What's so great about Australia?

anncoates · 30-12-2014 12:18am

Peist2007 wrote: »

Unless they learnt about it before destroying the native population on their arrival and systemmatically since, i doubt even an educated Australian could answer that question for you.

Could you not say the same about our culture?

Culture isn't exclusively old by definition. It's constantly being created and in motion. And the definition of what constitutes culture is constantly in flux.

And it isn't as if the same landscapes of aboriginal culture, or the history and other traces don't still remain. Your point is like saying people here still live on the Blaskets or people here generally live like they did 200 years ago.

Most of the stuff being said here about culture is nebulous and undefined and seems to boil down to simple European prejudice about age.

Like people that make the pat - and frankly mind-bogglingly idiotic - assertion that America has no culture because it doesn't have buildings from certain centuries.

jank · 30-12-2014 12:25am

Peist2007 wrote: »

Unless they learnt about it before destroying the native population on their arrival and systemmatically since, i doubt even an educated Australian could answer that question for you

But hey, you like Australia. That's cool.

So you cannot answer my simple question then. Ok so.

stretchdoe · 30-12-2014 4:20am

Remmy wrote: »

It's where Bodhi got killed at the end of point break

Woah, woah..

No way Bells is bigger than Waimea bro.

Mantis Toboggan · 30-12-2014 4:28am

Weather has a lot to do with it, it's simply amazing, especially this time of year. Also the money to earned by averagely educated people is crazy.

braddun · 30-12-2014 5:56am

box jelly fish

sharks

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2013/03/australias-dangerous-animals-the-top-30/

Asarlai · 30-12-2014 6:41am

roro1990 wrote: »

A lot of you sound very bitter. The harsh reality is that for some people (myself included) I don't really know what I want in my life in terms of my career. I'm 24 and I honestly haven't got a clue. My social life has stagnated over in Ireland. Same couple of friends going to the same bars every week to get pissed drunk and tell the same stories. Sometimes a drastic change is needed in people's lives in order to find out who they really are, to meet some new people and have some amazing experiences. I haven't been to Australia yet but i'm going in February. It seems like the perfect place to shake my life up a bit. Try some new jobs, meet some new people and explore what looks like a beautiful country. The set up is perfect for people in my age group so the way I see it, why not? And if I don't like it over there I can feck off and be home within a day.

Good for you! Go for it!

ardle1 · 30-12-2014 6:46am

crockholm wrote: »

The barrier reef, the White shark

And the Aborigine!
Eh well I assume there is only one, anyway I'm not sure, he's the only one I've ever seen, you know a guy in his mid 50s wears hardly any clothes, scraggy hair, always smiles when he's being interviewed, oh and he usually appears on Australian tour and information guides in front of a scorched looking hill or rock!?

anto9 · 30-12-2014 7:08am

Asarlai wrote: »

Good for you! Go for it!

+ 1

lufties · 30-12-2014 7:12am

Saipanne wrote: »

I've never met an Aussie I liked. Must be the accent or something.

Same as that, think it is the nasal accent. Otherwise I found it boring, too far from my family, luckily I didn't need to stay there for work, too feckin hot aswell.

jacksie66 · 30-12-2014 7:18am

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d.pop · 30-12-2014 8:47am

Elessar wrote: »

The only people I know who went over and stayed are of the type that have poor education, little to no skills or ambitions and were unwilling to upskill. The type that blame the 'guberment' for being out of work.

Bit of a hole in that thinking chief, people like that generally can't get in or stay beyond a whv, skilled professionals or tradesmen are sought after, not the unskilled people you mentioned.
Much more likely to find, nurses, doctors, dentists, engineers and management of all types.
You know...the type that don't blame the "guberment" for anything and left to get work in the profession they trained in.
Some will return, some won't. Some probably love oz some probably just putting in some time overseas with a few to returning.
More people should leave Ireland, life should not be all about pubs and gaa in the lashing rain, people should try doing something fun in the sun while sober. Me, I'm off for a swim, it's 34 degrees and the surf is up....

rubin_spitfire · 30-12-2014 8:49am

jacksie66 wrote: »

I much, much prefer New Zealand.. It's great here..

New Zeland is a fantastic country.

rubin_spitfire · 30-12-2014 8:50am

Australia is an incredible country too.

John_Rambo · 30-12-2014 9:28am

d.pop wrote: »

More people should leave Ireland, life should not be all about pubs and gaa in the lashing rain, people should try doing something fun in the sun while sober. Me, I'm off for a swim, it's 34 degrees and the surf is up....

I find it truly shocking that people need to go to the other side of the world to realise there's more to life than their local pub. The lack of knowledge about Ireland is mind blowing.

Matta Harri · 30-12-2014 10:09am

I wouldn't go to Australia if I got a ticket for nothing. I cannot stand the accent, I'd have someone kilt in the first week.

mad muffin · 30-12-2014 10:37am

Hater…

irishmover · 30-12-2014 10:44am

Matta Harri wrote: »

I wouldn't go to Australia if I got a ticket for nothing. I cannot stand the accent, I'd have someone kilt in the first week.

Aussies don't wear kilts.

d.pop · 30-12-2014 11:20am

John_Rambo wrote: »

I find it truly shocking that people need to go to the other side of the world to realise there's more to life than their local pub. The lack of knowledge about Ireland is mind blowing.

Hope that's not a stab at me...? :0 We should compare notes one day about our respective Ireland's.
I happen to agree with you but unfortunately a large proportion of the population do not know anything but the pub culture and can't see past it, (I was not one of said people by the way...)
Only by removing them from it does the rest of life outside the pub come into focus.
Sometimes it takes a trip to another country as the slap in the face required to wake people up to what they are missing sitting in a pub watching English soccer their whole life.
No denying Ireland has a lot to offer but no more or less than most other countries.
I do find it annoying when people dismiss a whole country because it does not suit thier view of what a country should be though.

