Driving License in Australia

Qualifying for a Driving License in Australia:

The information provided in the following article applies to any one who plans to stay in Australia for quite a long time and needs to drive around. The information provided is only related to Class C driving licenses. For other licenses such as taxi, bus, heavy vechile, etc, please check the respective RTA websites.


Can I use my country's driving license?

Ok! For the impatient one, I will answer the most frequently asked question stated in bold. Yes you can use your country's driving licence in Australia.

If you hold a current overseas Driver's Licence of a particular class you may drive a vehicle of an equivalent class in Australia if:

• you also hold a current international driving permit
• your foreign licence is written in English or is accompanied by an English translation of the details on the licence. Translation services are provided by different state government agencies e.g. www.translate.sa.gov.au. www.crc.nsw.gov.au/interpreting/index.htm
• you are not disqualified from driving in Australia.

You are required to carry your license (and English translation if applicable) at all times when driving. You must produce the license and your temporary visa to Police on request.

If you are an international student in Australia, you can use your country's driving license for as long as you have the status of an international student. But, as the following article explains, it is in one's own interests to acquire an Australian driving license.


Why Should I get an Australian Driving License?

1. It serves as your primary identification document. Every where you go, you will be asked for your driving license e.g. credit cards, police checks, etc.
2. Most jobs involving driving require you to have a class C, also known as full driving license. Without a class C license, the insurance companies charge extra for covering you in case of an accident or emergency. Therefore, it is best to have a class C driving license.
3. Many other benefits which I cannot think of now.

How to get a class C Australian license

If you are coming from overseas, make sure you bring your home country's driving license. Your home country's driving license must be at least 3 years old at the date of application for your Australian driving license. If your home country's driving license is less then 3 years, you will not be awarded a full unrestricted driving license. Rather, you would be given a provisional license. Provisional licenses have their own restrictions like not driving over a specific speed limit etc.


Once you have your home country's driving license, just walk up to any RTA close by, and present your self at the counter. Depending upon which country you are from, you might not have to give any tests to convert your country's driving license into a full Australian driving license. You can check that list on the RTA's website.

If you are coming from the sub-continent, you will need to pass two exams before you convert your home country's full driving license into a class C Australian driving license.

The first exam is a computer based test comprising of forty MCQs related to basic concepts of driving and have familiarity with the different traffic signs used in Australia. The complete pool of MCQs can be downloaded from the RTAs website. This test costs around $40 AUD.

The second test is a practical test in which an instructor accompanies you on a short drive and tries to assess your driving skills. It is advisable to get some pre-test coaching from a qualified driving instructor who can teach you how to pass the exam. Most candidates cannot clear the practical driving test because of their lack of knowledge regarding basic driving concepts. This test costs around $43 AUD. There is a long queue for tests so waiting periods can be very long. Make sure you book your test early.

If you have any questions, let me know, and I will try to answer them for you.

About Australia

Something about Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.N4 Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east.

For around 40,000 years before European settlement commenced in the late 18th century, the Australian mainland and Tasmania were inhabited by around 250 individual nations of indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north, and European discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, the eastern half of Australia was claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in the following years; the continent was explored, and during the 19th century another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth realm. The population is just over 21.3 million, with approximately 60% concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Capital Canberra35°18′S 149°08′E / -35.3, 149.133 Largest city Sydney Official languages NoneNational language EnglishEthnic groups 92% European (English, Irish, Scottish, Greek, Italian, others), 7% Asian, 1% OtherDemonym Australian,Aussie (colloquial) Government Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, see Government of Australia - Monarch Queen Elizabeth II - Governor-General Quentin Bryce - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Independence from the United Kingdom - Constitution 1 January 1901 - Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931 - Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 9 October 1942 (with effect from 3 September 1939) - Australia Act 3 March 1986 Area - Total 7,741,220 km² (6th)2,988,902 sq mi - Water (%) 1 Population - 2008 estimate 21,468,700[4] (53rd) - 2006 census 19,855,288[5] - Density 2.6/km² (235th)6.7/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate - Total $762.887 billion[6] (17th) - Per capita $36,225[6] (14th) GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate - Total $908.990 billion[6] (15th) - Per capita $43,163[6] (16th) HDI (2007) 0.962 (high) (3rd) Currency Australian dollar (AUD) Time zone variousN3 (UTC+8 to +10.5) - Summer (DST) variousN3 (UTC+9 to +11.5) Internet TLD .au Calling code +61

