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Facts and FAQs

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Facts

About Australia
Australia was originally inhabited by the indigenous peoples or ‘aborigines’ for at least 60,000 years. Aboriginal culture is based on strong spiritual ties that link them inexorably to the ancient land – a gift from the creator of the Dreamtime. Europeans came to the county primarily from England in the 1700s as convicts, criminals and free settlers.

The nation has two land masses – mainland Australia and Tasmania – covering an area of 7,682,300 km². There are six states and two territories, and a population of about 19.2 million people. Australia is part of the Commonwealth, and the national anthem is ‘Advance Australia Fair’. The name ‘Australia’ is derived from ‘Terra australis incognita’ (the unknown southern land), and the country is also known as ‘land down under’ and ‘great southern land’.

Australia is one of the driest continents on earth. Because of its insular position and lack of natural features such as high mountain ranges, there are generally no great extremes of climate. The southern areas are more temperate, although subject to wide variations such as high rainfall, great heat, and irregular flooding and drought.

About New Zealand
New Zealand was settled by people from the Pacific who set their course by the stars in search of new lands. They are Maori, the tangata whenua (people of the land) who saw the bush-clad hills shrouded in mist and named the place Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud.

European explorers made landfall in the 17th and 18th centuries, keen to exploit the bounteous resources. In 1840, Maori chiefs signed an agreement that secured them the protection of the British Queen and guaranteed them undisturbed rights to their land, forests and fisheries. Under the landmark Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand was established as a British colony.

The country has two main islands – the North and South Islands – covering an area of 266,171 km². The current population is about 3.8 million people, and the national anthem is ‘God Defend New Zealand’.

New Zealand’s climate is neither oppressively hot nor unbearably cold. In general, the entire country gets plenty of rain, and snow falls only occasionally outside the main mountain ranges.

Famous folk from Down Under

NEW ZEALAND:

AUSTRALIA:

Sir Edmund Hillary – mountaineer, author Dame Kiri Te Kanawa – operatic diva Crowded House – music group New Zealand All Blacks – national rugby team Lucy Lawless – actor Temuera Morrison – actor Sam Neill – actor Janet Frame – author Kim Crawford – winemaker Sir Ernest Rutherford – acclaimed physicist Peter Jackson – filmmaker Jane Campion – director Robert Muldoon – businessman, politician

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith – aviator Robert Hughes – author A. B. Banjo Patterson – poet David Williamson – playwright Peter Weir – director Ruth Cracknell – actor Mel Gibson – actor Errol Flynn – actor Bananas in Pyjamas – living nursery rhyme Wallabies – national rugby team Bee Gees – musicians Air Supply – musicians Dame Nellie Melba – operatic diva Sir Donald Bradman – cricketer Arthur Boyd – artist

Help me understand the lingo from down under!

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

ace – excellent
‘ang on – wait a moment
arvo – afternoon
as scarce as hen’s teeth – extremely rare
ANZAC – Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, WWI soldiers, also popular biscuits
Aussie – Australian

B

barbie – barbecue
beaut – very good, excellent (also ‘bewdy’)
better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick – things have turned out better than expected but in a backhanded way
big smoke – large city
billabong – waterhole
billy – tin pot with wire handle for boiling water for tea over an open fire
bludger – layabout, someone who wants something for nothing
bombed out – unsuccessful, drunk
bonzer – good, excellent
bung it on – to skite or exaggerate
bushwhacked – exhausted
by crikey – an expression of surprise

C

cactus – useless, broken
chewy – chewing gum
chook – a chicken
chuck a wobbly – go berserk
coathanger – the Sydney Harbour Bridge
cobber – one’s mate or true friend
come a cropper – to fall heavily
cossie – swimming costume
crooked as a dog’s hind leg – a person who is not to be trusted

D

damper – type of bread cooked in the ashes of an open fire
dead set – absolute certainty
dinky-di – genuine, the absolute truth, (pronounced 'dinky-dye')
don’t get off your bike – calm down
dunny – an outside toilet

E

esky – portable icebox

F

fair dinkum – honest, genuine
fair enough – alright, acceptable
flat out like a lizard drinking – lying prone, extremely busy
full as a boot – drunk

G

g’day – greeting, hello
g’donya – good for you
godzone – God’s own country – Australia (according to Australians) and New Zealand (according to New Zealanders)
grog – alcohol

H

how’s it going – greeting
hooroo – goodbye

J

jumbuck – sheep

K

Kiwi – New Zealander

L

like a possum up a gum tree – moving fast
like a rat up a drainpipe – moving even faster
lingo – language

