed have prevalent bleaching — which means that more than 10% of the coral cover is bleached.” To be honest, I’m a bit confused by the many numbers thrown out about what percentage of the reef has died. Any experts out there?
Wildlife in the reef includes 30 species of whales, 1500 species of fish, six species of sea turtles, and 215 species of birds. Have you been? Do you have a favorite?
ANZAC DAY — APRIL 25TH — originally honoring the Australian and New Zealand troops who died during the failed Gallipoli campaign of World War I; now a memorial day for the fallen of all wars. Below the Gallipoli peninsula between the Aegean and the straits of the Dardanelles which lead to the Sea of Marmara linked to the Black Sea by the Bosporus
1. The object of the campaign was the capture of the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. The Allies were defeated by the troops of Mustafa Kemal, the founder of modern Turkey.
2. “The Allied deaths totaled over 56,000, including 8,709 from Australia and 2,721 from New Zealand.”
3. In World War II, Australian military deaths were roughly 40,000. New Zealand: 12,000.
NB: Anzac biscuits: “It is thought that these biscuits were sent by wives and women’s groups to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.”
Ingredients: “rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter (or margarine), golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water and optionally desiccated coconut.” Are you a fan? I am. Big time.
Aboriginal Tasmanians — Wikipedia
Great Barrier Reef experiencing one of its worst coral bleaching events
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Anything miscellaneous to share? Best trip you ever took in your life? Practical life tips? Random facts? Jokes?
Or, what is the best cartoon you have seen lately? or in the last 10 years? or the last 50?
Or what is your favorite holiday food? Main course? Dessert?
Fondest food memories? Favorite foods to eat or prepare? This is your chance to make someone else’s day. Or to cement in your mind a memory that might otherwise disappear. Or to think more deeply about something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
