Things That Make You Australian - or at least an honourary Australian
I borrowed this from Susan Whelan’s brilliant blog Reading Upside Down – an Australian Book Lovers Blog (she reads and reviews all kinds of books both Australian and International). This is Susan’s Take on How Aussie Are You?. Scroll down and you can see my answers and comments.
A bit of fun for us Australian’s and for anyone who visits Australia, you might be more Australian than us locals!
I have highlighted those I have done and posted comments too. My score is 64/102, which is pretty amazing really – there are a few things I obviously need to do yet.
What about you? How many of these things have you done? How did you score, post below and let me know.
Things That Make You Australian
1.Heard a kookaburra in person.
2.Slept under the stars. (On a boat, not on land – full moon too totally awesome.)
3.Seen a koala. (Ask my sister about looking for Koalas in Trees at Hanging Rock – LOL!)
4.Visited Melbourne. (Lived there!)
5.Watched a summer thunderstorm. (Sydney, IMO, has THE best summer thunderstorms)
6.Worn a pair of thongs. (Sadly true, but in UK we called them FlipFlops!)
7.Been to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). (Got as far as Chicken Rock, sad but true)
8.Visited Cape York.
9.Held a snake. (Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Gold Coast – yes!)
10.Sang along with Khe San. (I don’t even know what this is!)
11.Drank VB. (Drink of choice for sailors in Rushcutters Bay in early 1990s!)
12.Visited Sydney. (Lived there too)
13.Have seen a shark. (I have a few stories about sharks that make me feel quite sick now I think of what stupidities I committed when I was younger)
14.Have used Aussie (and NZ) slang naturally in a conversation. (Hard to tell I am a POM these days)
15.Had an actual conversation with an indigenous Australian (Aboriginal). (Everyday people, why this is in here I do not understand)
16.Eaten hot chips from the bag at the beach. (Did this in UK too, think this is a bit of British cultural heritage shining through)
17.Walked/climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. (Hey I only got to Chicken Rock, do you think I am going up the bridge?)
18.Used an outside dunny, and checked under the seat before sitting down. (Check under the seat is a MUST, found a frog under one!)
19.Seen Chloe in Young & Jackson’s.
20.Slept on an overnight train or bus. (Perth to Kalgoorlie Easter 1989)
21.Been to Sydney’s Mardi Gras. (Standing on the pathway, does that count?)
22.Have gone bush-bashing. (Day trips only, no sleeping rough for me)
23.Taken a sickie. (Kinda hard, I work for myself, I just schedule extra holidays!)
24.Been to see a game of Aussie Rules football. (Yeay, I can admit this in public, I have never been to one, which is incredible when you think I lived in Melbourne for 11 years.)
25.Have seen wild camels. (Alice Springs 1990)
26.Gone skinny dipping. (too shy 
)
27.Done a Tim Tam Slam. (Done lots of things with Tim Tams, but have no idea what a slam is)
28.Ridden in a tram in Melbourne.
29.Been at an ANZAC day Dawn Service. (In Melbourne, and it was frrrreeeezzzing)
30.Watched a sunrise or sunset. (Virtually everyday, my favourite things)
31.Held a wombat.
32.Been on a roadtrip of 800km or more. (Monkey Mia from Perth return in a weekend and numerous Melbourne to Brisbane and Sydney trips.)
33.Seen the Great Australian Bight in person.
34.Had a really bad sunburn. (In Thailand, does that count?)
35.Visited an Aboriginal community.
36.Seen a redback spider. (And the first time, I was surprised as I thought they were smaller!)
37.Have watched Paul Hogan. (Even my Dad gets points for this and he is definitely not Australian!)
38.Seen Blue Poles in person. (no idea)
39.Wandered barefoot in the bush/outback. (why would anyone do this? OUCH)
40.Eaten Vegemite. (much to my family’s disgust, I am a convert from Marmite to Vegemite)
41.Thrown a boomerang. (and it didn’t come back)
42.Seen the Kimberleys.
43.Given a hitch-hiker a lift.
