AUSTRALIA - Australian Convict Sites

Postcard sent by Chris in a Private Swap.

Sent 10/10/2018.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1996

The property includes a selection of eleven penal sites, among the thousands established by the British Empire on Australian soil in the 18th and 19th centuries. The sites are spread across Australia, from Fremantle in Western Australia to Kingston and Arthur's Vale on Norfolk Island in the east; and from areas around Sydney in New South Wales in the north, to sites located in Tasmania in the south. Around 166,000 men, women and children were sent to Australia over 80 years between 1787 and 1868, condemned by British justice to transportation to the convict colonies. Each of the sites had a specific purpose, in terms both of punitive imprisonment and of rehabilitation through forced labour to help build the colony. The Australian Convict Sites presents the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts.

AUSTRALIA - Kakadu National Park

 Postcard sent by Gloria Dawn in a Private Swap.

Sent 29/05/2016.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1981

This unique archaeological and ethnological reserve, located in the Northern Territory, has been inhabited continuously for more than 40,000 years. The cave paintings, rock carvings and archaeological sites record the skills and way of life of the region’s inhabitants, from the hunter-gatherers of prehistoric times to the Aboriginal people still living there. It is a unique example of a complex of ecosystems, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands and plateaux, and provides a habitat for a wide range of rare or endemic species of plants and animals. The largest national park in Australia and one of the largest in the world’s tropics, Kakadu preserves the greatest variety of ecosystems on the Australian continent including extensive areas of savanna woodlands, open forest, floodplains, mangroves, tidal mudflats, coastal areas and monsoon forests. The park also has a huge diversity of flora and is one of the least impacted areas of the northern part of the Australian continent. Its spectacular scenery includes landscapes of arresting beauty, with escarpments up to 330 metres high extending in a jagged and unbroken line for hundreds of kilometres.

AUSTRALIA - Greater Blue Mountains Area

 Postcard sent by Chris in a Direct swap.

Sent 10/10/2018.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 2000

The Greater Blue Mountains Area consists of 1.03 million ha of sandstone plateaux, escarpments and gorges dominated by temperate eucalypt forest. The site, comprised of eight protected areas, is noted for its representation of the evolutionary adaptation and diversification of the eucalypts in post-Gondwana isolation on the Australian continent. Ninety-one eucalypt taxa occur within the Greater Blue Mountains Area which is also outstanding for its exceptional expression of the structural and ecological diversity of the eucalypts associated with its wide range of habitats. The site provides significant representation of Australia's biodiversity with ten percent of the vascular flora as well as significant numbers of rare or threatened species, including endemic and evolutionary relict species, such as the Wollemi pine, which have persisted in highly-restricted microsites.

Thank you so much for this card, Chris! Unfortunately one of the stamps went missing.

AUSTRALIA - Heard and McDonald Islands

Postal enviada por Helen (helent) en un UNESCO tag.

Envío - 06 de Noviembre del 2017.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1997

Heard Island and McDonald Islands are located in the Southern Ocean, approximately 1,700 km from the Antarctic continent and 4,100 km south-west of Perth. As the only volcanically active subantarctic islands they ‘open a window into the earth’, thus providing the opportunity to observe ongoing geomorphic processes and glacial dynamics. The distinctive conservation value of Heard and McDonald – one of the world’s rare pristine island ecosystems – lies in the complete absence of alien plants and animals, as well as human impact.

Las Islas Heard y McDonald están situadas en el océano Austral, a unos 1.700 kilómetros la Antártida y unos 4.100 kilómetros al sudoeste de Perth. Por ser las únicas islas subantárticas con actividad volcánica, constituyen una especie de “ventana abierta hacia el interior de la Tierra” y ofrecen la posibilidad de observar procesos geomorfológicos en evolución, así como la dinámica glaciar. Al figurar entre los contados ecosistemas insulares vírgenes del planeta, ambas islas revisten un interés especial para la conservación debido a la ausencia total de impacto humano y de plantas y animales exógenos.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/577

En un mes me han llegado dos postales con el sello en el anverso, cuando en los años que llevo recibiendo postales no he recibido ni una. La verdad es que le añade un poco de cache al anversó, pero deja el reverso un poco desplumado. En este sentido casi prefiero el sello reverso (el matado no se ve en color intenso). Igualmente la postal es preciosa!

Thanks for this beautiful card Helen ¡I love it!

AUSTRALIA - Wet Tropics of Queensland

Postal enviada por Norma (Normasaurus) a cambio del Camino de Santiago

Envío - 25 de Agosto del 2015.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1988

This area, which stretches along the north-east coast of Australia for some 450 km, is made up largely of tropical rainforests. This biotope offers a particularly extensive and varied array of plants, as well as marsupials and singing birds, along with other rare and endangered animals and plant species.

