Backpack Bear - Quiz 2 Answers

Rank the states and territories in order of area. Western Australia; Queensland; Northern Territory; South Australia; New South Wales; Victoria, Tasmania; Australian Capital Territory (Source: Geoscience Australia)
Now rank them in order of population. New South Wales; Victoria; Queensland; Western Australia; South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics)

These islands form a group known as the Tiwi Islands. The largest one is the second largest island off the Australian mainland. What is it called? Melville Island

4. Which Australian has won the most Academy Awards (aka The Oscars)? Catherine Martin

5. Is it further to travel between the east-west or the north-south extremities of mainland Australia? East-West Australia is approximately 3860 kilometres long from its most northerly point to its most southerly point in Tasmania, and is almost 4000 kilometres wide, from east to west. (Source Geoscience Australia)

6. In July, how many time zones are there across Australia? 3 - Eastern Standard Time, Central Standard Time, Western Standard Time (Source Greenwich Mean Time)

7. Which city stands on an area of land that John Batman purchased from the Dutigallar tribe for an annual payment of axes, knives, blankets, flour and other goods? Melbourne

8 What is the name of the ocean current that regularly brings drought conditions to eastern Australia? El Nino

9. In my pocket I have just three coins - they total $1.60 - what are they? 1 x $1, 1 x 50c, 1 x 10c

10. Which capital city is named after the author of Origin of the Species? Darwin

11. In which year did the ANZAC forces first land at Gallipoli? 1915

12 What is the name of the red, white and blue pattern in the top-left quarter of our flag? Union Jack (Source Australian National Flag)

Which country has that insignia as its entire flag? United Kingdom United Kingdom refers to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; Great Britain is England, Wales and Scotland.
Who was the first person to circumnavigate Australia and prove that it was one main island? Matthew Flinders
Which ancient supercontinent comprised Antarctica, South America, Africa, India, and Australia? Gondwanaland/Gondwana
If you travelled from Darwin to Adelaide, which is the main direction you would travel? South

Which Australian author has a series of books about TooCool and another about Billy Kool? Phil Kettle
Which river forms the main border between New South Wales and Victoria? Murray River
The streets in Palmerston, ACT have names such as Lofty, Bimberi, Octy, Cradle and Kosciuszko. What is the key connection between the names? They are all mountains in Australia

Why are the Australian television awards called the "Logies"? Because the inventor of television was John Logie Baird.

It’s cooler now so this week I have travelled to Australia’s fourth largest state and I’m visiting an area which is one of the most remote in Australia. I have had to fly to Coober Pedy and then driven in a 4WD for two hours to William Creek where I’ve joined a tour to take me to this desert landscape.

Usually I could stand and see nothing but glittering salt crystals with their strange pink hue for as far as my eyes can see but, sometimes this place comes to life with hundreds of thousands of waterbirds, such as pelicans, silver gulls, red-necked avocets, banded stilts and gull-billed terns because it is a breeding site for these species. I have to be lucky though for there has to have been enough rain in the region to flood the water channels and that only happens every few years. Even though the area is the catchment for three states and the Northern Territory it has only been filled to capacity three times in the last 160 years!

Covering 11,088 square km altogether, it comprises two main areas one 64km long and 24km wide and the other 144km long and 77km wide, which, at 15.2 metres below sea level, is the lowest point in Australia. The two areas are joined by the Goyder Channel. Because it is so shallow, any water evaporates in the desert heat leaving only salt making a flat surface ideal for trying to create world land-speed records.

The place was named after the European explorer who first saw it in 1840 but its official indigenous name is Kati-Thanda.

Where am I?

Lake Eyre Kati-Thanda