Canoe trees are scattered round Oz, though these living relics are growing rarer, and not always easy to find.
The give-away is the open scar on one side of the tree, four to five metres long, roughly cigar in shape, where the bark has been stripped by Aborigines to fashion canoe hulls, shields or carrying dishes.
Most […]
Buyer beware – if you’re looking to buy genuine Aboriginal artifacts, avoid a DODGERIDOO.
Ditto in a pet shop – resist the urge to own the blue-green parrot who doesn’t give a stuff, otherwise known as a BLUDGIE.
Both new words emerged as stand-out entries in a contest run by Ozwords, the newsletter issued by the […]
What do mushrooms, horseshoes and envelopes have in common? Or pears, eggs and balloons?
Give in? All six describe the shapes of drains lying below half a dozen Australian cities. Inside these same tunnels you can find slides, shafts, waterfalls and chambers – and stray members of the Cave Clan.
Taking tourism to new depths, the […]
Canberra is not our only national capital. Oh no. Are you kidding? By last count, in our lame-claim quest, we’ve found almost 20 ‘capitals’ around Australia.
Cairns, for one, is the Adventure Capital of Australia. While Warren in western NSW hedges its bets, going for the title of Wool & Cotton Capital. (And you wonder […]
Mystery solved – in part at least. Back in 1975, with our Prime Minister being sacked by the Queen’s own tool in the Governor-General, Australia became a hotbed of republicanism.
Ironically, our ties to England were viewed in the vein of a ball and chain. We ex-cons were sorely chafing as independence was mooted. Editorials […]
A note from Traveller, a regular poster:
Just spotting the town Bumbunga (in SA) made me think that there was once a Kingdom of Bumbunga around there somewhere. Apparently when there was a bit of talk of a right royal shake-up by republicans, the ruler seceded from Australia and set up his own kingdom. He reckoned […]
Did you know Whyalla, on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, is the Cuttlefish Capital of the World?
Or Mortlake in western Victoria is loud and proud to be known as the Olivine Capital of Australia? (That’s a greenish stone for all you laypeople out there.)
For my money, any town that opts for that phrase ‘Capital of…’ is […]
Once upon a time a handsome Danish prince met a gorgeous Tasmanian real estate agent called Mary. The year was 2000. The setting was a Sydney pub. And cupid must have been sitting somewhere in the beer garden firing arrows. Accurately.
Romance bloomed. Buy one of a dozen magazines if you don’t believe me – and […]
A suitcase standing in Port Macquarie (NSW) is strange on the eye, and stranger in its history. Cobbled together during World War I, this durable relic is made exclusively of boot tongues. The original creator’s identity is unknown, though thankfully the original odour has also vanished. It’s a case of open and shut ingenuity. […]
A friend has 200 snow domes in her hallway. The most exotic one comes from Paris: a midget Eiffel tower copping a blizzard every time you shake the glass. Most of the domes hail from down under – even the implausible Uluru. The whole set is backlit to give the cabinet a kitsch splendour.
Pam, a […]