1.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
2.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
3.
National park
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A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns, although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea, the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, although Yellowstone was not officially termed a national park in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. The first area to use national park in its legislation was the USs Mackinac Island. Australias Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the third official national park. In 1895 ownership of Mackinac Island was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park, as a result, Australias Royal National Park is by some considerations the second oldest national park now in existence. The largest national park in the meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park. According to the IUCN,6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006, IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. National parks are almost always open to visitors, in 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a sort of property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877, John Muir is today referred to as the Father of the National Parks due to his work in Yosemite. He published two articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on July 1,1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley, according to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for use, resort. Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation, a public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone at its establishment six years later was put under national control, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States first national park, being also the worlds first national park. In some European countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed, such as Drachenfels, Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory
4.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
State park
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State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use state as a political subdivision. State parks are established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U. S. state, some of the Mexican states, the term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, in general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. As of 2014, there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, there are some 739 million annual visits to the countrys state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles of trail,217,367 campsites, many states include designations beyond state park in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, however several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by the state of Georgia as a park since 1825. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its forests as The State Park but, needing money. The first state park with the designation of state park was Mackinac Island State Park in 1895, list of U. S. state parks National Association of State Park Directors Wilderness preservation systems in the United States Ahlgren, Carol. The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development, the State Park Movement in America, A Critical Review excerpt and text search Larson, Zeb. Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement, oregon Historical Quarterly 112#1 pp, 34-57 in JSTOR Newton, Norman T. When Forests Trumped Parks, The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950, Maryland Historical Magazine 101#2 pp, 203-224
7.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
8.
Sydney central business district
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The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 km from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement in which the Sydney region was initially established, due to its pivotal role in Australias early history, it is one of the oldest established areas in the country. Geographically, its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in the south, at the 2011 Australian Census, the CBD recorded a population of 14,308. Sydney CBD is very used to refer not only to the CBD proper. The Sydney CBD is Australias main financial and economic centre, as well as a hub of economic activity for the Asia-Pacific region. The city centre employs approximately 13% of the Sydney regions workforce and it produced $64.1 billion worth of goods and services in 2011–12. Culturally, the city centre is Sydneys focal point for nightlife and it is also home to some of the citys most significant buildings and structures. The Sydney CBD is an area of very densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings, interspersed by parks such as Hyde Park, The Domain, Royal Botanic Gardens. George Street is the Sydney CBDs main north–south thoroughfare, the CBD runs along two ridge lines below Macquarie Street and York Streets. Between these ridges is Pitt Street, running close to the course of the original Tank Stream, bridge Street, took its name from the bridge running east–west that once crossed this stream. Pitt Street is the heart of the city which includes the Pitt Street Mall. Macquarie Street is a historic precinct that houses such buildings as the State Parliament House, administratively, the Sydney CBD falls under the authority of the local government area of the City of Sydney. The New South Wales state government also has authority over some aspects of the CBD, the Sydney CBD is home to some of the largest Australian companies, as well as serving as an Asia-Pacific headquarters for many large international companies. Sydneys CBD is serviced by rail, light rail, buses. There is a largely-underground CBD rail loop, accessed in both directions via Central, which services five additional CBD stations, plus a spur line to Bondi Junction which services two. The only light rail line currently operating links the southern part of the CBD, buses, both government-run and privately owned, service the CBD along several dozen routes to both inner and more remote suburbs. NightRide is an bus service that operates between midnight and 5, 00am, with most services running from George Street outside the Sydney Town Hall. Sydney Ferries operate largely from Circular Quay, on the edge of the CBD
9.
South Coast Line
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The South Coast Line is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from Central, and runs the length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to Bomaderry. The service also runs along the Eastern Suburbs railway line at peak hours and it is operated with NSW TrainLink H sets and Sydney Trains T sets, with Endeavour railcars operating the service on the non-electrified line between Kiama and Bomaderry. Passenger trains first operated on the South Coast railway line in 1887, the South Coast Line routes span 40 stations, across 159 km of railway. An additional 5 stations and 7 km of railway are travelled by South Coast Line trains at peak hour on the Eastern Suburbs railway line. The first passenger services on the Illawarra commenced on 21 June 1887, after the line was completed from Clifton to Wollongong. The line was extended to Bomaderry through Kiama, opening on 2 June 1893. A station at Cringila was added to the Port Kembla commuter branch in 1926, along with one at Port Kembla North, a railway station for workers at Port Kembla, named Lysaghts, after the nearby Bluescope Lysaght steel plant, was also opened in 1938. Services were originally operated with locomotive-hauled trains and, later, Diesel railcars, electrification extended to Wollongong the following year. Electrification of the South Coast railway line was extended to Dapto in 1993 and, finally. The railway between Kiama and Bomaderry is the part of the line that remains non-electrified, operated by New South Wales Endeavour railcars since their introduction in 1994. The electrified rolling stock of the South Coast Line began with V set intercity trains, there were later accompanied by Tangaras when they were introduced into the CityRail network in 1988. Originally, the Tangaras that ran on the South Coast Line were different variations of T sets known as G sets, G sets differed from T sets in that they had reversible seats, toilets, fresh water dispensers and luggage racks. In late 2005, it was discovered that a majority of the V set rolling stock operating on the South Coast Line were suffering from corrosion in their underframes. More G sets were introduced onto the South Coast Line to compensate, from January 2012, V sets ceased operating South Coast services. In 2009, however, after the introduction of OSCARs onto the intercity CityRail network, the OSCAR fleet effectively replaced the G set rolling stock and, since 2010, standard Sydney Trains T sets, owned by NSW TrainLink, have been operating services to Port Kembla. On 20 December 1994, an accident involving two empty S sets occurred during a procedure at Waterfall. One of the trains jack-knifed onto the platform, demolishing the concrete pedestrian bridge, no injuries or casualties, however, were reported
10.
