A Difference In Cultures

hi robbie

some things about australia

1) we have 6 states and 3 terriotries (5 states and 2 terriotries on the main land then 6th state tassie and some islands of shore are classed as a terriotry)

2) the largest state is western australia then queensland then south australia then new sout walses then victoria and lastly little old tassie(tasmainia) please excuse the spelling

3) the northern terriotry is the largest then we have the ACT(australian capital terriotry) this is where parliment sits

4) our main exports are borxite, coal there are more but can't recall them at this time

5) we have 5 parties down here labour, national and liberial (they form a colalition) , demecrates and the greens

6) we have 2 levels of government senate( the red office) and house of reps( the green office) the second one is where john howard and the rest go.

7) we have a national soccer league, a game called AFL its a bit like galic football but played with an egg shaped ball( i call this game airal ping pong) then we have rubgy league then we have rubgy union.

monday to friday is a working week for office jollies 9-5 others could work any time durning the day

9) shops are open all week some places shops are open till midnight every day most places till 9 mon -fir and till 6 weekends

10) biggest soaps for australia are neighbours and home and away every night except over the 6 weeks of christmas sometimes longer about 2 months

11) education is p-12 which is preschool aged 4 yrs grade 1 when you are five but only if you have your 5th birthday before the 1st of january in not you start school when you are 6 most places it is P -7 (4-12 allowing for the delay in starting because of birth dates) this is the primary side then high is grades 8-12 (12,13 - 17,18) the school that my son attends is a P-12 school where they go from preschool to year 12 on the one campus the school is split into junior A, junior B, middle school and senior school

hope this gets you interested will post more later

cheers smokey

Hi Smokey

We also have Neighbours and Home and Away shown nightly about 5-30 every night except Saturdays and Sundays.

With football coming to an end we are entering summer and cricket and as I live in Hampshire if you know cricket at all, the captain of Hampshire this season is a certain gentleman named Shane Warne

Today 23 April is St George's day St george is the patron saint of England but nobody in the country is all that fussed generally. There are four patron saints in Britain all together. St Patrick - Ireland, St David - Wales, St Andrew - Scotland
and ours

The Scots, Irish and Welsh are fanatical about their saints, and in New York even the Americans help the Irish celebrate their saints day.

Incidentally William Shakespeare was born and died on April 23rd - For someone who only lived for one day he sure wrote a lot of plays.

Best Regards

Arthur

hi arthur

i know about the cricket team but to say the least i don't have much time for them and in reguards shane warne 1. he should have never made it back into the national squad until he had proven his worth playing at first club level then at state level after all he was banned for a year for taking drugs. 2. better lock up your ladies before he gets there as he doesn't seem to be able to keep it in his pants if you know what i mean.

they make a big fuss about st pats day down here as well but some people just don't give too hoots we all go for st jude the saint for lost causes .

now for some other interesting facts about australia

did you know that where sydney is was not the first place picked for the first settlement in australia it was a place called botonay bay but the mozzies where in plauge sizes so the settlement was moved to sydney harbour to a place called the rocks.

tassie was first settled as a pennal settlement for the most troublesome convicts as they thought that the land down there would tame them some it did others it did not

we have had some bushrangers the best known is ned kelly, he was of irish stock they lived in victoria, ned and what was left of his gang was captured in a place called glenn innes in the northern part of victoria. there is some dispute about whether or not it was ned who was hang in pentridge or his brother dan it is rummered that ned kelly escaped and moved to queensland and is buried in ipswich.

will tell you more when i can remember some more or if you are interested

cheers smokey

Hi Smokey,

The first fleet to Australia left from Portsmouth in whenever I can't remember I think Sir Sidney Smith led it, hence Sidney.

In the 80's they had a Bi centennial celebration and a replica fleet left Portsmouth to recreate the original. In one of our precients there is a model ship Sirus, and down at sallyport there is a statue of two chains unveiled by the Queen commemorating the event.

Have you ever seen the film Botony Bay satrring Alan Ladd, James Mason and Patricia Roc. Its supposed to tell the story.