Celebration of australian Day

Australia Day is the national day of Australia, and has been an official public holiday since 1994. Civic celebrations such as the Order of Australia awards are a feature of the day around the country, and parades are common. The Australia Day Achievement Medallion is awarded to citizens based on excellence in both government and non-government organisations. Air Force aerial displays are held in some capital cities, and firework displays occur each year in many Australian cities and towns. In Sydney, races are held, such as a ferry race, tall ships race and a surfing race across the harbour. Citizenship ceremonies are also commonly held on Australia Day. The Prime Minister also makes an address to the nation.
On the eve of Australia Day each year, the Prime Minister announces the winner of the Australian of the Year award, presented to an Australian citizen who has shown a "significant contribution to the Australian community and nation", and is an "inspirational role model for the Australian community". Subcategories of the award include Young and Senior Australian of the Year, and an award for Australia's Local Hero.
Various music festivals are held on Australia Day, such as the Big Day Out, the Triple J Hottest 100, and the Australia Day Live Concert. In the last ten years, a One Day International cricket match in the Australian Tri-Series has been held on Australia Day at the Adelaide Oval. Prior to that, a Test match usually started at the Adelaide Oval on Australia Day.

Australian Day

Australia Day, also known as Anniversary Day and Foundation Day, is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the unfurling of the British flag at Sydney Cove and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia.
Australia Day is an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia, and is marked by the Order of Australia and Australian of the Year awards, along with an address from the Prime Minister.
Records of the celebration of Australia Day date back to 1808, with Governor Lachlan Macquarie having held the first official celebration of Australia Day in 1818. In 2004, an estimated 7.5 million people attended Australia Day celebrations and functions across the country.
Australia Day is seen as controversial by some historians. Alongside proposals to change the date of Australia Day, there have been significant protests from the Indigenous Australian community. Many Indigenous Australians see Australia Day as a celebration of the destruction of Indigenous culture by British colonialism. Since 1988, "Invasion Day" protests have been held supporting this view. In light of these concerns, proposals to change the date of Australia Day to other dates have been made.

History Of Australian Day

History Of Australian Day

On 13 May 1787, a fleet of 11 ships, which came to be known as the First Fleet, was sent by the British Admiralty from England to Australia. Under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, the fleet sought to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay on the coast of New South Wales, which had been explored by Captain James Cook in 1770. The settlement was seen as necessary because of the loss of the colonies in North America. Captain Phillip found Botany Bay unsuitable and with two boats proceeded a short distance northwards to Port Jackson, which he declared "the finest harbour in the world". The site decided upon for the first settlement was at a location where there was a stream of potable water and some level land, unlike much of the steep and rugged foreshore. By the afternoon of 26 January 1788, all of the fleet was at anchor in or near Sydney Cove. Before sunset, the British Flag (Queen Ann)was raised in the name of George III of Great Britain.
Australia Day Picnic, Brisbane, 1908In 1808, the day was celebrated as the "First Landing" or "Foundation Day", as the colony had survived for twenty years, despite the initial hardships, deprivation and starvation suffered by the First Fleet settlers. The celebrations began at sundown on 25 January, and lasted into the night, the chief toast of the occasion being Major George Johnston. Johnston had the honour of being the first officer ashore from the First Fleet, having been carried from the landing boat on the back of convict James Ruse. Despite suffering the ill-effects of a fall from his gig on the way home to Annandale, Johnston led the officers of the New South Wales Corps in arresting Governor William Bligh on the following day, 26 January 1808, in what became known as the "Rum Rebellion".
On 26 January 1818, the 30th anniversary, Governor Lachlan Macquarie held a 30-gun salute at Dawes Point and gave government workers a holiday – a tradition that was soon followed by banks and other public offices. In 1888, all colonial capitals except Adelaide celebrated 'Anniversary Day'. In 1910, South Australia adopted Australia Day, followed by Victoria in 1931.By 1935, all states of Australia were celebrating 26 January as Australia Day (although it was still known as Anniversary Day in New South Wales).
The 150th anniversary of British settlement in Australia in 1938 was widely celebrated. Preparations began in 1936 with the formation of a Celebrations Council. In that year, New South Wales was the only state to abandon the traditional long weekend, and the annual Anniversary Day public holiday was held on the actual anniversary day – Wednesday 26 January. The Commonwealth and state governments agreed to unify the celebrations on 26 January as 'Australia Day' in 1946, although the public holiday was instead taken on the Monday closest to the actual anniversary.