Princes Highway
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The Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The highway follows the coastline for most of its length, and thus quite an indirect. Because of the nature and lower traffic volumes over much of its length. Sections of the Princes Highway have different route allocations, the gazetted route of the Princes Highway differs from the route of State Route 60. The gazetted route was designated State Route 60 for its length, the section of the Princes Highway between West Helensburgh and Bulli Tops the original coastal route between Sydney and Wollongong, first used in 1843. From Bulli Tops this route continued south along todays Mount Ousley Road as far south as Mount Keira Road and this route replaced the inland route from Sydney via Liverpool, Campbelltown, Appin to Bulli Tops. The Princes Highway as a named route came into being when pre-existing roads were renamed ‘Princes Highway’ after the visit to Australia in 1920 of the Prince of Wales. The original submissions in January 1920 were in order for the Prince to have the opportunity during his visit to make the trip from Melbourne to Sydney overland along the route, different routes were considered, including the inland route via Yass. This idea never came to fruition, due partly to the amount of time. The Prince did, however, give his permission for the naming, the highway had opening ceremonies in both New South Wales and Victoria during 1920. The first section of road from Melbourne was opened on 10 August in Warragul, the road from Sydney was opened on 19 October in Bulli, by the NSW Minister for Local Government, Thomas Mutch. The approval was given by the Victorian executive to extend the highway west from Melbourne through Geelong, Camperdown, Warrnambool, the roads were renamed by the South Australian government from Adelaide east to the South Australian border in February 1922. By 1928, the route went through Mount Barker and Wistow to Lanhorne Creek, by 1935, the Princes Highway passed through Nairne and Kanmantoo, Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend. This road was superseded by the South Eastern Freeway, Swanport Bridge, in 1942, as part of wartime defence measures, a road was built from Mount Keira Road to Fairy Meadow. This route forms part of Mount Ousley Road, city Road in fact forms the first section of the highway, and becomes King Street, Newtown, also part of the Princes Highway. Where King Street ends at Sydney Park Road, the Princes Highway continues in its own right, the only major engineering structures along its route are the twin Tom Uglys Bridge across Georges River. The northbound bridge is of steel construction, opened in 1929, whilst the southbound bridge is of prestressed concrete girders. It runs through Sydneys southern suburbs, via Kogarah, Sutherland, South of Waterfall the highway is paralleled by the 55-kilometre Princes Motorway to the top of Bulli Pass outside the city of Wollongong, which carries the majority of traffic
11.
Princes Motorway
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Part of the Australian Highway 1 network, the motorway is designated with the route number M1, having previously been signposted as F6 and is sometimes commonly known by this latter name. As Wollongong and Port Kembla are important industrial centres, freight traffic is heavy, despite the current decline of the local steel industry, emergence of Wollongong as a commuter city of Sydney has kept the freeway and the adjacent Mount Ousley Road busy. In the north, the Princes Motorway route starts at Waterfall, from its opening on 24 July 1975, the Waterfall to Bulli Tops section of the then Southern Freeway incurred a toll. This part of the freeway did not feature the Helensburgh Interchange, the toll operated for 20 years, which was 10 years short of its intended operating length. After much pressure the toll for the F6 freeway was removed on 30 July 1995 as the loans had been repaid, remnants of the tollbooths are still able to be seen at the old toll plaza at Waterfall. One of the lanes and very faint markings are still intact, heading southbound one set of warning lights to slow down for the toll plaza are also still intact minus signage. In early 2013, as part of the New South Wales alphanumeric route conversion process, the new name was also applied to what was formerly known as Mount Ousley Road. In November 2015, it was announced that the section between Bulli Tops and Picton Road would have a third added in each direction. The County of Cumberland Scheme of 1948 outlined an F6 extension from the current-day end-point at Waterfall, as such, an F6 corridor was set aside that passes through the Royal National Park from Waterfall to Campbell Road in St Peters. Of the proposed extension, only the six-lane Captain Cook Bridge, establishment of the bridge section of the F6 extension began in 1962, expedited to replace the ferry service that had operated from Taren Point to Sans Souci since 1916. Captain Cook Bridge was opened for use in May 1965. In the original plan, the F6 would connect to the Western Distributor, then, in August 1977, premier Neville Wran cancelled the inner section of the F6 link, which at the time had an estimated construction cost of $96 million. At the same time, Wran announced that the inner section reservation would be sold off and the extension would instead terminate at St Peters. Prior to the 2007 federal election, the Liberal-Nationals promised to allocate A$20 million towards planning for the F6 extension, although the Coalition did not win the 2007 election, the funding was once again promised at the subsequent 2010 federal election. This funding would ensure the project is ready when funding becomes available. As part of modifications made during the stage of the WestConnex project. It was further reported in October 2016 that any extension would be known as SouthConnex
12.
Heathcote, New South Wales
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Heathcote is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Heathcote is located 36 km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire, Heathcote is bordered by Engadine to the north and Waterfall to the south. It is bounded by The Royal National Park to the east, Heathcote is separated into two sections by the railway line. Heathcote East contains two of the schools and a sports oval, Heathcote West is the larger side with the majority of residents. South Metropolitan Scouts Association has a ground and training centre in Boundary Road. A small group of shops is located on the western side, the Sutherland Shire Emergency Services Centre is located on the eastern side, beside the railway station. Heathcote incorporates a large population of exclusive brethren, Heathcote was originally known as Bottle Forest. There were fourteen town allotments in Bottle Forest in 1842, in what is now Heathcote East, in 1835 Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell conducted a survey of the area and named it Heathcote, in honour of an officer who had fought with him during the Peninsula Wars against Napoleon. Heathcote railway station opened in 1886, Heathcote Hall was built in Heathcote East in 1887 by Abel Harber, a brick manufacturer. This grand Victorian house included a tower, which was a symbol of wealth, Harber suffered heavy financial losses during the construction of the Imperial Arcade in Sydney and attempted to dispose of the property but the 1892 depression did not help. The Financial Institution became the possessor and they arranged with George Adams of Tattersalls to organise a sweepstake with the house as a prize. The winner was Mr S. Gillett, a Sydney builder, the property was sold to Edmond Lamb Brown in 1901 and as of September 2014 it still stands, though in a dilapidated state. The movie The Munsters Scary Little Christmas was filmed at The Hall, as the military had no wireless capability Lt Taylor co-opted the services of 3 civilian experts who volunteered to carry out the experiments. The three civilians Messers Kirkby, Hannam and Wilkinson brought all their own equipment with them and they arrived at Heathcote by train and all their equipment was dumped on the platform. Two sites were established to conduct the tests from a station A, Station A was in a tent adjacent to the gatekeepers cottage at Heathcote Station. Station B was 2 miles to the south in a cave on a landmark Spion Kop in what is now Heathcote National Park, the purpose of the demonstration was to observe enemy troop movements from the south. It was assumed that the enemy were encamped 7 miles to the south at Garrawarra, the experiments were successful and Taylor gave all credit to the civilian experts. There is a camping area called Camp Coutts in Heathcote National Park
13.
