Australia - Overview of Australia + Australians - A glimpse, a taste, a little music with the wine and the first memory

I came from the Dreamtime

From the dusty

Red soil plains

I am the ancient heart

The keeper of the flame

I stood upon the rocky shore

I watched the tall ships come

For 40,000 years I've been

The first Australian

We are one

But we are many

And from all

The lands on earth we come

We share our dream

And sing with one voice

I am

You are

We are Australian

Albert Namatjira (1902-1959), who is mentioned in the song, painted in the early 20th century. He was the first indigenous artist to follow Western traditions. In 1938, Namatjira's first solo exhibition of 41 works was held in Melbourne. In 1957, he was given citizenship, a status generally denied Aboriginals at the time.

An Albert Namatjira website has been created by the Australian government.

Details about koalas Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary has been operating since 1927. This is the world's first and largest koala sanctuary. It is just under an hour's drive west from the Gold Coast in Queensland.

Once upon a long long time ago

There was

"terra australis incognita"

An unknown land

Somewhere far south

Beyond the horizon

Travellers of the oceans

Often wandered by

Seeking precious spices

In mystical lands

Or dabbled in

The tropical island beauty

Of noble savages

Gauguin painted

The bright colours

And scents

Of Pacific islands

But

Somehow

Somehow

The isand of Australia was

A Clayton's world

A place

But not really

A Place!

There came a time

When sails

Huge and billowing on the horizon

But folded

Waiting

In the shoreline surf

Brought strange whiteness

Into

Never-Never-Land

Wandering

Exploring

Settling

Ploughing

Building

And the dark ones

Watched

Lost

In questions

Details about kangaroos There are more than 60 species of kangaroo. Some kangaroos actually live in trees and some of the smallest varieties build nests.While most are native to Australia only, some are native to New Guinea, an island north of Australia.

Details about echidnas Echidnas can be found from the rainforests of Queensland in the north, right down the east coast of Australia to the cooler climates of Tasmania. They are related to the platypus. Both have spurs, but the echidna's spurs lack venom.

There came a time

After long time

When two flags

One

Stars

On a blue sea

With just a hint

Of some

Far motherland

In a quiet corner

The other

A golden

Ball of light

Glowing

On a red

And black

Earth

Finally

Tried to share

The Australian spirit

Like huge

Billowing sails

On new

Horizons

Of Oneness

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've been to cities that never close down,

from New York to Rio and old London town,

but no matter how far or how wide I roam,

I still call Australia home.

I'm always travelIing, I love being free,

and so I keep leaving the sun and the sea,

but my heart lies waiting over the foam,

I still call Australia home.

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world,

away from their family and friends,

but as the world gets older and colder,

it's good to know where your journey ends.

Someday we'll all be together once more,

when all of the ships come back to the shore,

And I realise something I've always known,

I still call Australia home.

but no matter how far or wide I roam,

I still call Australia I still call Australia, I still call Australia home.

"Great Southern Land" - Icehouse - 1989 - haunting echoes

"Tropical Love Land" - ABBA - March 1976 in Australia - reggae

Railway Folklore and Songs - explanation + songs - kinda funny

Tommy Emmanuel - guitarist performs the traditionals - "Road to Gundagai" and "Waltzing Matilda" - Fantastic guitarist!

Peter Allen's "I Still Call Australia Home" - performed by the Outback Singers - includes famous Australian faces

PLUS

Damien Leith - Australia Day citizenship ceremony in Tenterfield, on the Tablelands in northern NSW - 26.01.07 + he sings "Tenterfield Saddler". Tenterfield was the birthplace of Peter Allen. And "Tenterfield Saddler" is another of Peter Allen's songs.

Hear the recitation of "I Love a Sunburnt Country".

The poem is by a famous Australian, Dorothea Mackellar. It was written in 1906 and published 1908.

The most famous verse is:

"I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of drought and flooding rains,

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me."

Brissy - or Bris Vegas - colloquial for Brisbane, capital of Queensland

Bush - anywhere outside the city

Bush Telegraph - word of mouth or "grapevine"

Croweater - anyone from South Australia

Digger - Australian soldier especially from WWI - "old digger"

the Gabba - Queensland cricket ground at Woolloongabb

lingo - language

Jeff's Shed - "Jeff" is a reference to Jeff Kennett, former premier of Victoria. And the shed is the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre

Lucky Country - nickname for Australia

Mexicans - nickname for people from Melbourne (refers to being south of the border of NSW)

Ocker - nickname for an Australian, but mainly refers to particular language uses.

Oz - nickname for Australia

Sandgroper - anyone from Western Australia

Stubbies - men's shorts OR compact bottles of beer

True blue - generally "the real" or"dinky die" Australian

Vegemite - our beloved yeast spread, often used on bread or toast for breakfast

N.B. Kangaroo, koala, kookaburra, galah, quokka, wombat and boomerang are all words with Aboriginal origins.

For more details of English words with Aboriginal origins see this extensive list.

Here is a sample of some lingo in action + translation

G'day Mate (or buddy),

Well, what a beaut site you have here it's a real bonza! Pop over and throw a few snags & chops on the barbie, knock a few coldies down, bring the softies (or fizzy stuff) for the ankle biters, plonk your butt and have a natter (or yarn), it will be a ripper of a day....

You li'le beauty...

See ya mate

Translation:

Hello friend,

Well you have a really great site ( or home) and it's terrific. Come on over and toss a few sausages and lamb chops on the BBQ, have a few cold beers, (or wines or any alcohol), bring the pop (or fizzy drink or soft drink) for the children, sit down and have a great chat....it will be a great day (or the best of days),

You are a terrific friend,

Will talk again with you,friend

Source: adapted from History of Australia Day

Perhaps, in over 200 years of settlement, you may be feeling there must be a whole lot more than a first wave. Ah! But I am thinking of a HUGE wave; the kind you would find on the wild west coast of Tasmania; the kind that has been gathering momentum for thousands of time and space dimensions, and now impacts with mighty force against a towering, craggy cliff! Now THAT is wave, loaded with mini memories and lifetimes that finally collide with other worlds. That wave is Australia.

Australia is no longer just "terra australis incognita". She is a voice behind the microphone, on stage. And she is beginning to sing sweetly.