Hotels in London

History

Before the 19th century there were few if any large hotels in London. British country landowners often lived in London for part of the year, but they usually rented a house if they did not own one, rather than staying in a hotel. The numbers of business visitors and foreign visitors were very small by modern standards. The accommodation available to them included lodging houses and coaching inns. Lodging houses were more like private homes with rooms to let than commercial hotels, and were often run by widows. Coaching inns served passengers from the stage coaches which were the main means of long distance passenger transport before the railway network began to develop in the 1830s. The last surviving galleried coaching inn in London is the George Inn which now belongs to the National Trust.

A few hotels on a more modern model existed by the early 19th century. For example Mivart's, the precursor of Claridge's, opened its doors in 1812, but up to the mid 19th century London hotels were generally small. In his travel book North America (1862) the novelist Anthony Trollope remarked on how much larger American hotels were than British ones. But by this time the railways had already begun to bring far more short term visitors to London, and the railway companies themselves took the lead in accommodating them by building a series of "railway hotels" near to their London termini. These buildings were seen as status symbols by the railway companies, which were the largest businesses in the country at the time, and some of them were very grand. They included:

Midland Grand Hotel at St. Pancras

• The Midland Grand Hotel at St. Pancras (closed 1935; due to reopen as a Renaissance hotel in 2009/10)
• The Great Western Hotel at Paddington (now the Hilton London Paddington and the first of Britain's railway hotels)
• The Great Northern Hotel at King's Cross (closed for High Speed 1 works and scheduled for demolition and renovation. Will then be used for offices.)
• The Great Eastern Hotel at Liverpool Street (Now the Andaz Liverpool Street)
• The Charing Cross Hotel at Charing Cross station
• The Great Central Hotel at Marylebone (now The Landmark London)
• The Grosvenor Hotel at Victoria

Many other large hotels were built in London in the Victorian period. The Langham Hotel was the largest in the city when it opened in 1865. The Savoy, perhaps London's most famous hotel, opened in 1889, the first London hotel with en-suite bathrooms to every room. Nine years later Claridge's was rebuilt in its current form. Another famous hotel, the Ritz, based on its even more celebrated namesake in Paris, opened in 1906.

The upper end of the London hotel business continued to flourish between the two World Wars, boosted by the fact that many landowning families could no longer afford to maintain a London house and therefore began to stay at hotels instead, and by an increasing number of foreign visitors, especially Americans. Famous hotels which opened their doors in this era include the Grosvenor House Hotel and the Dorchester.

The rate of hotel construction in London was fairly low in the quarter century after World War II and the famous old names retained their dominance of the top end of the market. The most notable hotel of this era was probably The London Hilton on Park Lane, a controversial concrete tower overlooking Hyde Park. Advances in air travel increased the number of overseas visitors to London from 1.6 million in 1963 to 6 million in 1974. In order to provide hotels to meet the extra demand a Hotel Development Incentive Scheme was introduced and a building boom ensued. This led to overcapacity in the London hotel market from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. Construction then picked up again, but it was soon curtailed by the recession of the early 1990s and the reduction in international travel caused by the 1991 Gulf War.

