Things About Australia That I Found ‘Weird’/ Surprising

Australia is nothing if not unique. In this article, I will be sharing with you some of the things about this country, its people, and its culture that I, an immigrant from the Philippines, didn’t know about Australia before moving here.

Massive Size

My concept of Australia’s size was very ignorant. I think some of you can relate to me when I say that I wasn’t aware of how large Australia really is. I mean, on the map, it doesn’t look that big. But when you get here you’d realise how Australia is the 6th largest country in the world. It accounts for five percent of the world’s land area with 7.692 million square kilometres, according to Geoscience Australia.

Odd Town Names

One thing I’ve noticed about Aussies is  how they seem to always be joking around. Their sense of humour extends to their quirky or tongue-twisting town names. Names like:

• Eggs and Bacon Bay, Tasmania
• Mount Disappointment, Victoria
• Come by Chance, New South Wales
• Mount Breast, Queensland
• Well It Wasn’t There Last Year Cave, South Australia
• Mount Unapproachable, Northern Territory
• Wangkatjungka (Won-ka-jon-ka), Western Australia
• Woolloomooloo, New South Wales

These aren’t fictional names. You can find more of these on the Marvellous Map of Actual Australian Place Names – created by Strumpshaw, Tincleton & Giggleswick.

How hot it can get

Australia is known throughout the world for its endless sunshine, the perfect beaches, a large amount of dry desert outback, and for being a pretty hot place. Though the climate here varies considerably with its states and territories experiencing a range of conditions, the Australian summer can be unbearably hot! The heat can even get above 40C. There’s the risk of bush fires, dangerous heatwaves, and drought. 

It snows

Because of the polar blast that recently hit and caused significant snowfall across Australia’s east coast, I found out that it does in fact snow in Australia! A significant amount of snow usually falls in parts of Australia between June and September. The country has the Australian Alps that straddles New South Wales and Victoria. During the winter, tourists flock ski resorts in the nation’s alpine region which is just a couple of hours drive away from Melbourne or Sydney.

The animals that you see on a daily basis

I’m not talking about the deadly animals that people assume we see here on a daily basis (it’s not like that at all). I’m talking about how I wake up to the sound of a House Sparrow calling. How sometimes when I look out the window, I see a Magpie-lark (Pee-Wee) attacking our window, possibly its own reflection. There just seems to be an endless variety of birds here in Australia and we get to see a lot of them every day, like when they flock around us as we have our breakfast in our backyard. I’m also talking about how it’s not very rare to see kangaroos running across the road once in a while. Though this probably varies depending on where you live.

Barefoot Culture

Australians are known for their laid-back attitude. A proof of this is the fact that it isn’t rare to see some people walking around barefoot. Everyone seems to be pretty tolerant and don’t really care whether or not you wear thongs/shoes in public places. It’s just not necessary. You can go to the supermarkets, shopping centres, cinemas or anywhere else you like without footwear, no one would mind.

The obsession with abbreviation

Australians have been abbreviating since the early settlements. ‘Strine’ (Aussie slang), informal and irreverent, has been a constant part of the Australian life. We probably have a shortened version of almost any word you could think of. Why do we do it? There’s no one reason as to why, but maybe it’s to give off a sense of friendliness, or so we don’t come across as pretentious. Maybe because it takes less effort to say abbreviated words. Or it might just be because its fun.

Compulsory voting

Voting at State general elections, by-elections and referenda was made compulsory in Australia in the 1920s. People are given a number of ways to cast their vote. There’s postal voting, absent voting, pre-poll voting, voting at AU overseas missions, voting at mobile teams, and of course voting at a polling place in their electorate.

Australians are ‘irreverent’

I mean this as a compliment. I like how Aussies don’t take themselves all that seriously. There’s a strong sense of not getting ‘too big for yourself’. Friends constantly tease each other as a form of affection. It’s acceptable to talk to your boss in a more informal manner. They even slag off their politicians. They can take good humour and give it back in equal measure. Some new migrants may have difficulty understanding this but they get used to it and eventually fall in love with the trait.

How you can have a lot of things for free

In the Philippines (where I was originally from), you basically have to pay for every move you make. That’s why when we migrated here, I was really amased with the many things that I can enjoy for free. People can take advantage of the country’s excellent public healthcare. There are government funded courses/education available to everyone. You don’t have to check yourself in beach resorts to be able to enjoy the country’s pristine waters. The list is endless! Though we technically pay for them through our taxes, at least we actually benefit from the taxes that we pay.

Conclusion

I feel that Australia is still viewed as a mystical place by the rest of the world. I don’t think people outside of the country know much about it apart from it being the birthplace of Chris Hemsworth, Miranda Kerr, and Crocodile Dundee. And that’s quite unfortunate because there’s just so much goodness about Australia that the world needs to know about, quirks and all.

Disclaimer All content and information in this post is for purposes of sharing my experiences only, does not constitute professional advice and does not establish any kind of professional-client relationship.

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