When Johnny and I were on our merry way to Australia, I’m ashamed to admit had a few preconceptions about what to expect in Oz. How wrong was I – thank you cartoons, films and the media. Needless to say none of these preconceptions were true so thought I’d share 5 misconceptions some people have of Australia (mainly me;) ).
1. Kangaroos are everywhere in Australia
They’re not! Contrary to popular belief you’re not that likely to see wild Kangaroos kicking about. I’ve been in Australia on and off for a couple of years and I can count on my hand the number of times I’ve seen wild kangaroos. No one is riding them to work, and no one’s having a cheeky sparring session with one, you actually have to go on a bit of a mission if you want to see wild kangaroos. I have managed to see them though in the country side, had to look though.
2. It’s Sunny every day in Australia.
I wish it was! I’m in Sydney and I haven’t a clue where this rumour has come from because it actually rains more in Sydney than London… FACT! Saying that though, I do notice a lot of blue skies in Oz often with no clouds which is definitely easy on the eye.
3. Fosters is the beer of choice in Australia
Having drank Fosters and seeing it on tap everywhere in the UK I thought that I’d be drinking it when I hit Oz…..wrong! Fosters is not around here, and when I mention it to anyone everyone thinks it’s not that great. The beers I see here are mainly Tooheys, VB, Hahn, Coopers – none of which I’d seen before I got here (minus Tooheys in perhaps a Walkabout bar back in the UK).
4. Having BBQ’s every day
I’ve had a few BBQ’s in Australia, but probably just as many as I’d had in the UK. When we do have them out here they are amazing; and there’s parks, and beaches with the facilities. There are a few shrimp thrown on the barbie, it’s just not done every day like I first thought coming out here.
5. Aussie words and phrases
I remember going to the Australian embassy in Taiwan to get my visa – and saw a list of all Australian sayings with their ‘English’ meaning next to them. I found it quite comical seeing it there as people hardly say any of these: fair dinkum, struth, g’day mate, every girl is a Sheila… If I got a $ for every time I heard people using these sayings I’d maybe get one coffee tops.
There you have it, 5 common misconceptions about Australia – albeit coming from a UK perspective. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble wanting to ride a kangaroo to work on a sunny day, using the lingo, and have a bbq with a fosters at the end of the day – but that’s not going to happen. You will however, have an absolutely fantastic time in Australia, it’s a great place to live and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself here so far.
What do you think life in Australia is like? Give us a shout out in the comments below, and I’ll let you know if that’s what’s going down.
Happy travels!
Duff
Haha great post. It’s damn strange how we fall for Foster’s advertising, on the subject of beer I think Oz needs to sort of what they call a pint, that does need a translation sheet!
Haha tell me about it! Scooner, midi’s I always get confused… always feel happier with a pint in my hand instead 🙂
Good article. ‘No dramas’ was the Aussie phrase I heard the most when I was over there.
I went to Perth and it was sunny every day I was there with clear blue sky and the saying I heard the most was how you going
Since getting to Aus. about 3 months ago I think I’ve seen one bottle of Fosters, heard one person say ‘Fair Dink’em’ and heard a kid exclaim ‘Crikey!!’ However I do hear ‘too easy’ an awful lot!!
i get upset as an aussie when the media brand us as a racists country. Of course there are racist people no more than what other countries have. But other people take us the wrong way and it’s upsetting for example, Aussies have a habbit of shortening words and peoples names, its like a form of mateship as a way of making others feel like one of us for example We call new zealanders Kiwi’s the english Poms. the amercains yanks, we are aussie’s muslims we call muso’s, pakistans are the paki’s if your name is warren=wazza, David=Dazza and so forth. I know others think its racist when we call a lebanese a lebo but its not a racist remark from our end, its just a way of our culture and I wish others could see it from our way and not regard it as a bad thing…