44.Been to Perth. (First place I ever visited in Australia)
45.Have tried Lemon, Lime and Bitters. (drink it often, but now I may have to reconsider, I did not realise it was so Australian)
46.Tried playing a didgeridoo. (emphasis on tried, only succeeded in getting very slobbery and making rude sounds)
47.Seen dinosaur footprints. (I would LOVE to!)
48.Eaten Tim Tams.
49.Been to Darwin. (Fantastic place, so colonial)
50.Touched a kangaroo. (Stroked and fed them at Currumbin)
51.Visted the Great Barrier Reef.
52.Listened to Kevin Bloody Wilson.
53.Killed a Cane Toad.
54.Gone to a drive-in theatre.
55.Have read and own books by Australian authors. (Road to Coorain by Jill Ker Conway was probably my first of many)
56.Visited Adelaide. (Yes and looking forward to getting a new perspective in April 2011 when we will be going again for swimming)
57.Know the story behind “Eternity”.
58.Been camping.
59.Visited Brisbane. (And shortly will be living there for a while)
60.Been in an outback pub.
61.Know what the term “Waltzing Matilda” actually means.
62.Gone whale watching. (Awesome! One of my favourite things to do. Carol does this for a living… she writes for my website you can read her humpback whale watching stories)
63.Listened to Slim Dusty (Only singing with The Wiggles, does that count?)
64.Own five or more Australian movies or TV series.
65.Sang along to Down Under. (yes, even before I lived in Australia and no I don’t think they stole the riff from Kookaburra)
66.Have stopped specifically to look at an historic marker by the side of the road.
67.Eaten a 4′n’20 pie. (UGHHHH Sorry I just cannot)
68.Surfed at Bondi. (Never surfed, but one day, I would love to)
69.Watched the cricket on Boxing Day. (1993 MCG ANZ private box, watched start of the Sydney Hobart as the cricket was delayed due to the inclement weather – it was miserable and freezing and we went home and put the gas heaters on)
70.Visited Hobart.
71.Eaten kangaroo. (taste tested it, not bad)
72.Seen a quokka. (Oh yes, they are so cute on Rottnest Island off Perth)
73.Visited Canberra. (bypassed it on way from Sydney to Melbourne – but still managed to get a speeding fine from an ACT policeman)
74.Visited rainforests. (Otways, Daintree, Lamington to name a few)
75.Used a Victa lawnmower. (Yes, but not in Australia, Victa was part of the company my dad worked for way back in the 1970s so we had a Victa Lawnmower and probably a very rare Victa Jet motor for our launch on the Thames)
76.Travelled on a tram in Adelaide.
77.Used a Hills hoist.
78.Visited Kata Tjuta
79.Used native Australian plants in cooking.
80.Visited the snow.
81.Chosen a side in Holden VS Ford. (Nah, but it is funny to watch and now that whole argument is coming to the Gold Coast every October for the Gold Coast 600)
82.Visited the desert.
83.Been water skiing (I have tried at least, but could not get up!)
84.Read The Phantom.
85.Visited Parliament House. (Old & New)
86.Gone spotlighting or pig-shooting. (Rather tame version spotlighting in Melbourne for possums in the park and at Currumbin on their Wildnight Adventure)
87.Crossed the Nullarbor. (I’m guessing flying over it in a plane doesn’t count)
88.Avoided swimming in areas because of crocodiles. (D’Oh)
89.Listened to AC/DC. (not by choice)
90.Called someone a dag.
91.Voted in a Federal Election.
92.Have been swimming and stayed between the flags.
93.Had a possum in your roof. (Even had to call in Peter The Possum Man to get rid of said possum)
94.Visited the outback.
95.Travelled over corrugated roads. (From Uluru to the Olgas and thought I was going to die)
96.Hit a kangaroo while driving. (Thankfully not)
97.Been well outside any mobile phone coverage. (probably, but before mobile phones were the thing)
98.Seen an emu. (Fed one at Currumbin)
99.Have woken to the smell of bushfires. (Even in the cities this can happen)
100.Subscribed to RRR.
101.Patted a pure-bred dingo.
102.Seen the Oils live.
Phew, that was an epic, but I hope you enjoyed reading my comments and seeing how you went. Let me know how you go and keep it moving, perhaps you would like to post on your blog and then you can leave a comment below to let me know.
photo credit: LaBellaVida
