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Hobart is the state capital of Tasmania, Australia's island state, and has a mild, temperate, maritime climate with four distinct seasons. Being in the southern hemisphere, summer is December to February.

Australia has about 800 species of bird, ranging from the tiny 8 cm Weebill to the huge, flightless Emu.

Today's Australian cuisine is some of the most diverse available anywhere, due to the many cultural influences. Modern Australian cuisine has been heavily influenced by the country's South East Asian neighbours, and by the many waves of immigrants from there, and all parts of the world. Similarly, Greek, Lebanese and Italian influences are common. Fresh produce is readily available and thus used extensively, and the trend (urged by long-term government health initiatives) is towards low-salt, low-fat healthy cookery incorporating lean meat and lightly cooked, colourful, steamed or stir-fried vegetables.

Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory, and is a city of 109,419 people (2001 census) on Australia's far north-western coastline. Darwin is reputed to suffer more lightning-strikes than any other inhabited place in the world. It is also home to the Territory's only university, Charles Darwin University.

The cinema of Australia has a long history—in fact, it is claimed that the first feature-length film, was actually an Australian production, The Story of the Kelly Gang. During the late 1960s and 1970s in influx of government funding saw the development of a new generation of directors and actors telling distinctively Australian stories.

Adelaide hosted the Formula 1 Grand Prix from 1985 on 1995 on a street circuit in the city's eastern parklands. The Formula 1 Grand Prix became a source of pride and losing the Grand Prix to arch-rival Melbourne under questionable circumstances left a void that has since been filled for the most part with the highly successful Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race event, held on a modified version of the same circuit.

Australia has had a significant school of painting since the early days of European settlement, and Australians with international reputations include Sidney Nolan, Russell Drysdale, and Arthur Boyd—not to mention the prized work of many Aboriginal artists. There are excellent art galleries (even in surprisingly small towns); a rich tradition in ballet, enlivened by the legacy of Dame Margot Fonteyn and Sir Robert Helpmann; a strong national opera company, Opera Australia, made prominent by the world renowned diva Dame Joan Sutherland; and symphony orchestras in all capital cities, in particular the Melbourne and Sydney symphony orchestras. In ths field, conductor Sir Charles Mackerras has achieved international renown.

Politicians in Australia, or "pollies", be they at state or federal level, are universally disliked and distrusted. Ironically, the failure of the 1999 referendum on becoming a republic was arguably more about the prospect of a President chosen by and from the "pollies", than about any vestigial loyalty to the British monarchy.

The 1980s is regarded as perhaps a golden age of Australian cinema, with many wildly successful films, from the dark science fiction of Mad Max to the blatantly commercial Aussie-bloke fantasy of Crocodile Dundee, a film that defined Australia in the eyes of many foreigners despite having remarkably little to do with the lifestyle of most Australians. The indigenous film industry continues to produce a reasonable number of films each year, also many US producers have moved productions to Australian studios as they discover a pool of professional talent well below US costs. Notable productions include The Matrix and the Star Wars episodes II and III.