Celebrating Australia Day

Today is Australia day. To celebrate I would like to share my A-Z of Australian things. Although far from a complete list it is  fun way to share Australia. Included in the list are:

  • Animals
  • Birds
  • Food
  • Inventions
  • Items
  • Places
  • Treasures

A: Aboriginal Art – Paintings by indigenous Australian often using a dot design.

     Anzac biscuits – Australian biscuits eaten by our troops on the shores of Gallipoli hence the name. They are made from rolled oats, golden syrup, coconut and butter.

B: Beaches – Australia is known for its sandy beaches. The most famous being Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Bondi Beach Photo Credit: Google Images

     Black Box Flight Recorder –  The black box voice and data recorder was invented in Australia.

     Beetroot – Your typical Aussie hamburger include beetroot, lettuce and tomato.

     Baby Safety Capsule – Developed in 1984 to make sure babies and small children could be safely locked into a seatbelt.

C: Cockatoo – There are 21 varieties of Cockatoos in the world and all can be found in Australia. In my area the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo is common and are often seen on the ground in groups     looking for food.

     Caramello Koalas – Small Australian chocolate bar

cadbury-giant_caramello_koala-40g_

Photo Credit: Cadbury

 

D: Dual Flush Toilet –  Toilet with two flush buttons—able to flush either a half or full load of water dependent on amount required.

     Dame Edna – Australian iconic entertainer known for her

 

     Didgeridoo – An wind instrument, invented by Aboriginals and originally found only in Northern Australia. It is  thought to be the oldest musical instrument in the world.

E: Emu – Australian flightless bird

Emu

     Esky – Portable coolers keeping food and drink cool in the Australian sun.

     Electric Drill – originally invented to drill through rock this technology was later adapted to household use.

F: Fair Dinkum – Aussie slang meaning true or fair. Used when wanting someone to believe you.

     Fridge – In 854 the first mechanical ice making machine was invented in Australia that lead to the development of the refrigerator—”fridge.”

G: Great Barrier Reef – World’s largest coral reef covering 2,300 kilometres off Queensland

Photo Credit: Google Images

 

      G’day Mate – Australian welcome

      Google Maps – 2003-4 Australian’s Lars and Jens Rasmussen developed the platform that developed into Google Maps.

H: Holden cars – Holden is an Australian automaker based in South Australia. With limited choice for cars in the early days many families had a Holden.

 I: Icy Pole – Famous Australian water ice block

Icy Pole

Photo Credit: Peters Icecream

J: Jackaroo/Jillaroo – Male and Female workers on a cattle or sheep station in Australia.

     Jumbuck – name for sheep in Waltzing Matilda.

K: Kangaroo – One of Australia’s most iconic marsupials

 

2013-12-01 14.49.38

     Koala – small bear-like herbivorous marsupial that eats gum leaves.

Photo Credit: Google Images

 

L:  Lamingtons – Spongy butter cake coated in chocolate sauce and rolled in coconut.

      Long wearing Contact Lens – Were developed by the CSIRO as the original ones couldn’t stay in day and night for long periods.

M: Melbourne Cup – “The race that stops the nation” is the richest two-mile handicap horse race in the world. Run the first Tuesday in November, it is a public holiday in Melbourne.

      Meat Pie – The meat pie is an Australian icon. Traditionally it is pastry filled with beef and gravy just big enough to fit into your hand, making it easy to eat on the go.

      Macadamia – A tree nut specific to Australia with a creamy texture.

N: Nullabor Plains – 1200 kilometre stretch of desert runs from South Australia in the east to Western Australia. Its name means no trees, just flat mostly straight road. In fact, the Nullabor holds the record for the worlds stretch of straight bitumen 146.6 kilkometres.

     New South Wales – My home state between Queensland and Victoria.

O: Opera House – Multi-purpose entertaining venue on Sydney Harbour. A white building during festivities it is changed dramatically using lights.IMG_6535

     Outback – The Outback is the large, remote, arid space that covers a Australia. Usually covered in red soil.

P: Platypus – Unique Australian mammal that looks like a cross between a duck and beaver

Credit: Gambassa

Credit: Gambassa

      Plastic Banknotes – Invented by the CSIRO, making bank notes tougher and reducing their ability to be counterfeited.

     Powerboard -Invented in 1972 allows multiple electrical devices to be powered from one electrical socket.

 

Q: Quokka – Australian macropod about the size of a cat found on Rottnest Island off Perth

Photo Credit: Google Images

Photo Credit: Google Images

      Quoll – Carnivorous Australian marsupial first seen by Captain Cook in 1770.

 

Quoll

Photo Credit: Wikipeadia

      Queensland– Australian state north of New south Wales.