Regards

Arthur

hi arthur

the first fleet came down under in if i remember right 1880 and no i have never seen that movie but when i was at school many moons ago we had on the abc for schools a programme that told us all about the first fleet and all the troubles they had with making the settlement and such.

i remember the reinactment of the first fleet and all the tall ships going into sydney harbour which was not really right but who cares it was a sight to see it was telecast on all the tv channels. it was a fantasic sight to see them all come through the heads and sail under the bridge.

we have a large boat race here that sets off from sydney on boxing day and they sail down to hobart you may have seen it at some time a couple of years ago they had a bad storm hit the fleet and men were lost at sea and some of the boats where sunk from the bad seas.

after world expo 88 which was held in brisbane a lot of aussies became proud to know that they where from convict stock as at one of the places there they had a list of all those that where shipped out and what their crimes where. couldn't believe that some of them were set down under for stealing a loaf of bread and that they were so young some of them where only children.

if i remember my history right most of all of the convict ships departed from portsmouth.

cheers smokey

A fascinating and well-researched history of Australia's founding is "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes, which was published in 1986. Mr. Hughes was born and educated in Sydney.

According to Mr. Hughes, most Australian historians before 1960, apparently out of a sense of shame, tried to ignore the fact that most original Australians got their start as convict exiles from England.

From what I've read, King George III's Great Britain dealt savagely with even very minor lawbreakers, especially those of the lower classes, and if they didn't end up on the gallows, usually ended up on a convict ship bound for Australia. According to the book, the first shipment of convicts consisted of 548 males and 188 females in a fleet of eleven ships under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip in flagship Sirius. They sailed into Port Jackson or, as it would presently be called, Sydney Harbor, on the afternoon of 26 January, 1788.

hi stumpy

after reading what you wrote i remembered what we were taught in school, yes the first fleet was taken out by phillip but it was not to port jackson they first landed in botnany bay thats where the song "bound for botnany bay " comes from. but as i said earlier it was inhabitated by mozzies so they moved to port jackson. the number of convicts is correct some of the officers also bought their families along. yes most aussies were ashamed to be from convict blood but as i said this all changed in 1988 when we had world expo then it became the in thing to have come from the first shipment of convicts. it is from these orgins that the term P.O.M. came from.

would you believe that this book is hard to find down under and even harder to get out at the library.

cheers smokey

hi arthur

just some things that i have just found out
1. captian arthur phillip was the one who bought out the first fleet and he was the governor of NSW from 1788-1792

2 sydney was named after baron sydney of chislehurst, britsh home secretary and was named a city in 1842

3. hobart is the second oldest city in australia

4. 7 horses where bought with the first fleet

5. the first fleet landed in sydney cove ( stumpy you knew more that i did )

6. in 1656 dutch seamen landed on western australia's 'rottnest island', it was called this after the short tailed wallabies that the seamen mistook for rats and tthe island's name was first off "ratsnest island"

7. william dampier was the first englishman to land in australia

8 australia switched to decimal currency in 1966

9 the last convicts were deported to australia in 1868

10 william gosse was the first white man to ascend ayers rock in 1883

11 ayers rock ( uluru) is the largest monolithic rock in the world and was named after sir henry ayers a premier os south australia

12 alice springs is the largest town in central australia and is the geographical centre of australia and is situated on the todd river in the macdonald ranges in the northern territory

13 fraser island is the largest sand island in the world and lies of the coast of queensland.

14 QANTAS stands for Queensland And the Northern Territory Aerial Service

cheers smokey

Hi Smokey

Thanks for that A couple of months ago our local paper ran a big article on Sir Henry Ayres apparently he had connections with Portsmouth either he was born here or lived here I can't remember. I go on at times about this city of mine but its amazing the people who came from it from time to time who made their mark in other countries.

Stumpy was saying about the harshness of George 111 reign. Before Australia was discovered we used to send our convicts to Jamaca and the West Indies. Around the time of James 11 and the Monmouth Rebellion if Judge Jeffries didn't hang em then they were transported and once in the West ndies most of them would de from Yellow Fever and other exotic diseases.

For a flavour of those times watch Errol Flynn in Captain Blood.

Regards

Arthur

Quote

Originally posted by arthurarnell@Apr 27 2004, 02:33 AM
For a flavour of those times watch Errol Flynn in Captain Blood.

Ahhhh, Errol, the Tasmanian devil. Nobody could swash a buckle like Errol.

Thank goodness they finally released "The Adventures of Robin Hood" on DVD a few months ago. Now if they'd just get around to releasing some of his other early films like "Captain Blood", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex", "They Died With Their Boots On" and "The Sea Hawk", life would be perfect. Or at least better.

