Australia is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. there are several reasons for this including the well developed tourist industry and the fact that it is summer during the winter in the northern hemisphere. however the biggest reason is probably that it is just such a unique country. there are a lot of fun facts about Australia that will really surprise visitors.
It is well known by most people that Australia was founded by convicts. The first settlers to arrive on the continent were criminals being sent from England as punishment. Therefore is is somewhat surprising that today Australia is one of the safest countries in the world when it comes to crime. as people like to point out the United States which was founded by the pilgrims who were religious zealots has a murder rate that is four times as high as that of Australia, a country founded by criminals.
A rather less surprising fact about a country founded by criminals is that Australians like to drink. it has been said the early settlers to Australia consumed more alcohol per head than any other community in the history of the world. Whether this is true or not the fact remains that the Australians to like their drink. An often mentioned statistic is that pubs take up more real estate than mines, a surprising fact when you consider how important mining is to the economy of Australia.
Another fun fact about Australia is that the Indian Pacific Railway has the longest stretch of straight track in the world, by far. The line runs right across the country from Sydney to Perth and is considered by train buffs to be one of the great railway trips in the world. Because of the flat uninhabited terrain that makes up most of the route it was possible to lay the tracks in a straight line, there was nothing they had to go around. While few people actually travel by train in Australia any more it is definitely a trip that you will not forget.
One fact that surprises a lot of people about Australia is the extremes of weather. most people know that is hot most of the time in the desert and that it rains a lot along the coast. however what most people don’t know is that the mountains of Australia get more snow than Switzerland. in truth most people are surprised to find out that Australia has mountains let alone that it snows. Not only does it snow but during winter it can get bitterly cold. The temperatures in the mountains can routinely fall below minus twenty degrees Celsius. On the other hand in desert during the summer they can rise to more than fifty degrees Celsius so you will want to make sure that you are prepared.