Waterfall, New South Wales
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Waterfall is a small suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 38 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire, Waterfall is bordered to the north by the suburb of Heathcote, with Engadine further north, by The Royal National Park to the east, and by Heathcote National Park to the west. Helensburgh is the town, travelling south. Waterfall marks the border of the Sutherland Shire. It is approximately 200 metres above sea level and its local school has only two rooms which have kindergarten to 2nd class in one room, and 3rd class to 6th class in another. The bushland gives the suburb a natural surrounding and walking tracks lead from it into the neighbouring national parks. To the west is a lake and behind it is Mount Westmacott. Waterfall was a created by rail workers, who built the line from Sydney to Wollongong in the late 19th century. Waterfall derived its name from the close to the railway station. McKell Avenue, the border of the Royal National Park, was originally called Waterfall Road. The Waterfall State Sanitorium was established in 1909 for the treatment of tuberculosis patients, in 1973 Australias first Community Advanced Driver Training Centre was opened in Waterfall but closed a few years later. Both trains were empty of passengers, carriages jack-knifed in spectacular fashion onto the platform, causing demolition of a concrete ramp and part of the station canopy. The Waterfall train disaster on 31 January 2003 involved a train service operated by unit G7. The cause of G7s crash was determined to be the attack of the driver and a failure of the safety equipment. Waterfall is the last suburb heading south on the Princes Highway before it leads into the Princes Motorway to the city of Wollongong, Waterfall railway station is the terminus for the Sydney Trains suburban Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. However, some trains do terminate one stop further on at Helensburgh, Waterfall is also a stop on the NSW TrainLink South Coast Line, with platform 1 to Sydney terminal, platform 2 to Port Kembla, Dapto and Kiama
14.
Woronora Dam
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The Woronora Dam is a concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled serpentine spillway across the Woronora River, located south of Greater Metropolitan Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The principal purpose of the dam is for water supply for Sydneys southern suburbs. The impounded 71, 790-megalitre reservoir is also called Woronora Dam and is incorrectly called Lake Woronora. Water was first supplied to the Sutherland Shire in 1911 when a 150-millimetre pipe was laid from Penshurst Reservoir across Georges River at Tom Uglys Point to Miranda, in 1920 a scheme to supply water from the Woronora River to Sutherland and Cronulla was rejected. It was resurrected five years later when the then Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board became the sole constructing authority for water works in the metropolitan area. The scheme involved the construction of a dam, which could be increased in size if necessary, on the Woronora River, construction of the dam began in 1927, the fifth dam built as part of Sydneys water supply. As forecast, the size of the dam wall had to be increased two years later, workers accommodation was spartan but functional with small bungalows built of fibrolite and placed on brick or concrete piers on the sloping ground. In 1930 The Depression intervened, suspending work on the dam, the men were forced to look for work further afield, even interstate, often leaving their families behind to live on the Woronora site. Some families had ties to the history of Sydneys dams, moving from the Nepean Dam project to Woronora. Other workers on Woronora Dam were former miners from nearby Helensburgh. Late in 1931 the Unemployment Relief Account released funds to build a weir to provide water to the Sutherland-Cronulla area and four years later, Woronora Dam was completed in 1941 at a cost of about A$13 million. The dam is the one of Sydneys water supply dams which is not part of the Upper Nepean/Warragamba/Shoalhaven interconnected system. The dam was built with the objective of supplementing Sydneys water supply whilst the much larger Warragamba Dam was constructed, six of the cottages were retained for on-site maintenance staff housing while the rest of Woronora township site was turned into picnic and recreational areas. Woronora Dam is curved in appearance and is a gravity dam. The dam wall has a height of 66 metres and a length of 390 metres and its lower levels are built of cyclopean masonry - massive sandstone blocks that were quarried on site. The 285-thousand-cubic-metre main wall is made from metal and gravel concrete. The dam has a separate, serpentine overflow spillway that discharges floodwater at the rate of 1,470 m3/s through a concrete lined cutting into the downstream of the dam. In 1988 Woronora Dam was upgraded at a cost of A$2.9 million by a system of wall, the 75-square-kilometre catchment area together with the facilities at the dam are managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority
15.
Great Depression
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The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, in most countries it started in 1929 and it was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the economy can decline. The depression originated in the United States, after a fall in stock prices that began around September 4,1929. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%, by comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s, however, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in both rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%, unemployment in the U. S. rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries, farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as mining and logging suffered the most. Even after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 optimism persisted for some time, john D. Rockefeller said These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come, prosperity has always returned and will again. The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April and this was still almost 30% below the peak of September 1929. Together, government and business spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the period of the previous year. On the other hand, consumers, many of whom had suffered losses in the stock market the previous year. In addition, beginning in the mid-1930s, a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the U. S, by mid-1930, interest rates had dropped to low levels, but expected deflation and the continuing reluctance of people to borrow meant that consumer spending and investment were depressed. By May 1930, automobile sales had declined to below the levels of 1928, prices in general began to decline, although wages held steady in 1930
16.
Georges River
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The Georges River, formerly known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river travels for approximately 96 kilometres in a north and then easterly direction to its mouth at Botany Bay, the Georges River is the main tributary of Botany Bay, with the Cooks River being a secondary tributary. The land adjacent to the Georges River was occupied for thousands of years by the Tharawal. They used the river as an important source of food and a place for trade, major tributaries include OHares Creek, Bunbury Curran Creek, Cabramatta Creek, Prospect Creek, Salt Pan Creek and the Woronora River. The Georges River is popular for activities such as water skiing and swimming. The banks of the river along the lower reaches are marked by large inlets and indentations overlooked by steep ridges and scarps. The Georges River features some artificial lakes in the suburb of Chipping Norton and these lakes, known as the Chipping Norton Lakes, are the result of sand mining and quarrying operations in the twentieth century. The Lakes are now a popular watersports and recreational facility for the residents of the suburbs of Sydney. Liverpool Weir now forms the uppermost tidal limit and presence of water on the Georges River. Georges River National Park adjoins the upper reaches of the Georges River, from Appin to Glenfield, a large corridor has been protected as part of the Georges River Regional Open Space Corridor. Council reserves allow for access to natural sections of the river at Simmos Beach, Ingleburn Reserve, Keith Longhurst Reserve, Botany Bay Community River Health Monitoring Program is a community-based initiative to monitor ecosystem health catchment. Www. georgesriver. org. au Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Georges River was named in honour of King George III, by Governor Arthur Phillip. The river was first explored by Bass and Flinders in 1795 on their first voyage on the Tom Thumb after their arrival in New South Wales, the exploration led to the establishment of Bankstown. A dam was constructed by David Lennox using convict labour at Liverpool in 1836, in February 2007, Liverpool and Campbelltown City Council were awarded a $2 million grant from the NSW Environmental Trust under their Urban Sustainability Initiative. Bridges over the Georges River include from east to west, Captain Cook Bridge, for cars, pedestrians, Tom Uglys Bridge, for cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Old Como railway bridge, now for pedestrians and cyclists, Como railway bridge on the Illawarra line, connecting Oatley to Como, for trains. Alfords Point Bridge, for cars, pedestrians and cyclists, East Hills rail bridge at East Hills, for trains. Voyager Point footbridge, for pedestrians and cyclists, m5 South Western Motorway Georges River East Bridge Milperra Bridge, for cars, pedestrians and cyclists
17.
