Today is the feast day of St Peter Louis Mary Chanel, a Patron saint of Oceania. 10 things you might not know about Oceania:
What is Oceania? It’s a geographical region which includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
The Oceania region includes 14 countries: Australia, Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, as well as several territories belonging to other countries.
Seafarers from Europe explored the region in the 16th century, but the Polynesians were the first explorers and settlers. For example, Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar reached the Marshall islands in 1529, and found the islands were already inhabited by the Micronesians, who’d been there for about 3,000 years.
The name Oceania was chosen in 1831 by the French explorer Dumont d'Urville.
Oceania spans the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
It is flanked by two oceans: the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
Oceania is the smallest continent in land area and the second-least populated after Antarctica. Its estimated land area is about 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi) and the population is around 46.3 million as of 2024.
The largest island in Oceania is Australia. The largest city in the region is Sydney.
The highest mountain is Puncak Jaya in Indonesia at 4,884 m (16,024 ft).
The longest river is the Murray River.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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