Australians, I need your help!!

[spocktwin]

    Well not so much I need your help, my daughter needs your help.  She is 12 years old and is doing a presentation at school on the country she admires the most outside of the US.  She chose Australia!  Now she has done all the usual research and has a stuffed plush Koala Bear we bought at the zoo,,,,,yada yada yada same old things most Americans know about you folks down under.  She asked me if I knew anyone that had been there, I do not but said I travel to a board that has good folks from Australia on it.  Ok, what we would please like to have is there some kind of knowledge, legend or something that you think the average American would not know or understand about your gorgeous country.  With your permission I would like to print the response so she could include it in her report and use it in her presentation so please keep it G rated
Thanks for anything and everything you could help us with
Live Long and Prosper
Spock.

[protokatie]

No Aussies to your daughter's rescue so I will bring up some oddities:

1. The capital of OZ is Canberra, a city that every austrailian I have talked with has never gone to..

2. There is a species of ant in OZ that is one of the most venomous of any ant (or similar kind)

3. OZ is a member of the british commonwealth, and as such enjoys benefits such as travel and allowance to work in other commonwealth "nations".

Hopefully someone from OZ will reply with something better, I almost applied to get a visa to move there, but changed my mind due to several factors. (read # 2, I HATE insects!)

[shiftybill]

Hello,

Just thought id let you know a Koala is not a member of the bear family, it is a marsupial.

[nobbo]

as an Australian, I can safely say that most Australians would not want to admit that they've been to Canberra 

People only really go to Canberra for one of the following reasons:
1) you are a politician
2) you work for a Government department
3) you are on a school excursion
4) "adult media"  and fireworks

other than that there isnt much point 

then again i'm biased cause i live in Sydney.......

[protokatie]

then again i'm biased cause i live in Sydney.......

Ahh yes, the REAL capital of OZ...

I personally wonder if Canberra is actually a real place since I have NEVER EVER seen someone hail from there....

[vorghagen]

then again i'm biased cause i live in Sydney.......

Ahh yes, the REAL capital of OZ...

I personally wonder if Canberra is actually a real place since I have NEVER EVER seen someone hail from there....

You probably have met someone from Canberra, there's just no way they would admit to it. Yeah, I'm from Sydney.

- More on the dangerous wildlife front - if you look up a list of the 10 most deadly snakes/spiders on the planet, a fair chunk of them would be native to Australia.
- We would never ever say "Throw a shrimp on the barbie." We call it a prawn, not a shrimp.
- Sydney had the Olympics in 2000 and Melbourne had them in 1956.
- We love our motor racing, mostly V8 supercars. Only cars on the track are Fords & Holdens. Holden's are Australian made, but a few rebadged models show up in the US, most recently the Pontiac G8 (spy hunter commercial)
- New Zealand is next door. In war we're best mates (see ANZACs). During sport we hate each other (see Bledisloe Cup).
- Don't forget to mention Tasmania, that little island underneath the mainland. IT IS PART OF AUSTRALIA. It been left off a lot of maps I've seen and Tasmanians get touchy about it.

Anyone else care to add to that?

[danny_galaga]

some things she might focus on:

ANZAC. this has really helped define australia

Bourke & Wills. explorers.

The Ashes. a trophy for the game of cricket. i hate cricket myself, but it is certainly an important part of us.

Uluru. also known as Ayres rock. its big! (ive climbed it twice now)

[patrickl]

Uluru. also known as Ayres rock. its big! (ive climbed it twice now)

Cool. I was there but decided not to climb it. The bus driver said that 12 or 20 (forgot the exact number) people died while climbing Ayers rock.

[shiftybill]

The Australian coat of arms depicts a Kangaroo and an Emu, these two animals cant go backwards (just like us Aussies ).

[vorghagen]

The Australian coat of arms depicts a Kangaroo and an Emu, these two animals cant go backwards (just like us Aussies ).

I also seem to remember that we're the only, or one of the few, countries that EAT the animals on their coat of arms.

[patrickl]

The Australian coat of arms depicts a Kangaroo and an Emu, these two animals cant go backwards (just like us Aussies ).

I also seem to remember that we're the only, or one of the few, countries that EAT the animals on their coat of arms.

Lol yes. Although that's more because coats of arms generally have animals like lions or eagles on them or flora or even inanimate objects.

I was pretty surprised to find kangaroo's on the menu in Australia. But then there are so many of them. Maybe it's considered a pest even? I was even more surprised to find camel and crocodile meat on my plate though (ordered mixed gril). The best tasting creature was the barramundi.

The most annoying thing Australians say is "no worries mate". I guess they don't realize it, but when people constantly tell you not to worry then one really starts to worry. After a while you start thinking "Why shouldn't I worry?", "What should I not worry about?". Guess you get immune to it when you live there. Or maybe they only do it to the tourists for a bit of a laugh 

The most annoying creature is the australian fly. Don't know the official name. They don't buzz "around" your head like the regular house fly, these creatures really fly "on" your head. They seem to want to try and hide in your ears, eyes and nostrils. Seriously annoying and about impossible to kill or to scare away.

[AtomSmasher]

- More on the dangerous wildlife front - if you look up a list of the 10 most deadly snakes/spiders on the planet, a fair chunk of them would be native to Australia.

You also have the most venomous creature in the world, the box jellyfish, and the blue ring octopus is also considered one of the most venomous creatures in the world.

- We love our motor racing, mostly V8 supercars. Only cars on the track are Fords & Holdens. Holden's are Australian made, but a few rebadged models show up in the US, most recently the Pontiac G8 (spy hunter commercial)

The new camaro will also be based on Australian design.

[NiN^_^NiN]

Ned Kelly would be a great article for your little daughter he was an outlaw its a great story actually

There's the standard stuff like Aussies are laid back and have the most dangerous/venamous creatures in the world

We are also the strictist on car safety (in melbourne anyway) and also have more citys in the top 10 best places to live in the world (Melbourne use to be n.o 1 then canada took the spot we are 2 and a few other spots aswell

Also we don't have guns we never had the right to have guns unless for hunting/country stuff so that might be something worth mentioning

[danny_galaga]

forget the gun thing, this is a kids school project. ned kelly is a good call though (",)

[Fat Pierre]

First time post for this site but a subject close to heart, being an Aussie
Here are a few  pieces of trivia

1/ Ths Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932. Firstly by a bloke named DeGroot who "unofficially" opened the bridge by riding up on a horse and cutting the ribbon. He was arrested and the bridge was then officially opened

2/ There is a building in the heart of Sydney called Australia Square, the building is actually round

3/ in the past 40 something years since Australia went to the decimal system, dollars and cents, we no longer use 1 and 2 cent pieces, our smallest coin is a 5 cent piece. The original 1 and 2 dollar notes have been replaced by 1 and 2 dollar coins. the oringinal 50 cent piece was round and was replace by a larger coin with 12 sides and the original notes were made of paper but are now made of plastic

4/ The Bathurst Car racing Circuit is actually a public road and is closed off to the public for race days.

5/ The Sydney Opera House stands on land that was once a Tram( cable car) depot and was called Bennelong point (after a famous aboriginal)

6/ The pavlova, which is a muched loved Aussie desert, (a meringue base filled with cream and topped with pieces of fruit) was created for, and named after the russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who visited Australia in 1935

Hope this information is of some use to you daughter

Fat Pierre

[gavkiwi]

Burger king is known as 'Hungry Jacks' in Australia lol

[spocktwin]

 
Many thanks to all of you she is using some of the tasty bits in her presentation.  We did learn a few things and had some laughs doing so.  Again my thanks and of course hers!!!
Spock