Angophora
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Angophora is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, described as a genus in 1797. It is endemic to Australia, where species are distributed in Queensland, New South Wales, the centre of diversity is along the northern and central coast of New South Wales. Angophora is closely related to Corymbia and Eucalyptus, and all three genera are often referred to as eucalypts, collectively the eucalypts, or gum trees, dominate many Australian ecosystems. Angophora can be distinguished from other eucalypts by its oppositely arranged leaves and flowers which lack opercula, taxonomists have long recognised the relationships between the eucalypt taxa, but have not agreed upon a classification scheme. Some have proposed merging Angophora and Corymbia into genus Eucalyptus as subgenera, some authors maintain Angophora as a genus, while others continue to debate the issue. Among the eucalypts, Angophora species were nicknamed apples by European settlers, many are still known commonly as apples today. The opposite leaves are hairy and glandular when new, and mostly hairless when mature, the inflorescence is an arrangement of several clusters of 3 to 7 flowers each. The flower has 4 or 5 small, green sepals, overlapping white petals, the fruit is a papery or slightly woody capsule, usually with thick ribs and a coat of hairs. The following are accepted species, Angophora bakeri, a tree up to 10 metres tall. A tree up to 30 meters tall with smooth, scaly bark, - NSW Angophora × clelandii - hybrid A. bakeri × A. hispida - NSW Angophora crassifolia, a tree up to 15 meters tall endemic to New South Wales. - NSW Angophora × dichromophloia - hybrid, A. costata × A. hispida - NSW Angophora euryphylla, - NSW Angophora exul, a threatened species known only from a small area at Gibraltar Rock, New South Wales. A tree up to 8 meters tall with compound, terminal inflorescences, a common tree up to 30 metres tall - NSW, Qld, and Vic Angophora hispida. A tree or mallee up to 7 meters tall, - NSW Angophora inopina, a vulnerable species. A tree up to 8 metres tall, - NSW Angophora leiocarpa, a tree up to 25 meters tall. A multi-stemmed tree up to 15 metres tall, - NSW, Qld Angophora paludosa, a tree up to 15 metres tall. - NSW Angophora robur, a vulnerable species, a tree up to 10 metres tall. A tree up to 20 metres tall, - NSW, Qld Angophora woodsiana, a tree up to 20 metres tall. Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, Australian National Herbarium
18.
Eucalypt
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These genera are recognised as having evolved from ancient lineages of the Myrtaceae family. Eucalyptus urophylla also grows naturally as far west as the Flores, once cooled down, the land becomes a freshly fertilised seed bed. Oils in the leaves tend to make the more severe and therefore more damaging to less attuned species. Epicormic buds under the thick bark of the trunk and branches are ready to sprout new stems. These advantages work well in areas affected by long dry spells, there are over 700 eucalypt species that dominates landscapes all over Australia, but diversity is reduced in rainforests and arid environments. Eucalypt leaves are low in protein and high in toxins, the main consumers of eucalypt leaves are the koala and eucalyptus leaf beetles. Plant Guide, Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora at Australian Native Plants Society Eucalypt Research at Currency Creek Arboretum
19.
Doryanthes excelsa
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Doryanthes excelsa, commonly known as Gymea lily, is a flowering plant in the family, Doryanthaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of New South Wales near Sydney. It has sword-like leaves more than 1 metre long and when it flowers, the apex of the spike bears a large cluster of bright red flowers, each 10 centimetres across. Its common name is derived from the given to the plant by the indigenous Eora people. Gymea lilies have a rosette of large numbers of sword-shaped, strap like leaves 1–2.5 metres long and 10 centimetres wide, the leaves are bright green, fibrous and glabrous. In winter the flower grows from the centre of the rosette until it is up to 6 metres high. At the top of the spike, a head of flowers 30 centimetres in diameter develops, each flower being bright red, trumpet-shaped, the head is surrounded by reddish-brown bracts, sometimes making it difficult to see the flowers from the ground. Flowering occurs in spring and is followed by oval-shaped reddish-brown capsules, in late summer, the capsule splits open and releases the seeds which are 15–23 millimetres long. Doryanthes excelsa was first formally described in 1802 by the Portuguese polymath, the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek δόρυ meaning a spear, the specific epithet is a Latin word meaning high, lofty or distinguished. Doryanthes excelsa and Doryanthes palmeri are the two members of the family Doryanthaceae. Doryanthes has inspired the naming of the journal of history and heritage for Southern Sydney founded by Dharawal historian Les Bursill, Doryanthes excelsa occurs in woodland and dry sclerophyll forest in coastal areas and adjacent mountains from Karuah to Mount Keira. It usually grows in soils derived from sandstone, aboriginal people roasted the young stems of gymea lily for eating. They also roasted the roots to make a kind of cake, fibres from the leaves were used for making brushes and matting. Gymea lilies are hardy and adaptable plants often used in gardening, not only in the Sydney region but also in other coastal areas such as Brisbane. Plants can be grown from seed but may not flower for up to eight years, flowering can be encouraged by fire and by carefully placing a stone in the centre of the rosette
20.
Grevillea
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It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 50 cm tall to trees 35 m tall, common names include grevillea, spider flower, silky oak and toothbrush plant. Closely related to the genus Hakea, the genus gives its name to the subfamily Grevilleoideae, the brightly coloured, petal-less flowers consist of a calyx tube that splits into 4 lobes with long styles. They are good bird-attracting plants, honeyeaters in particular are common visitors and they are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the dryandra moth and the Pieris rapae. Many species of grevilleas are popular garden plants, especially in Australia but also in other temperate, many grevilleas have a propensity to interbreed freely, and extensive hybridisation and selection of horticulturally desirable attributes has led to the commercial release of many named cultivars. Among the best known is Robyn Gordon, a shrub up to 1.5 m high. The cultivar Canberra Gem has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit and they can be grown from soft tip cuttings from December–March or seed. Many harder-to-grow species can be grafted onto hardy rootstock such as Grevillea robusta, there is an active Grevillea Study Group in the Australian Native Plants Society for people interested in grevilleas, both for uses in horticulture and for conservation in the wild. Grevillea flowers were a favourite among Aborigines for their sweet nectar. This could be shaken onto the hand to enjoy, or into a coolamon with a water to make a sweet drink. They might be referred to as the original bush lollies, drinking nectar direct from the flower is best avoided as some commonly cultivated grevillea species produce flowers containing toxic cyanide. A grevillea wood veneer was used on a Pembroke table, a table with two drawers and folding sides, made in the 1790s for Commissioner of the Royal Navy. The timber from which the veneer was made, referred to as wood, was sent from Port Jackson by Surgeon-General John White. This table is in the collection of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, there are over 350 species which are endemic to Australia, including the following, Five species are endemic to areas outside Australia. Three of these - G. exul, G. gillivrayi, and G. meisneri are endemic to New Caledonia while G. elbertii and G. papuana are endemic to Sulawesi and New Guinea respectively. Two other species, G. baileyana and G. glauca, the Grevillea Page of ASGAP The Illawarra Grevillea Park Page ABRS Flora of Australia online, Grevillea
21.
