Down Under
Australia is colloquially referred to the Down Under as the country is located in the southern hemisphere, below many other countries on the globe.
The media’s persistent usage of this term has led to its acceptance in general and the Men at Work song “Down Under” became an instantly recognizable, patriotic rallying song, while Australian boxing champion Kostya Tszyu was nicknamed “The Thunder From Down Under”.
Sydney Opera House
Conceived and mostly built by Pritzker Prize winning Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The opera house was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 28th June 2007 and is one of the most distinctive and famous performing arts centers in the world.
Sydney Opera House is home to four resident companies Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony. With its multiple performance venues and wide range of productions besides the resident companies own, the Sydney Opera House hosts over 1,500 performances each year attended by some 1.2 million people.
The expressionist design of the Opera House makes it look like shells, which are actually precast concrete panels supported on precast concrete ribs. The building spreads over 4.5 acres of land, 183m long and 120m wide, supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 metres below sea level.
The Opera House has seven venues available; the Concert Hall, the Opera Theatre, the Drama Theatre, the Playhouse, the Studio, the Utzon Room and the Forecourt.
Car rental companies in Australia include Europcar, Thrifty, Avis, and Budget.