Flinders Street Station. Melbourne tourist attractions.

Old Melbourne, new Melbourne

One thing I love about Melbourne is the blend the old and the new, its historical architecture alongside or even inside contemporary structures. Melbourne was founded in 1835, more than 250 years after the first Spanish mission was constructed in Miami. You don’t see many old buildings in Miami. There are some notable exceptions particularly …

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The islands of Australia

Did you know that Australia has more than 8,000 islands? Most people probably only think of the main continent and perhaps Tasmania. Some of Australia’s islands are just off the coast, in bays, and have small towns, shipyards, or are wildlife areas. Many are uninhabited. Let’s look at a few islands of Australia. Tasmania is the …

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Female koala and joey for fun facts about Australia.

12 fun facts about Australia

Here are 12 fun facts about Australia that you probably didn’t know. Well, unless you’re Australian. There are about a million feral camels in central parts of Australia. Because Sydney and Melbourne couldn’t stop bickering over which city should be the capital of Australia, neither of them received the title. Instead, a new capital was …

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A U.S. Marine helps a child off one of the refugee boats during the Mariel Boatlift in 1980.

Anniversary of the Mariel boatlift

It’s the anniversary of the Mariel boatlift. On a day like today, 20 May 1980, my family arrived in the United States. Between April and September 1980, 125,000 Cubans arrived in Florida from the port of El Mariel, in a dramatic boatlift that had long-standing repercussions for the United States and for Castro’s image. It …

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An open atlas with other books and a cup of tea. Expats and immigrants.

Expats and immigrants

Expats and immigrants. What’s the difference? Lately I’ve been reading expat blogs. That is, blogs by Americans living in Australia. I enjoy reading about their discoveries in Australia and learn from their experiences on moving and living there. I’ve been thinking about this word “expat”, what that means, and how that’s different from “immigrant”. My …

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Airplane wing in flight.

Coming home: flying Qantas

I have a confession: I didn’t really want to come home. Not yet anyway. I am glad to be home. I have a good relationship with my family and I enjoy spending time with them. I missed my coven and other friends. I like Melbourne and I loved being with there with my beau. Three months …

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