Sugar glider
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The sugar glider is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its preference for sugary foods and ability to glide through the air. They have very similar appearance and habits to the flying squirrel despite not being closely related, the scientific name, Petaurus breviceps, translates from Latin as short-headed rope-dancer, a reference to their canopy acrobatics. The sugar gliders is characterised by its gliding membrane, known as the patagium, gliding serves as an efficient means of both reaching food and evading predators. It is covered in soft, pale grey to brown fur, the sugar glider is endemic to mainland Australia, New Guinea and certain Indonesian islands, and it was introduced to Tasmania, probably in the 1830s. The Petaurus genus likely originated during the early-mid Miocene period, then dispersed from New Guinea to Australia where Australian Petaurus species diverged. The earliest Petaurus species occurred in Australia 4.46 million years ago, the species is divided into seven subspecies, three occur in Australia, four in New Guinea, although debate regarding current species delineation continues. These seven subspecies are currently designated by small differences such as colour. However, genetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA indicates that the subspecies may not represent genetically unique populations. One population is found in coastal New South Wales and southern Queensland, further evidence is required however, to clarify if changes to the current taxonomic divisions are warranted. The earliest Australian sugar glider fossils were found in a cave in Victoria and are dated to 15000 years ago, in Australia, sugar glider distribution corresponds with forests along the southern, eastern and northern coastlines, and extends to altitudes of 2000 m in the eastern ranges. The main structural habitat requirements are a number of stems within the canopy. Like all arboreal, nocturnal marsupials, sugar gliders are active at night, the average home range of sugar gliders is 0.5 hectares, and is largely related to the abundance of food sources, density ranges from 2-6 individuals per hectare. Native owls are their primary predators, others in their range include kookaburras, goannas, snakes, feral cats also represent a significant threat. The sugar glider has a body with a long, partially prehensile tail. The length from the nose to the tip of the tail is about 24 to 30 cm, heart rate range is 200-300 beats per minutes, and respiration rate is 16-40 breaths per minute. The sugar glider is a dimorphic species, with males typically larger than females. The fur coat on the glider is thick, soft
22.
Common ringtail possum
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The common ringtail possum is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, as well as flowers and fruits, the ringtail possum does not occur in New Zealand. This possum also consumes a special type of faeces that is produced during the daytime when it is resting in a nest and this behaviour is called coprophagia and is similar to that seen in rabbits. Several subspecies have been described, such as the Western Australian Pseudocheirus peregrinus occidentalis, taxonomic opinion favours regarding this as a separate species, Pseudocheirus occidentalis, though the currently contradictory evidence would not allow this recommendation to be formalised. The common ringtail possum weighs between 550 and 1100 g and is approximately 30–35 cm long when grown and it has grey fur with white patches behind the eyes and usually a cream coloured belly. It has a prehensile tail which normally displays a distinctive white tip over 25% of its length. The back feet are syndactyl which helps it to climb, the ringtail possums molars have sharp and pointed cusps. The common ringtail possum ranges on the east coast of Australia, as well as Tasmania and they generally live in temperate and tropical environments and are rare in drier environments. Ringtail possums prefer forests of brush, particularly eucalyptus forests. The common ringtail possum and its relatives occupy a range of similar to those of lemurs, monkeys, squirrels. The common ringtail possum feeds on a variety of plants in the family Myrtaceae including the foliage, flowers and fruits from shrubs. When foraging, ringtail possums prefer young leaves over old ones, one study found the emergence of young possums from their pouches corresponds to the flowering and fruiting of the tea-tree, Leptospermum and the peak of fresh plant growth. Young eucalypt leaves are richer in nitrogen and have less dense cell walls than older leaves, when feeding, the possum’s molars slice though the leaves, slitting them into pieces. The possums caecum separates the fine particles from the coarse ones and these particles stay in the caecum for up to 70 hours where the cell walls and tanned cytoplasts are partially digested. What distinguishes the system of the common ringtail possum from that of the koala. Because of this, the ringtail possum is able to gain more protein and this is also done by lagomorphs like rabbits and pikas. Hard faeces are produced during the night while feeding and are not eaten, the re-ingestion of caecal content also serves to maintain the ringtail possum’s energy balance. Ringtail possums gain much of their gross energy from reingestion, the common ringtail possum has a daily maintenance nitrogen requirement of 290 mg N/kg0.75
23.
Eastern pygmy possum
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The eastern pygmy possum is a diprotodont marsupial of south-eastern Australia. Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern South Australia and also Tasmania, it is found in a range of habitats, including rainforest, sclerophyll forest, woodland and heath. Eastern pygmy possums are very small, weighing from 15 to 43 grams and they are dull grey above and white below, with big, forward pointing, almost hairless, ears and a long prehensile tail, with thick fur at the base that becomes sparser towards the tip. They have long whiskers, and a ring of dark fur around each eye. The eastern pygmy possum is an active climber and it uses its brush tipped tongue to feed on nectar and pollen, especially from Banksia, Eucalyptus and Callistemon species. It also feeds on insects, and will eat soft fruits when flowers are not available and it is a largely solitary animal, sheltering in tree hollows and stumps, abandoned bird nests, and thickets. During winter it spends time in torpor and they are nocturnal, and, although generally thought to be solitary, have been reported to share communal nests, and to be seen in groups of two or more adult individuals. Males occupy home ranges of 0.24 to 1.7 hectares, eastern pygmy possums are found along the southeastern Australian coast, from eastern South Australia to southern Queensland, and on Tasmania. They inhabit shrubby vegetation in a variety of habitats, from open heathland or shrubland to sclerophyll or rain forest. Despite this apparent diversity of habitats, their distribution is patchy, eastern pygmy possums typically breed twice a year, although they may breed a third time if food is plentiful. Females have a pouch with four to six teats, and usually give birth to four young. Gestation lasts around 30 days, after which the young spend 33 to 37 days sheltering in the pouch and they are weaned at 60 to 65 days, and remain with the mother for at least a further ten days, by which time they weigh about 10 grams. The young reach the adult size at around five months. They live for up to 7.5 years in captivity, the first specimen of an eastern pygmy possum known to Europeans was collected by François Péron, a naturalist aboard Nicolas Baudin’s voyage to the south seas. Whilst on a stay on Maria Island, off eastern Tasmania between 19 and 27 February 1802, Péron traded with the Aboriginal inhabitants for a single small marsupial. Péron wrote ‘In the class of animals, I only saw one kind of Dasyurus. I obtained one that was alive, in exchange for a few trifles, from a savage who was just going to kill, the specimen collected by Péron was transported back to France, and is now held in the Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle in Paris as the holotype. The eastern pygmy possum is the species of the genus Cercartetus
24.
