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CRACK open a tinnie, throw another shrimp on the barbie
and kick back and relax because today is Australia Day!
26th January
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Did you know the name for the Australian marsupial
Kangaroo came about when some of the first settlers saw this
strange animal hopping along and they asked the Aborigines
what it was called.
Don’t forget, the country is also the world’s largest
exporter of sheep and boasts countless TV gems such as Prisoner
Cell Block H, Flying Doctors, Neighbours and Home and Away.
Australians come together as a nation to celebrate Australia
and being Australian. In communities across the nation, Australians
take to the streets, parks and backyards to celebrate all
the great things about our country - for example, our people,
land, diversity, sense of a fair go, lifestyle, democracy
and the freedoms we all enjoy. |
Australian Facts |
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- In 1838
it was declared illegal to swim at public beaches during the day!
This law was enforced until 1902.
- It has
been reported that the first European settlers in Australia drank
more alcohol per head of population than any other community in
the history of mankind.
- Per
capita, Australians read more newspapers than any other nation.
- For
each person in Australia there are two sheep and over 16 rabbits.
- The
capital of Australia is actually Canberra, not Sydney.
- Australia
is the world's largest exporter of sheep, wool, diamonds and lead.
- The
Purple-neck Rock Wallaby secretes a dye that transforms its face
and neck into colours ranging from light pink to bright purple.
- Waltzing
Matilda, the title of Australia's most famous song, is German
for "carrying a backpack".
- Green
and gold were proclaimed Australia’s national colours by
the Governor-General on 19 April 1984
- The
golden wattle, Acacia pycnantha Benth, was proclaimed the official
national floral emblem in August 1988.
Famous Aussies
Pop sensations like Kylie
and Dannii Minogue,
Holly Valance
and supermodel Elle McPherson have all made their mark on these
shores. Famous Aussie Sports stars include Evonne
Goolagong Cawley, Sir
Donald Bradman. Olivia
Newton John made herself famous for singing
in the 70's plus her starring role in Grease. Dame Joan Sutherland
is one of the world's greatest opera singers, and some experts
consider
her the best soprano of the twentieth century. Professor Fred Hollows
was an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) who helped thousands of Aboriginal
Australians. Robert Gordon Menzies was Australia's longest serving
prime minister, keeping
the top job for seventeen years.
Strewth Cricky - Stephen Robert
Irwin (February 22, 1962 – September 4, 2006), nicknamed "The
Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian conservationist and television
personality. He achieved world-wide fame from the television program
'The Crocodile Hunter', an internationally-broadcast wildlife documentary
series co-hosted with his wife Terri Irwin. On September 4, 2006,
Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray spine whilst
snorkelling at the Great
Barrier Reef, at Batt Reef, which is located off the coast of Port
Douglas in Queensland. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary,
to be called The Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming.
Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water
shots for a segment in the television program his daughter Bindi
was hosting, when, according to his friend and colleague,
John Stainton, he swam too close to one of the stingrays. "He
came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and
into
his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who
was on board Irwin's boat the Croc One.
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