Esta región, cubierta principalmente por bosques húmedos, tropicales se extiende a lo largo de la costa nordeste de Australia. Este biotopo alberga un conjunto muy completo y variado de plantas, marsupiales y pájaros cantores (marsupiales), así como toda una serie de especies raras, vegetales y animales, en peligro de extinción.

Parece que no cabían más sellos en la postal jajaja Otro ejemplo del tipo de postal que más me gusta: Con mucha variedad de elementos y rellenada hasta los topes.

Thanks again for another cool card Norma!

AUSTRALIA - Sydney Opera House

Postal enviada por normasaurus a cambio de la Lonja de la Seda de Valencia.

Envío - 25 de Octubre del 2015.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 2007

Inaugurated in 1973, the Sydney Opera House is a great architectural work of the 20th century that brings together multiple strands of creativity and innovation in both architectural form and structural design. A great urban sculpture set in a remarkable waterscape, at the tip of a peninsula projecting into Sydney Harbour, the building has had an enduring influence on architecture. The Sydney Opera House comprises three groups of interlocking vaulted ‘shells’ which roof two main performance halls and a restaurant. These shell-structures are set upon a vast platform and are surrounded by terrace areas that function as pedestrian concourses. In 1957, when the project of the Sydney Opera House was awarded by an international jury to Danish architect Jørn Utzon, it marked a radically new approach to construction.

Inaugurada en 1973, la ópera de Sidney es una de las obras arquitectónicas más importantes del siglo XX. Su edificio es todo un compendio de múltiples corrientes creativas e innovadoras, tanto en lo que respecta a sus formas arquitectónicas como en lo referente a su diseño estructural. Asentada en un paisaje marítimo excepcional, al extremo de una península prominente que se adentra en el puerto de Sidney, esta grandiosa escultura urbana ha ejercido una influencia perdurable en la historia de la arquitectura. El edificio está compuesto por tres grupos de “valvas” abovedadas y entrelazadas que albergan las dos salas principales de espectáculos y conciertos, así como un restaurante. Esta estructura en forma de valvas se asienta en una vasta plataforma, rodeada de amplias terrazas, que cumplen la función de paseos peatonales. Fue en 1957 cuando un jurado internacional adjudicó al arquitecto danés Jørn Utzon la ejecución del proyecto, que se caracterizó por un planteamiento radicalmente nuevo de la construcción. -http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/166

Otra postal del otro polo del globo, esta vez con la archiconocida opera de Sydney (lugar que me gustaría visitar en el futuro). El reverso con unos sellos fantásticos y con unas pegatinas con los animales típicos de la zona. 

Thanks for the cards and the info norma, I didn't knew anything about the Kookabura, it was awesome!

AUSTRALIA - Macquarie Island

Postal enviada a cambio de la Ciudad de Cuenca.

Envío - 16 de Agosto del 2015.

INSCRIPTION/INSCRITO: 1980

Macquarie Island (34 km long x 5 km wide) is an oceanic island in the Southern Ocean, lying 1,500 km south-east of Tasmania and approximately halfway between Australia and the Antarctic continent. The island is the exposed crest of the undersea Macquarie Ridge, raised to its present position where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate. It is a site of major geoconservation significance, being the only place on earth where rocks from the earth’s mantle (6 km below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea-level. These unique exposures include excellent examples of pillow basalts and other extrusive rocks.

Esta isla de 34 km de largo por 5 de ancho está situada en el océano Austral, a unos 1.500 kilómetros al sudeste de Tasmania, a mitad de camino entre Australia y la Antártida. La isla es la parte emergente de la dorsal submarina de Macquarie, que se elevó en esta de zona de contacto entre la placa tectónica indoaustraliana y la del Pacífico. La conservación geológica del sitio es de suma importancia, ya que es el único lugar del planeta donde hay formaciones rocosas procedentes del manto de la Tierra, situado a seis kilómetros de profundidad bajo el lecho del océano. En esas formaciones hay ejemplares excepcionales de basalto en almohadillas y otras rocas extrusivas.
-http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/629

Una postal simpática llegada del otro lado del globo y que muestra la fauna local del lugar declarado por la UNESCO. El reverso tiene uno de los formatos más curiosos que he recibido, llenando todos los espacios ya sea con escritos, pegatinas, decoraciones y unos asombrosos sellos (el "matado no se ve, pero el relieve ha quedado marcado)!