M

mate – friend
matilda – a blanket roll carried by a swagman
moggy – a cat
mug – fool

N

no worries – everything’s okay

O

ocker – uncultivated Australian male
outback – the inland country far away from the cities

P

pack of galahs – group of lazy, idle, non-working people
pavlova – dessert of meringue with fruit and cream filling
possum – term of endearment, soft and cuddly
prang – minor car accident

R

rack off – to go away
rellies – relatives

S

sangers – sandwiches
seeyaz – goodbye, see you later
she’ll be right – it’ll be fine
shout – to buy drinks for everyone
smoko – break from work (originally for a cigarette)
snag – sausage
strewth – expression of surprise, indignation
swagman – a man who travels around the country on foot and takes odd jobs
strike a light – popular expression that doesn’t mean anything

T

too right – I quite agree
true blue – genuine
tucker – food

U

up a gumtree – on the wrong track

W

wallaby track – a path to the interior of the continent
wobbly – tantrum, as in 'don't chuck a wobbly'

Y

yakka – work
you’re not wrong – you’re right

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What’s different about life down under?
Light switches work in reverse (down is on), traffic drives on the left-hand side of the road, taxes are included in the advertised price, residents pay for local phone calls (Australia), and yes, the water does go down the drain clockwise (compared to anti-clockwise in Canada). One cent pieces (never called 'pennies') went out of circulation in 1991, and Australia and New Zealand have been metric for about three decades. Seasons are the exact opposite to Canada, it never snows at Christmas, and Boxing Day is usually spent at the beach. ‘Rice Bubbles’ are Rice Krispies, ‘capsicums’ are peppers, ‘biscuits’ are cookies, ‘rockmelons’ are cantaloupes, a ‘beanie’ is a toque, ‘petrol’ is gas, ‘tomato sauce’ is ketchup, a ‘jumper’ is a sweater, a ‘pinafore’ is a jumper, and there are ‘rubbish bins’ instead of garbage cans. Tires are spelt ‘tyres’, and Mom is spelt ‘Mum’. ‘Bonnet’ is the hood of a car, and ‘boot’ is the trunk, while ‘entree’ is the appetizer, and ‘main course’ is the entree.

What’s the Haka?
The haka is the traditional war dance of the Maori peoples of New Zealand. “The haka is a composition played by many instruments. Hands, feet, legs, body, voice, tongue and eyes all play their part in blending together to convey in their fullness the challenge, welcome, exultation, defiance or contempt of the words. It is disciplined, yet emotional. More than any other aspect of Maori culture, this complex dance is an expression of the passion, vigour and identity of the race. It is at its best, truly, a message of the soul expressed by words and posture.” (Armstrong, 1964)

What’s a Didgeridoo?
The didgeridoo (‘sound stick’) is a straight piece of timber made from a tree branch or trunk that has been hollowed out by termites. Originally the musical instrument of the northern Australian aboriginal, it has now spread to many other tribes. The didgeridoo is often played in conjunction with click sticks and the clapping together of boomerangs in ‘corroborees’ (festive or war-like night dance of the Australian aboriginals), or the player taps out rhythms using the sticks or his finger on the side of the didgeridoo while playing.

Gerry Gordon is one of few accomplished didgeridoo players in Manitoba. Born in Canada, Gerry first heard and then learned to play the instrument while in Arizona. He now has a wonderful collection of several different didgeridoos, and welcomes every opportunity to perform this ancient Aboriginal instrument. In 2000, Gerry was privileged to play with Tal-kin-jeri, the Australian Aboriginal group who performed at our pavilion. Gerry is regularly invited to play the didgeridoo at events in Winnipeg, and can often be seen busking at the Forks and other locations.

What’s Two-up?
Two-up is an Australian game where two old-style (large) pennies are tossed in the air by a ‘spinner’ and bets placed on the ‘result’ – heads or tails. (Aussie pennies had the Queen’s image on one side and a kangaroo on the other, hence the head and the tail analogy.) In the original game, one head and one tail was considered a ‘no result’, and the coins would be tossed again until there were two heads or two tails. The game was illegal and usually played in secluded places, sometimes in the sand dunes along the beaches so ‘spotters’ or ‘cockies’ could warn of any police raids. The origin of the game of two-up is uncertain. It may go back to the 1850’s gold rush days, though for sure it was played by the troops during World War I, when it was known as ‘swy’ from the German Zwie (two). Nowadays, two-up is still played, often with participants using their hands to indicate the result of the coin toss – players put both hands on their heads if they think the coins will land as two heads, both hands on their backside if they think the coins will land as two tails, and one hand on the head and the other on the backside if they think coins will land as a head and a tail.

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