Wallabia bicolor
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The swamp wallaby is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. The swamp wallaby is the only living member of the genus Wallabia, the swamp wallaby is found from the northernmost areas of Cape York in Queensland, down the entire east coast and around to south-western Victoria. It was formerly found through to south-eastern South Australia, but is now rare or absent from that region and it inhabits thick undergrowth in forests and woodlands, or shelter during the day in thick grass or ferns, emerging at night to feed. Brigalow scrub in Queensland is a favoured habitat. A light coloured cheek stripe is present, and extremities of the body generally show a darker colouring, except for the tip of the tail. The gait differs from other wallabies, with the swamp wallaby carrying its head low, the average length is 76 cm for males, and 70 cm for females. The tail in both sexes is approximately equal in length to the rest of the body, average weight for males is 17 kg, females averaging 13 kg. The swamp wallaby becomes reproductively fertile between 15–18 months of age, and can breed throughout the year, gestation is from 33–38 days, leading to a single young. The young is carried in the pouch from 8–9 months, the swamp wallaby exhibits an unusual form of embryonic diapause, differing from other marsupials in having its gestation period longer than its oestrous cycle. The swamp wallaby is typically an animal, but often aggregates into groups when feeding. It will eat a range of food plants, depending on availability, including shrubs, pasture, agricultural crops. It appears to be able to tolerate a variety of plants poisonous to other animals, including brackens, hemlock. The ideal diet appears to involve browsing shrubs and bushes, rather than grazing grasses and this is unusual in wallabies and other macropods, which typically prefer grazing. Tooth structure reflects this preference for browsing, with the shape of the molars differing from other wallabies, the fourth premolar is retained through life, and is shaped for cutting through coarse plant material. There is evidence that the swamp wallaby is an opportunist taking advantage of sources when they become available, such as fungi, bark. There is also one reported case of the consumption of carrion, according to Aboriginal people of the Bundjalung Nation, the swamp wallaby was considered inedible, due to its smell and taste after cooking. Commercial shooters also find it due to its small size. Several physical and behavioral characteristics make the swamp wallaby different enough from other wallabies that it is placed apart in its own genus, Wallabia
25.
Honeyeater
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The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners, bali, on the other side of the Wallace Line, has a single species. In total there are 182 species in 42 genera, roughly half of them native to Australia, although honeyeaters look and behave very much like other nectar-feeding passerines around the world, they are unrelated, and the similarities are the consequence of convergent evolution. The extent of the partnership between honeyeaters and Australasian flowering plants is unknown, but probably substantial. A great many Australian plants are fertilised by honeyeaters, particularly the Proteaceae, Myrtaceae and it is known that the honeyeaters are important in New Zealand as well, and assumed that the same applies in other areas. Honeyeaters can be either nectarivorous, insectivorous, frugivorous, or a combination of nectar-, in general, honeyeaters prefer to flit quickly from perch to perch in the outer foliage, stretching up or sideways or hanging upside down at need. Many genera have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, frayed and fringed with bristles which soak up liquids readily, the tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the upper mandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed. In addition to nectar, all or nearly all honeyeaters take insects and other creatures, usually by hawking. A few of the species, notably the white-eared honeyeater. Many species supplement their diets with a fruit, and a small number eat considerable amounts of fruit, particularly in tropical rainforests and, oddly. The painted honeyeater is a mistletoe specialist, most, however, exist on a diet of nectar supplemented by varying quantities of insects. The movements of honeyeaters are poorly understood, most are at least partially mobile but many movements seem to be local, possibly between favourite haunts as the conditions change. Fluctuations in local abundance are common, but the number of definitely migratory honeyeater species aside. Many follow the flowering of food plants. Arid zone species appear to further and less predictably than those of the more fertile areas. It seems probable that no single explanation will emerge, the rule for honeyeater movements is that there is no general rule. The genera Cleptornis and Apalopteron, formerly treated in the Meliphagidae, have recently been transferred to the Zosteropidae on genetic evidence, the genus Notiomystis, formerly classified in the Meliphagidae, has recently been removed to the newly erected Notiomystidae of which it is the only member. The Macgregors bird-of-paradise, historically considered a bird-of-paradise, was found to be a honeyeater
26.
Superb lyrebird
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The superb lyrebird is an Australian songbird, one of two species from the family Menuridae. It is one of the worlds largest songbirds, and is noted for its elaborate tail, the species is endemic to the south east of the country, and has been introduced to Tasmania. The superb lyrebird is featured on the side of the Australian 10 cent coin. An Australian endemic, the superb lyrebird can be found in the forests of south-eastern Australia and its diet consists mainly of small invertebrates found on the forest floor or in rotting logs. In the 1930s a small number were introduced to Tasmania amongst ill-founded fears it was in danger of becoming extinct, the Tasmanian population is currently thriving. Now widespread and common throughout its range, the superb lyrebird is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The superb lyrebird is a pheasant-sized Australian songbird, with males measuring approximately 100 cm long, males weigh around 1.1 kg, and females 890 g. Among all extant songbirds only the common and thick-billed ravens regularly outweigh it, the plumage is brownish grey on upper body with a red-brown wash on the coverts and wings. The wings are round and short, with a wingspan of 68 to 76 cm, the legs and feet are long and strong, and capable of running quickly on the ground and digging for food. The ornate tail of the male is 55 to 70 cm long, next within are two guard plumes and twelve long, lace-like feathers, known as filamentaries. Seven years are required for the tail to fully develop, during courtship displays, the male inverts his tail over his head, fanning his feathers to form a silvery white canopy. Young males and females have brown tail feathers which are camouflaged against the forest floor, superb lyrebirds are ground-living birds that typically live solitary lives. Adults usually live singly in territories, but young birds without territories may associate in groups which can be single or mixed-sex. These groups may in turn travel for time with territorial adults when they cross their territory. Superb lyrebirds breed in the depth of winter, adult males start singing half an hour before sunrise from roosts high above the forest floor. Superb lyrebirds sing less often at times of year but a stroll through their habitat on a rainy or misty day will sometimes find them active. Superb lyrebirds have a mating system. During the breeding adult females and males defend separate territories
27.