TheBeardedLady · 30-12-2014 11:21am

I'd love to go to have a look as I've no idea what to expect from the place. It's not a place that calls to me at this stage in my life but perhaps I would've gone in my early 20s if that was the popular place to go back then as I've heard good things.

Walked the Camino De Santiago this Summer and my main crew were a bunch of Ozzies from the country who were really sound, down-to-earth beyond belief and really fun - a few of the women worked in the mines and their stories were completely mental. My sister-in-law is from Melbourne and she's lovely and if my brother moves there from the States, I'll have reason to visit.

I can imagine the appeal of the country to someone in their early twenties is fun and sun in a beautiful country, hot women and men and work. Fair fcuks to them. Any bit of travelling is a good thing. Not one to bandy around the begrudgery word with regards to the Irish as I've come across plenty of that everywhere but I can't think of any other reason for the resentment among some people towards them.

lanos · 30-12-2014 1:17pm

Aussie are annoying. of that there is no doubt.
they use annoying words like
drongo
dunney
billabong
g'day
sausage sizzle
gallah
sheelah

Kermit.de.frog · 30-12-2014 1:46pm

I wonder why Australia is still part of the Commonwealth with a Queen of a small island on the other side of the world as head of state? Same with Canada.

AgileMyth · 30-12-2014 2:19pm

I'll probably go there next year. Want to travel Asia and south america but will need to make some money somewhere along the way.

Seems like Australia will do the job.

HIB · 30-12-2014 2:26pm

Was there for a year a while back. Enjoyed it generally but it is very far from home, family etc.

On the 'Australia has no culture' thing. That's a pretty daft sweeping statement. Pretty sure there's plenty of Aussie music, art, sport, theatre, comedy etc. to be found, if you go looking.

Where things may differ is the Aussie access to 'culture' originating in other countries, or 'imported' culture if you like.
Ireland is pretty lucky in this respect because we're right next to the UK. Any band touring there, often throws in an Irish date as well. Usually Dublin, but that's better than nothing! And if you want to go and see the best in theatre, musicals, comedy, London is only an hour away. A lot of the smaller, but still very high quality productions often include dates here too. Same with sport...one of the best soccer leagues in the world is just a short cheap flight away.

jmayo · 30-12-2014 2:53pm

Like everywhere you get good and bad.
I have met some very nice Aussies both there and here and I have met some utter gobshytes.

Yes Aussies can be loud, opinionated and arrogant, but so can a lot of others.

The biggest thing for me about big chunks of Australia, particularly Northern Territory and Western Australia, is the sheer vastness, emptiness and flatness.
It is great for a while, but then driving through it for hours just to get to tne next little outpost, most probably with shag all to offer bar more fuel, it quickly starts becoming a boring pain.

Oh and all the bloody things crawling around that could make your last hours on earth painful.

And the fecking incessant flies.
Even if you stop on a sand track in the absolute middle of nowhere, with no human and shag all proper animals within 50 miles, suddenly you are surrounded by the feckers.

Found some fanstastic deserted beaches along Western Australia coast, but you never know what is lurking out in the water.
And you do fry in the mid day sun very quickly.
There is a reason the kids wear those hats and they adopted cricket.

For anyone interested Uluru (Ayres Rock) is a giant bloody rock as it's former name suggests.
Unless you want to make a trip of it by exploring the outback on sand tracks between it an Alice then don't bother.

I would recommend lunch with a nice wine at Leeuwin Estate in Margaret River. :cool:

BTW as Dylan Moran once said a good reason to go to Oz is to kill a Wiggle. :mad:

Billy86 · 30-12-2014 3:05pm

jmayo wrote: »

BTW as Dylan Moran once said a good reason to go to Oz is to kill a Wiggle. :mad:

But you can't, they don't feel pain!!

The flies can be the biggest pain in the hole though, swat them away and two come back... before you know it you're swatting like a lunatic while walking down the road, struggling with the heat and undoubtedly looking like a complete crackhead on a come down to all passers by! I got told they go away if you ignore them, but it's a bloody lie!!

The mosquitos are worse though, they loved me!

roro1990 · 30-12-2014 4:33pm

John_Rambo wrote: »

I find it truly shocking that people need to go to the other side of the world to realise there's more to life than their local pub. The lack of knowledge about Ireland is mind blowing.

This is an extremely narrow minded view of why people go to Australia. I'm going because I love travelling, i'm not quite sure what career I want, i'm 24 with no debt and obligations and my social life has stagnated over here. Why not go to Oz for a year or two? A perfect chance to meet new people, see a beautiful country, escape the sh*tty weather and try different jobs. I didn't just decide "ugh, i'm sick of the pub, why don't I take a plane 15,000 km away to escape that lifestyle". And i'm sure it's the same for many others who have done or will be doing the Australia thing. It's not a decision I've taken lightly based on being sick of the pub.

Sometimes it takes something drastic like this for people to reinvent themselves or get out of a rut.

sashafierce · 30-12-2014 5:42pm

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Billy86 · 30-12-2014 6:04pm

sashafierce wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

You'd need to tell that to four friends of mine who stayed over there with 4 college degrees, 3 masters and 2 PHDs between them. Couldn't get more than call centre collections type jobs over here before they left, now they're on six figures over there. Not to say that could inspire begrudgery or anything...

sashafierce · 30-12-2014 6:06pm

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Egginacup · 30-12-2014 6:08pm

Isn't Deanne Berry Australian?

deanne-berry-1_lg.jpg

What's so great about Australia?

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