AUSSIE WEEKENDER 9

Getting into the big picture now, Australia is a place big enough to be told as the 6th largest country in the World next to Russia, Canada, China, USA and Brazil. It is the flattest and driest of continents (after Antarctica). This landmass of 7.7 million sq.km( India is around 3 million sq.km) yet has got extremes of climates and topography !
There are rainforests and vast plains in the north, snowfields in the south east, desert in the centre and fertile croplands in the east, south and south west. About one third of the country lies in the tropics. Australia has a coastline of 36,735km - if it were possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60 km/h it would take about 24 days to complete the trip !
Australia consists of 8 territories : New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania( this is a small Island on its South east corner) and ACT( Australian Capital Territory).
The local currency is Australian dollars which costs around 33 INR. The denominations are cents. The currency notes are in denominations of 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. The coins goes as $2, $1, 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c. Like India, 5c is the minimum denomination. The currency notes are thin, and like a polythene sheet with some faces featured on it( I have not heard of anyone before). The coins mostly contain Queen's face( no confusion, I am talking about Queen Elizabeth II only ) ! The coin size grows bigger till 50c( 50c coin is bigger than any coin I have ever seen). $1 coin is a bit smaller( comes to our 50ps size) and $2 is smaller than that( its radius is almost same as 5c). The difference is, $1 and $2 are heavy and made of bronze(not sure what it is, the same metal as 1pound coin) whereas the other coins are made of nickel/steel.
This coin's head raises a big question: Is Australia still a British colony?! The union jack part in the map of Australia ( same as New Zealand’s flag) is again confusing ! To my knowledge Australia still got a Governor General! Queen’s Birthday is a National Holiday here! Any idea ?
But, I still know that the immigration laws are separate, UK citizen need a Visa to enter Australia, and so this is surely a separate country!
Coming back to the vastness, there is a wonderful train across Australia. It starts from Sydney on Saturday afternoon and ends its journey in Perth travelling some 4000+ kms, by Tuesday! It is a bit expensive with the fare coming to A$1500 one way per person for getting a berth, and if you are ready to spend 3 nights in a daynighter seat, it is A$550. This is heard to be a life time experience to travel across Australia. It travels the World’s longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kms ! ), and promises you unique landscapes and fascinating array of wildlife from the comfort of the lounge or your cabin.
The travelling costs compells me to restrict my journeys or rather, sample them. A night's stay costing around 150-200 bucks and the food costing some 100 per day, travel is costly even without the train fares. Again, after all this, we rather end up getting tried at the destination after a long journey may not be worth it.