The 1980s saw London (along with New York) start the trend of smaller boutique style hotels. In the mid 1990s there was a major acceleration in the number of new hotels being opened, including hotels of many different types from country house style hotels in Victorian houses to ultra trendy minimalist hang outs. At this time some of London's grandest early 20th century office buildings were converted into hotels because their layouts, with long corridors and numerous separate offices, were incompatible with the preference for open plan working, but theirlisted status made it hard to get permission to demolish them. This period also saw the opening of the first five star hotel in London south of the River Thames, the Marriott County Hall Hotel, and the first two in East London, the Four Seasons Canary Wharf and the Marriott West India Quay, which is also close to the Canary Wharf development. For many years there were no hotels at all in the City of London even though the financial firms of the City were one of the London hotel sector's most lucrative sources of custom. But in recent years over a thousand hotel rooms have opened in the City. Budget hotel chains such as Travel Inn and Travelodge have also been expanding rapidly in London since the mid 1990s.

One of the most expensive hotels in London is The Lanesborough, part of an American company, the St Regis Group.^{[citation needed]} The building of the hotel was first a private address in the early 19th century. The building which would become the Lanesborough was then turned into St George's Hospital and remained so until the second half of the 20th Century.

Kube Hotel Paris

It's hip to be square at the Kube Hotel in Paris. With square rooms, square chairs, and an ice bar, your digital camera will be full of pictures to send to all your hip friends after your stay. From Design Hotels:

As its name suggests, the Kube hotel is dominated by one particular geometric shape in its interior design. In addition to, obviously, lots of cubes, the themes of coolness and transparency, which are emphasised throughout the public spaces are offset by the warming sense of privacy and comfort that pervades the guestrooms. The courtyard of the revamped 19th century building features a see-through cube, which contains the necessary reception facilities in a suitable way. Sashaying into the stylish bar, which serves as the heart of the hotel, you’ll find yourself transported to a rather futuristic space, complete with generously high

ceilings, lots of stainless-steel gratings, floor-to-ceiling curtains and a long counter in tarnished silver. Cubic seats and lounge chairs accented in fur set off the black glass of the walls, which are animated in turn by a whole row of plasma-screen televisions. Bars play a pivotal role in the

hotel’s concept so you’ll find the “Ice Kube” bar on the mezzanine, which sits directly above the central bar.

Hotels And Resorts In Andhra Pradesh

The New Way of Getting Pampering
Hotels of any state are the backbone of its tourism potential. A state that has world class hotels and resorts always have a big advantage over states that lack such hotels. And there are states where hotels themselves are nothing less than a tourist attraction themselves and Andhra Pradesh is definitely one of those states. With cities that hold a big position in entire countries development like Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam, one can expect the hotels in these cities to be of top notch and competing with the best in the India and even the world.
What is on offer in the many hotels in Andhra Pradesh is not something that you will get everywhere in India. The facilities provided in the luxury hotels of Andhra Pradesh are world class Not only is the facilities of top notch, the hospitality of the staff is heartwarming. People of Andhra Pradesh are known to be very down to earth and caring, and this shows in the services that are provided even in budget hotels. The hotels here are decorated according the popular choices of its guests. Right from the lobby, the attention given to even the minutest of detail will leave you spellbound. The true Andhra Pradesh culture reflects in the themes that are employed in the hotels. The well appointed room is another treat waiting for you. The facilities offered inside your room will virtually make you stay inside till the time you are in the hotel. But amenities outside are more tempting. For business travelers, range of ultra modern facilities are there that will keep you connected to all parts of the world along with large conference halls. For recreational purpose, there is swimming pools, health centers, gymnasiums, and spas that will help you lose all the travel exhaustion in an instant.
Most hotels give a huge priority to the dining facilities. Be it a low range hotel or a luxurious one, all keep a high standard of hygiene in their food. They believe that quickest way to a person's heart is through his stomach. All good hotels have reputed multi cuisine restaurants that are counted among the best in their respective cities. If you are in mood to get a hotel far away from the city chaos, try out the many beach resorts on the pristine beaches of Andhra Pradesh. Not only are they situated amidst picturesque surroundings away from the clatter, they are right up there along with top end hotels when it comes to facilities and services.
Hotels of Andhra Pradesh have all made a huge impact on the inflow of tourists to the state. They have provided the best services and care possible to their guests and have stuck to doing so for many years. Stay in any of the hotels and discover a new meaning of being pampered.

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Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.