Quote

Originally posted by smokey@Apr 26 2004, 08:07 AM
would you believe that this book is hard to find down under and even harder to get out at the library.

I highly recommend that book, Smokey. It's very readable. Can't believe your libraries don't have it.

BTW, I'm guessing that the term "mozzie" you use is a colloquialism for the aborigines. Am I correct?

hi stumpy

mozzies is short for mosquitoes, some of the aboriginies call themselves "corries" , they also call themselves "black fellows" ,most often not they are called "abo's" that is what white man calls them it is not down putting it is just short for aboriginies.

the book is in the library but you have to be put on a waiting list and you have to wait for your name to come to the top of the list, most of the people who borrow it are students.

just thought that you would all like to see some aboriginal words and what they mean in english

Wagga Wagga - many crows (is also a name of a town in nsw)
whyalla - deep water
maralinga - thunder
murrumbidgee - big water
canberra - meeting place
oodnadatta - blossom of the mulga
nullabor - no trees
korrumburra - blow fly
kangarooing - hunting for kangaroo
oompi - native hut ( know also as humpy)
wool-man - old man
nulla nulla - war club
coolibah - the tree

something else i have just found out

the oldest surviving piece of australian film covered the 1896 melbourne cup, this is a horse race

cheers smokey

Quote

Originally posted by smokey@Apr 27 2004, 07:52 AM
Wagga Wagga - many crows (is also a name of a town in nsw)

canberra - meeting place

nullabor - no trees

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Thanks for all the interesting information about your homeland, Smokey.

I know Canberra is your national capital but isn't there also a geographical location in Australia called Nullabor? Seems to me I've seen that name on a map of Australia.

Quote

Originally posted by Stumpy@Apr 25 2004, 12:51 PM
A fascinating and well-researched history of Australia's founding is "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes, which was published in 1986. Mr. Hughes was born and educated in Sydney.

Quote

Originally posted by smokey@ Apr 26 2004@ 06:07 AM
would you believe that this book is hard to find down under and even harder to get out at the library.

Hey, guys and gals, that book is available quite inexpensively from Amazon Books, if you buy a used copy.

With all this talk about the land down under, Amazon may experience a run on that title !

Mrs. Chester

Hi Stumpy

I agree with your choice. The Sea Hawk is one of my favourite pictures as is Robin Hood and They Died With Their Boots On. Apparently I believe Errol Flynn and Bette Davis were going to be the original choice for Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara if Columbia had made Gone With the Wind.

Flynn also worked for a time in repertory in Northampton which is a town in the Midlands, after he left Tasmania

How about a Flynn John Wayne and David Niven trio in Sergeants Three or Gungha Din.

Regards

Arthur

hi stumpy

your right you have heard of the nullarbor that is the bit of australia which is inbetween adelaide and perth it is quite flat and has no trees to speak of on it you can get a train that will take you across the nullarbor i think its a day and night ride but dont quote me on that will ahve to find out and get back to you. you can now ride a train from adelaide to darwin you ride on the ghan this train was named after the afgans who came to australia 1840 when they bought some camels out here to service the arid interior of australia they where used to deliver all goods and post till the truck came in and was reliable.

mrs c amazon does'nt deliever down under so will ahve to wait my turn will try another library and see if i can get it there.

oh and stumpy just so that you know queensland was the first state to adopt compulsory voting

you all know about the opera house in sydney well it was built between 1952 - 1973 nad the harbour bridge was opened on march 9 1932 it took 9 yrs to build, it is also called the caothanger has 8 lanes across it and you pay a toll to use it i also think there is a train line across it as well.

i have found out that the largest pastoral property in australia is in the northern territory covering 16296 square kilometers.

oh and something else did you know that a didgerydoo is about 4-5 feet long

cheers smokey

Quote

Originally posted by smokey@Apr 27 2004, 10:24 AM
mrs c amazon does'nt deliever down under so will ahve to wait my turn will try another library and see if i can get it there.

smokey,

If you want one, I'll buy one and I'll ship it to you. I have no aversion to sending a package to Australia !

Mrs. Chester

hi one and all

if you want to know some slang words from australia just let me know and i will list some

cheers smokey

I just wanted to say that it's extremely heartening to discover that in this wicked old world, with its' difference in cultures, there are lots of us who share the same staid, traditional values. Maybe there's hope for us yet.