R: Rotary Clothes Hoist – Clothes line that raises and lowers as well as swings around in the wind.

      Rottnest Island – 18 kilometres off Perth, it is home to Quokkas, pristine beaches and world-class surf.

S: Sydney Harbour Bridge – The world’s largest steel arch bridge and connects Sydney to the north shore. I travel across it everyday on my way to work and never tire of the sight.

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      Surf Life Savers – Australians classics that keep our beaches safe by rescuing swimmers in difficulty

Photo Credit: Google Images

Photo Credit: Google Images

       Surf Ski – Australian invention to assist in saving lives see above photo

       Speedos – Australian men’s swimmers—sometimes colloquially referred to as “budgie smugglers.”

      Splayd – Australian invention that combines the spoon fork and knife

T: Tim Tams – Iconic Arnott’s biscuits that involves two layers of chocolate biscuits joined together with chocolate cream and covered in chocolate.

U: Ugg Boots  Unisex sheep skin boot with fleece on the inside.

      Uluru  Also known as Ayers Rock is a large sandstone rock in the Northern Territory.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Photo Credit: Google Images

      Ultrasounds – Invented in Australia through work with the Department of Health.

V: Vegemite – Sandwich spread most Australians won’t travel without and most of the rest of the world try but find it very bitter. Below is the original ad that explains alot.

 

 

       Victoria – Southern State of Australia on the East Coast—Capital is Melbourne.

W: Wiggles – The original Wiggles —children’s entertainers—are Australian.

Photo Credit: Wiggles

Photo Credit: Wiggles

      Wine casks – Wine casks are an Australian invention to carry large amounts of wine in a plastic bladder with a simple pouring spout

      Wi-Fi Hotspots – Wi Fi technology was invented in Australia through research at the CSIRO.

X: XXXX Beer – Famous brand of Queensland beer

Y: Yackandandah – Small tourist town near the New South Wales and Victorian border

Z: Zeehan – Former silver and gold mining town in Tasmania

 

 

 

27 thoughts on “Celebrating Australia Day

  1. Happy Holiday
    And I apologize somewhere down the line missed following. So many things to keep track. I think there has been more cursing with screw ups here and there. Awesome blog. 🙂

  2. Well done; it would have taken quite some time to put that together; i have spent a great deal of time traveling around Australia in my early days; you did a great justice to our country. I now live in Thailand but spend about 4 months a year tour-guiding in Kakadu National Park; N.T. ; driving boats on the rivers up there. Another thing that is quite weird; your rainbow photo; i had an exact same photo that i took while traveling south along the Hume highway once in N S W; i can not remember how long ago but it was quite some time; i did not have a laptop at the time; just a desktop. Somewhere along the way i lost the photo; but i had a big blowup of it stuck on the side of my filing cabinet for years. Anyway great blog and look forward to seeing some more. LOL Murray

    • Yes I is my longest ever post and it took many hours to put together but I am pleased with the result. I think I will add to it each Australia Day. I haven’t been to Kakadu yet but I look forward to getting there one day. Thanks it was a pleasure to do.

  3. Thanks for the reminders! I’m the only Aussie on my patch and am still trying to educate my friends on the unique properties of Vegemite. Made some Anzac biscuits to share in the staff room at break today, – wouldn’t mind a laming ton, or a four’n’twenty pie. It’s great the way the emphasis of Australia Day seems to be changing. Best book on our colonial history: The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes.

    • I haven’t read it but I hear it is good. Most non Australians love Anzac biscuits but not Vegemite but it is fun watching their reaction. First thing we did on return form Canada was to have a meat pie and we were only there six weeks. Sometimes it is the fact that you can’t have one that makes you want one more. Happy Australia Day.

  4. Happy Australia Day! Love your list! Very informative and always love pics of Koalas and kangaroos. Was interesting to see the pics of your other creatures too. My girls liked the Wiggles when they were little. Have had MANY ultrasounds in my life, never knew it was invented in Australia.

  5. This is spectacular! Thank you so much for this wonderful post. There are so many things to learn, aren’t there?! How could anyone ever be bored!?

  6. Didn’t know there was an Australian Day but we have Canada Day, so why not? I really enjoyed the A-Z post besides I learned a lot from reading it. Thank you.

  7. This was so fun to read, great work! I’m an American and haven’t been there, but my husband lived in Australia for a few years some time back, and I can’t wait to share this with him over Facebook. Looking forward to more of your posts!

    • Thank you Australia has many unique qualities, people, places and inventions that I am enjoying sharing on Inspiring Max and the research is fun for me too!
      Glad you enjoyed it.

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