Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In Sydney, you might come across “stingers” or “blue bottles” as they are also
called. These long-tentacled blue jellyfish can inflict a very nasty stinging burn
that can last for hours. Sometimes you'll see warning signs on patrolled beaches.
The best remedy if you are severely stung is to wash the affected water with fresh
water and have a very hot bath or shower.
2 The People Down Under
It's generally considered that more races of people live in Australia at the present
time than anywhere else in the world, including North America. Heavy immigra-
tion has led to people from some 165 nations making the country their home. In
general, relations between the different ethnic groups have been peaceful. Today
Australia is an example of a multicultural society, despite an increasingly vocal
minority that believes that Australia has come too far in welcoming people from
races other than their own.
THE ABORIGINES
When Capt. James Cook landed at Botany Bay in 1770
determined to claim the land for the British Empire, at least 300,000 Aborig-
ines were already on the continent. Whether you believe a version of history that
suggests the Aboriginal people were descendants of migrants from Indonesia to
the north, or the Aboriginal belief that they have occupied Australia since the
beginning of time, there is scientific evidence that people were walking the con-
tinent at least 120,000 years ago.
At the time of the white “invasion” of their lands, there were at least 600 dif-
ferent, largely nomadic tribal communities, each linked to their ancestral land by
“sacred sites”
(certain features of the land, such as hills or rock formations). They
were hunter-gatherers, spending about 20 hours a week harvesting the resources
of the land, rivers, and the ocean. The rest of the time was taken up by a complex
social and belief system, as well as by life's practicalities, such as making utensils,
weapons, and musical instruments such as didgeridoos and clapsticks.
The basis of Aboriginal spirituality rests in the
Dreamtime
stories, in which
spirits created everything—land, stars, mountains, the moon, the sun, the
oceans, water holes, animals, and humans. Much Aboriginal art is related to
their land and the sacred sites that are home to the Dreamtime spirits. Some
Aboriginal groups believe these spirits came in giant human form, while others
believed they were animals or huge snakes. According to Aboriginal custom,
individuals can draw on the power of the Dreamtime spirits by reenacting vari-
ous stories and practicing certain ceremonies.
Aboriginal groups had encountered people from other lands before the British
arrived. Dutch records from 1451 show that the Macassans, from islands now
belonging to Indonesia, had a long relationship trading Dutch glass, smoking
pipes, and alcohol for edible sea slugs, from Australia's northern coastal waters,
which they sold to the Chinese in the Canton markets. Dutch, Portuguese,
French, and Chinese vessels also encountered Australia—in fact, the Dutch fash-
ion for pointy beards caught on through northern Australia long before the
1770 invasion.
When the British came, bringing their
diseases
with them, coastal commu-
nities were virtually wiped out by smallpox. Even as late as the 1950s, large
numbers of Aborigines in remote regions of South Australia and the Northern
Territory succumbed to deadly outbreaks of influenza and measles.
Although relationships between the settlers and local Aborigines were initially
peaceful, conflicts over land and food soon led to skirmishes in which Aborigines