Royal National Park
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The Royal National Park, colloquially the Nasho or the Royal, is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire, south of Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 15, 091-hectare national park is about 29 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district near the localities of Loftus, Otford and it was the second national park in the world, and the first to have National Park as part of its name. It was founded by Sir John Robertson, Acting Premier of New South Wales and its original name was National Park, but it was renamed in 1955 after Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia passed by in the train during her 1954 tour. The park was added to the Australian National Heritage List in December 2006, the park includes the settlements of Audley, Maianbar and Bundeena. There was once a line connected to the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. Audley can be accessed by road, from Loftus, Waterfall or Otford, Bundeena and Maianbar can also be accessed by road through the park or by the passenger ferry service from Cronulla. There are numerous cycling and walking trails, barbecue areas and picnic sites throughout the park, over 100 kilometres of walking tracks take in a wide range of scenery. Cycling is allowed on some trails and only on specially marked tracks within the Park. The specially marked mountain biking tracks are bi-directional, care should be taken when traversing these trails, a fee of $12.00 applies when taking a car into the Park. The most popular walk is the Coast Walk, which skirts the eastern edge. It is a 30 kilometre track, involving walking from Bundeena to Otford and its recommended that walkers allow 2 days for the walk. This walk is often done as part of the Duke of Edinburghs Award, the Wallumarra Track was constructed in 1975 to meet the growing need for Environmental Education and as a supplement to the parks walking track system. The park is used for environmental education by schools, TAFEs, universities. The park has been burnt in bushfires on several occasions, most notably in 1939,1994, Australian native bush naturally regenerates after bushfires and as of 2008 few signs of these fires remain visible. In times of fire danger the parks service might close the park to ensure visitor safety. There are camping sites at Bonnie Vale, North Era and Uloola Falls and these are the only places where camping is permitted within the park, and they are regulated with a booking/registration system, which requires pre-booking a site. The park charges a vehicle access fee, but is free for people on foot, Royal National Park contains a wide variety of terrain. Roughly, landscapes in the park vary from coastal cliffs broken by beaches and small inlets to an ancient high plateau broken by extensive and deep river valleys
28.
Geography of Sydney
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Sydney lies on a submergent coastline, where the ocean level has risen to flood deep river valleys carved in the Sydney sandstone. Port Jackson, better known as Sydney Harbour, is one such ria, the Sydney area lies on Triassic shales and sandstones. The sand that was to become the sandstone of today was washed from Broken Hill, the region mostly consists of low rolling hills and wide valleys in a rain shadow area near the Blue Mountains. There are more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach, most of Sydneys water storages are on tributaries of the Nepean River. Parramatta River drains an area of Sydneys western suburbs. Sydneys native plant species are predominantly eucalyptus trees, and its soils are usually red, Sydneys urban area covers 1,788 km². As at June 2015 Sydneys estimated population was 4.92 million, Sydney is particularly noted for its low population density, due to its history. Surrounded by land that was considered unowned by the citys founders, coupled with successive governments willingness to release new land on the citys outskirts for further development, this history has given Sydney a low-density self-image. The Cumberland Plain is an area which derives its recognition largely by comparison with the surrounding uplands of harder quartzose. The rising sea level between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago flooded the rias to form estuaries, erosion by coastal streams has created a landscape of deep canyons and remnant plateaus. The city has fault lines which run considerably deep beneath the Sydney basin, to the east the basin continues to the edge of the continental shelf. The centre of the basin is located around 30 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district at Fairfield, Sydney sandstone, being very porous, has shale lenses and fossil riverbeds dotted throughout and it is some 200 metres thick. The sandstone was deposited in a freshwater delta and is the caprock which controls the erosion. Six kilometres of sandstone and shale lie under Sydney, Bringelly Shale and Minchinbury Sandstone are often seen in the greater western parts of Sydney. Ashfield Shale is observed in the western suburbs. These components are part of the Wianamatta Shale group, mittagong Formation sighted in a few areas in northern Sydney. This means that the highest part of the visible lines almost always faces approximately south, there are volcanic rocks from low hills in the shale landscapes. The Basins sedimentary rocks have been subject to uplift with gentle folding, at a time in the past, monocline formed to the west of Sydney
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Government of New South Wales
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The Government of New South Wales, also referred to as the New South Wales Government or NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales, in Australia. The Government of New South Wales, a constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1856 as prescribed in its Constitution. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, New South Wales has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, under the Australian Constitution, New South Wales ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth. Section 109 of the Australian Constitution provides that, where a State law is inconsistent with a federal law, initially the Australian states retained significant independence. Over time, however, that independence has been eroded by both the proliferation of Commonwealth Law, and the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth. New South Wales is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers. The Governor, as representative of the Crown, is the repository of power, which is exercised by him or her on the advice of the Premier of New South Wales. The Premier and Ministers are appointed by the Governor, and hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the Legislative Assembly. In 2006, the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in New South Wales, the Act was assented to by the Queen on 3 April 2006. The following individuals serve as government ministers, at the pleasure of the Queen, the government ministers are listed in order of seniority, while their opposition counterparts are listed to correspond with the government ministers. All Opposition counterparts are members of the Parliament of New South Wales
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Central West (New South Wales)
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The Central West is a region of New South Wales, Australia. The region is geographically in eastern New South Wales, in the area west of the Blue Mountains and it has an area of 63,262 square kilometres. Major population and service centres in the Central West include the cities of Bathurst and Orange, Bathurst and Orange are home to campuses of Charles Sturt University, the only main provider of university education for the region. The Central Wests east is higher, wetter and hillier and supports orchards, vineyards, vegetable-growing, the west is flatter and drier and supports grain crops and pastoralism. The Central West region is traversed by the Great Western Highway, the Mid-Western Highway, the Mitchell Highway, the Newell Highway and the Castlereagh Highway. Other electronic media are represented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with both television and radio broadcasting, and by television stations Prime7, WIN, and Southern Cross Nine, the Central Western Daily newspaper is published in Orange. The Central West area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri people. The first white explorer, George Wilson Evans, entered the Lachlan Valley in 1815 and he named the area the Oxley Plains after his superior the surveyor-general, John Oxley. In 1817 he deemed the area unfit for white settlement, a Military Depot was established not long after at Soldiers Flat near present-day Billimari. Arthur Ranken and James Sloan, from Bathurst, were amongst the first white settlers on the Lachlan and they moved to the area in 1831. In the 1850s many gold prospectors passed through headed for gold fields at Lambing Flat, NSW Forecast Areas map Department of Local Government page for the region listing links to council pages Open Directory listing
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Riverina
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The Riverina /rɪvəˈriːnə/ is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of plains, warm to hot climate. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop one of the most productive. In the 20th century, the development of irrigation areas in the Murray and Murrumbidgee valleys has led to the introduction of crops such as rice. The Riverina has strong ties to Victoria, and the region was the source of much of the impetus behind the federation of Australian colonies. Major population and service centres in the Riverina include the cities of Wagga Wagga, Albury, Albury and Wagga Wagga are home to campuses of Charles Sturt University, the only local provider of higher education for the region. Wagga Wagga is home to two major Australian Defence Force establishments, the northern boundary beyond the Riverina is determined by the Lachlan River catchment area and is referred to as the Central West. Along the Murray to the south, the Riverina borders the state of Victoria, West of the confluence of the Murray and Murrumbidgee is the beginning of the more arid Far West region. In general, the Riverina is a plain formed by deposition carried from the Great Dividing Range by streams between 30,000 and 15,000 years ago. The terrain includes rolling hills to the east but then becomes flatter to the west with most of that plain reaching less than 200 metres above sea level, the western Riverina consists largely of featureless saltbush plain. The geology of the Riverina comprises several troughs and sedimentary basins, the western Riverina is presumed to be a continuation of the Ballarat and Bendigo geological zone while eastern sections are underlain by western portions of the Lachlan Fold Belt. Riverina soils are generally sandy along the channels, with more saline grey. As the Murrumbidgee passes downstream, the water and soil become more saline, the Riverina is drained by the large Murray-Darling Basin. Rivers and streams in the Riverina generally flow east to west, as well as the Murray, Murrumbidgee and Lachlan, other streams include Billabong Creek and the Edward River, an anabranch of the Murray. Much of the water carried by these streams is diverted, in 2001–2002, 52% of the Murray and Murrumbidgee water runoff was diverted, 77% of which was used for irrigation. The Bureau of Meteorology classify the Riverina in the Hot Dry Zone climatic zone, places in this zone can be very hot in the summer months while in the winter, nights can be considerably cold with cool to mild days. Mean daily maximum temperatures in the Riverina range from 31.0 °C in January and 12.4 °C in July in Wagga Wagga to 33.2 °C in January and 14.8 °C in July in Hillston. Rainfall levels in the Riverina are generally low with the annual rainfall over most of the region between 250–500 millimetres, rising to between 500–800 mm on the eastern fringe
33.
