How Do You Remember The Australian States? What have they in common with learning Chinese Numbers?

AUSTRALIA

Where are the states of Australia? Could you quickly teach them to somebody else? How do you remember them?

Problem
I was learning Chinese numbers on Duolingo when up popped a suggestion that I try their Tinycards. I know and like the Tinycards. Before I could find the ones on Chinese numbers, up popped the suggestion that I try the states or territories of Australia.  I've always wanted to know these. There are fewer than a dozen. Fewer than half a dozen. Five big ones. How hard is that! I thought I would try this quiz and add to my general knowledge about countries. How does it work?

Answers
It's a bit like the multiple choice questions in the Chinese numbers.

Chinese Numbers
In the Chinese numbers, they offer five choices. One of the choices is Yuan, which is the currency, and this comes last. So you are left with four choices. You start by process of elimination. The same applies to learning the Australian territories.

We start on the left, the West, the nearest point if you are flying into Australia. Western Australia has to be to the left. Northern is to the North. South is in the middle in the south.  But note that although it's Western and Northern, it's not Southern but South. I got that wrong the first time.

(Perth, with an E and an R, is in Western Australia.)

Now we come to New South Wales. It's not in the centre south because we've already done that one.

So let's look at the last word of the three, Wales, which is furthest East of the three word New South Wales.  That sounds is a bit like Wales on the Map of Great Britain, lower down, but not on the west of Australia, on the east.

Photo by Adrian Gigante from Sydney. In Wikipedia.

Think of Sydney Harbour Bridge, like the bridge across to Wales. Think that Down Under, where the seasons are reversed, they do things differently.

Severn Bridge. Wales. UK. Photo from Wikipedia. Public domain.

The Severn Bridge, Wales.
Now, next, what is north of New South Wales? Queensland. Wales is part of Britain, the Queen's land. (Of course, these places were named in the time of Queen Victoria. But you can think of Queen Elizabeth II.

I looked at the map and didn't even notice Victoria until I brought it up on the more detailed map.

It's in the east and south.

Logically, going south on the east coast, we say Queen Victoria, so Queen(sland) is to the north of New South Wales and Victoria is to the south, Victoria from the past being less important and smaller than the Queen.

Melbourne is named after one of Queen Victoria's ministers, the Prime Minister. The name was not chosen by Victoria by the Governor of Victoria. So it is in what was his territory, Victoria.

Look at the map and say the names, three or four times. However, I think that's hardly necessary. I know them all. You also learn by teaching. Maybe you could teach somebody else.

Useful Websites
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/2JvHmk3/chinese-numbers
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/decks/oM9Qei/australian-states-territories

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please save (bookmark) and pass on links to your family and friends.

Australia, London, Melbourne, Melbourne Cemetery, Healesville - what's the connection?

I was looking at this wine bottle label and trying to trace the location and names of the places mentioned, Healesville in Victoria, in Australia? This moscato is sparkling and different muscat grapes vary. Let's nor worry about that now - it's enough of a challenge for us in the UK to work out where to find Victoria. After a brief diversion into what I've just been told about Rutherglen Muscat, which I'm typing up because I want to remember it, I shall tell you what I've found about Melbourne, Healesville and the snooker gravestone.

Northern Victoria is also known Rutherglen Muscat, a sweet wine. 

(You may know Rutherglen muscat. I am informed by my local UK expert, that the local clone is Brown muscat making red not white musket. Some wines are made in a solar system like sherry blending vintages and flavours to get a consistent flavour over the years. A third local characteristic is raiseined grapes in an area with lots of heat and not so uch water.

I've been to Australia, to Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, but Healesville?

Let's start with what I know, Victoria in London is named after Queen Victoria and Victoria in Australia must have been founded and named after her in her era.

Australia, Captain Flinders, His Map and That Cat

The name Australia is related to the English man, Captain Matthew Flinders, who mapped Australia and gave Australia its name. His statue was placed on Euston station in London this year (2014). See pictures of Flinders and his cat statue in my earlier post by doing a search for the word Euston.

Melbourne

Melbourne was named after Queen Victoria's minister, Melbourne, who was living in London and having an affair with a lady, immortalised in the line, 'would you like to sin on a tiger skin with Eleanor Glyn?'

Healesville

Healesville is an area north east of Melbourne, Australia. Healesville is named after one of its first VIPs. Ironically he was a teetotaller campaigning for temperance. I wonder if the vineyard realises that their address immortalises and recalls him?

What became of him? He was buried in Melbourne Cemetery. So were other VIP founders of Australia, or early members of the government.  But the most amusing gravestone in the cemetery is that of the snooker player below. 

Walter Lindrum, Australian Billiards Player

The grave is of Walter Lindrum in Melbourne General Cemetery. (I found the photo in Wikipedia when I researched Healesville.)

Enjoy contemplating this whilst drinking your Moscato, from Healesville, Australia. (The UK importers are mentioned in the previous post on this blog.)

Walter Lindrum OBE, Australian billiards player