Australia

The Australian is a special place,
It’s wonderful emptiness is unmatched,
A vast, unending, ancient land,
To which old spirits are attached.
 
In the centre there are places so remote,
No person, stood there before,
With flowers both delicate and beautiful,  
Amongst rocky outcrops, burnt red raw.  
 
Vast plains stretch north and west,
Where the wild dingo roams,
And underneath dark burrows,
Provide wombats with cosy homes.

Along the east coast beaches stretch,
Made of pristine white-yellow sand,
Interspersed with coastal towns and cities,
From Victoria to Queensland.
 
Along the northern coast are mangroves,
With rivers that flow and bend,
The weather is hot and humid,
Like a summer that never ends.
 
To the far west, past wide deserts,  
Is the most isolated city in the world,
A city that bakes through summer heat,
Until the Freo Doctor begins to swirl.  
 
To the south is the Great Australian Bight,
Where freezing waters meet burning lands,
And the churning waters of Bass Strait,
Divide Tasmania from mainland.
 
This island continent is so great and vast,
It cannot be defined by simple poetry,  
No mere words can capture its splendour,
To really know you must come and see.