Interesting things I learn on a daily basis

In a discussion with Slick in past week or so, I confessed that I am worried that while we are in Ukraine, I may struggle to find continually interesting topics on which to post. OK...so this may not be a change from the current state of affairs but I still hope to increase my readership while we're overseas through stimulating writing. It was with this in mind that an epiphany hit me this morning.



What is my most redeeming conversation skill?



Clearly it must be the recitation of irrelevant but nonetheless interesting facts - generally about history. Why not translate this into short, sweet blog posts?



So, here is the first of many installments in my new alphabetical "Fact of the day" (which is not synonymous with "A fact a Day") category...





A is for Australia:






I must confess that Australia is a country about which I seldom think, at least until Mike loaned me a book called "In a Sunburned Country" by the fantastically funny Bill Bryson. It is essentially based up on the same premise I just stated...Australia is a fascinating country about which we know virtually nothing. If you'd like to remedy that, check out Bryson's book but I will convey some of my favorite random facts from his book:

1. In 1605 Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, a Portuguese explorer for the Spanish crown, endeavoured to find and claim the mythical southern continent for Spain and the Church. He left the Peruvian coastal city of Callao with 3 ships, one piloted by Spaniard Luis Vaez de Torres. Though successful in crossing the South Pacific (Torres' ship was the only one that completed the voyage), our friend Luis managed a miraculously unlucky threading of the needle. You see, after sailing over 9000 linear miles he was able to miss the 2500 miles of his target continent's eastern coastline, instead sailing obliviously through the now aptly-named Torres Strait between Australia and what is now Papua New Guinea - a mere 80 miles wide.


2. Though the interior of Australia - including the fabled Outback - is some of the least hospitable land on the planet, flora and fauna from elsewhere seem to love it. Today the desert-like interior is growing, encroaching on the natural grassland due to the ever increasing population of rabbits. The non-native animal was introduced to be hunted and proceeded to breed like...anyway...they have no natural predator on a continent of deadly predators. They continue to decimate the plant life, thereby turning plains into desert. Another example is the prickly pear cactus. Never a part of the Australian landscape, it arrived along with other seeds intended for cultivation. Now there are fields of cactus that nothing eats and nothing can kill - individual plants that span acres.

So that is Australia. I hope to make these more interesting when I have more than a lunch break to write.