South West Slopes
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The South West Slopes is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range extending from north of Cowra through southern NSW into western Victoria. More than 90% of the region is in the state of New South Wales, the south western slopes bioregion covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range extending from north of Cowra through southern NSW into eastern Victoria. More than 90% of the region is in the state of New South Wales, the bioregion includes parts of the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan and Macquarie River catchments. Native vegetation remains generally only in small, isolated patches, less than 2% of the bioregion is protected as reserves. Conservation efforts are focussing on landholder stewardship agreements, towns within the bioregion from Albury in the south to Dunedoo in the northeast, include Wagga Wagga, Junee, Cootamundra, Tumut, Tumbarumba, Gundagai and Young. Griffith lies just outside the boundary and Crookwell lies just outside the eastern boundary of the bioregion. Most of the site is modified wheat-growing and sheep-grazing country with only vestiges of its original vegetation, protected areas within the site include several nature reserves and state forests, as well as the Livingstone and Weddin Mountains National Parks, and Tarcutta Hills Reserve. Mean annual temperatures in the region are mild, ranging from 10 °C to 16 °C, the south west slopes forecast area used by the Bureau of Meteorology includes Young and Tumbarumba. The area is smaller than that defined as a bioregion by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
34.
Cocoparra National Park
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The Cocoparra National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 8, 357-hectare national park is situated 457 kilometres southwest of Sydney and 25 kilometres northeast of Griffith. The park includes a prominent range of such as Bingar Mountain,455 metres above sea level and Brogden Mountain,390 metres above sea level. Adjoining the national park to the north is the Cocoparra Nature Reserve, the national park was gazetted in December 1969. The nature reserve was dedicated in 1963 with an area of 4,647 hectares, the vegetation communities reflect this, with wattles, orchids, ironbark and blue-tinged cypress pines. The geology comprises Upper Devonian sandstones, siltsones and conglomerates, there are a number of day use areas in the park and a campground at Woolshed Flat. Protected areas of New South Wales List of national parks of Australia
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Coolah Tops National Park
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Coolah Tops is a national park in New South Wales, Australia,258 km northwest of Sydney, established on 5 July 1996. It is managed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service and its World Conservation Union category is II. It is situated 30 kilometres east of Coolah in the Liverpool Range, the park features waterfalls that plunge from the plateau. Giant grass trees and open forest with stands of snow gums shelter gliders, wallabies, eagles, camping and walking are the main recreational activities performed here. Views from the tops are possible over the Liverpool Plains, the sources of the Talbragar River and the Coolaburragundy River lie in the park. Protected areas of New South Wales
36.
Goulburn River National Park
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Goulburn River National Park is in New South Wales, Australia,213 km northwest of Sydney and it is 35 km south-west of Merriwa. The Goulburn River National Park is located in the Hunter Valley region and it is near the towns of Sandy Hollow, Denman, Merriwa, and Mudgee. The park is a sanctuary for kangaroos, wombats, emus, goannas, platypus, and it lies within the Mudgee-Wollar Important Bird Area, so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance for the endangered regent honeyeater. Protected areas of New South Wales
37.
Mount Kaputar National Park
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Mount Kaputar National Park is a national park in Australia, surrounding the proximities of Mount Kaputar, a volcano active between 17 and 21 million years ago. It is located 50 km east of Narrabri and 570 km northwest of Sydney, millions of years of erosion have since carved the volcanic region into the lava terraces, volcanic plugs, and dykes of Nandewar Range. The central feature of the region is Mount Kaputar, the parks namesake, the 360 degree view from the summit of the mountain encompasses about 1/10 of New South Wales area or 80,000 km2. Before it was a park, the area was used largely as grazing land for domestic animals. The conditions in the park are very harsh, but several pioneering families lived there, sheep and cattle continued to graze on the plateau until around the 1950s. It was a place, and the stockmen in charge of the cattle often would not see another human for months at a time. In 1925 some 775 ha of land around Mount Kaputar were declared a Reserve for Public Recreation, two years later, a trust, known as the Mount Kaputar Trust, was formed to give guidance on managing the park. The area was expanded to 14,244 ha and proclaimed a national park in 1959. In 1965, two cabins were constructed at Dawsons Spring, providing accommodations including a permanent water supply for showers and toilets, today there are 3 cabins, including the one facilitated from Bark Hut. The park is popular with rockclimbers, and there are 11 walks in the park, however, the most popular site in the park is Scutts Hut, located upward of Kurrawonga Falls. The hut is the home of the Scutt family, a pioneer family living in the vicinity of the park. It is accessible via a trail from the Bark Hut camping grounds. The hut has been restored to its livery, with an earthen floor. The hut is built on the banks of Horsearm Creek, which flows into Kurrawonga Falls, protected areas of New South Wales
38.
Nangar National Park
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Nangar is a national park in New South Wales, Australia,252 km west of Sydney. The park is located in the Nangar-Murga Range between Eugowra and Canowindra and it features Nangar Mountain, which rises to 778 metres. Trees consist of eucalyptus, blackpine, scribbly gum and ironbark, shrubs include spider flowers, thyme spurge, nodding blue lily and waxlip orchids. Birds recorded include wrens, thornbills, falcons, hawks, peregrine falcons, eastern grey kangaroos and grey, redneck and swamp wallabies are common. The park was established in 1983 when 1,550 hectares of bushland were declared a national park. Dripping Rock was added to the park in 1988 and, in 1994, Dripping Rock was a grazing property established in 1928 and named after a local seasonal waterfall. The original Dripping Rock homestead was converted to a shearing shed, protected areas of New South Wales Page on NPWS official site
