AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND

Australia is a wealthy country. The Australian dollar is the currency for the nation. Economy is based on mining (iron, coal, bauxite), food industry, textile industry and agriculture. The most important branch of economy is sheep-raising. Australia is the greatest producer of wool in the world. Also, they produce wheat, barley, oats and maize.

Australian fauna and flora is diverse and there are quite a lot of dangerous animals. Typical animals for the area are kangaroos, bear, dingo, wombat, platypus, box jellyfish, snakes (inland taipan – most poisonous snake), black widow. In Australia we can also find Eucalyptus.

What you should definitely visit? Sydney – the oldest city is famous for its Opera house that looks like a sailing ship. Uluru – the highest monolith it he world, it is situated in the middle of the dessert and it’s owned by Aboriginals. Australia is a dangerous, but still exiting country.

New Zealand is an island nation located in the south of the Pacific Ocean. The country is quite isolated. It is situated 2000km from Australia. English and Maori are both official languages of the New Zealand. The capital city is Wellington, but the largest is Auckland.

It is generally agreed that the first settlers in New Zealand came from Eastern Polynesia in the Central Pacific around AD 800. These were most likely the ancestors of the Maori population. The Maori came by canoes and soon after arrival established their own civilisation. The first European to reach New Zealand was a Dutch sailor, Abel Tasman, in the 17th century. However, it was again the British naval officer James Cook who really explored the country and colonists and tradesmen soon followed him to the islands. In the 19th century there was an inter-tribal conflict called the Musket War. Great Britain took control of the South Island by right of discovery, and the North Island also became a British colony in 1840, when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by the Maori northern chiefs. The Maori were promised protection. A few years later war broke out between the Maori and the British, as some Maori were not willing to sell their land to the newcomers and felt deceived by the Treaty. The effort to achieve independence from Britain culminated after WWII, and New Zealand became formally independent in 1947. It is still a member of the Commonwealth.

The country itself consists of two main islands and several small islands. In the North Island there is subtropical clime zone (warm summer, mild winters). Also for the north is typical volcanic activity which brings the struggle with earthquakes. New Zealand's largest natural lake, the Taupo, is also to be found on the North Island. The South Island is more mountainous. New Zealand’s highest peak is Mount Cook (3754m above the sea). There are more than 360 glaciers. Also, it is larger than the North Island, but has only one quarter of the country’s population. There are active volcanoes, caves, deep glacial lakes, amazing fjords, and long sandy beaches.