There is also the matter of the beaches. Australian beaches are simply the nicest and best in the world, although anyone actually venturing into the sea will have to contend with sharks, stinging jellyfish, stonefish (a fish which sits on the bottom of the sea, pretends to be a rock and has venomous barbs sticking out of its back that will kill just from the pain) and surfboarders. However, watching a beach sunset is worth the risk.

As a result of all this hardship, dirt, thirst and wombats, you would expect Australians to be a sour lot. Instead, they are genial, jolly, cheerful and always willing to share a kind word with a stranger. Faced with insurmountable odds and impossible problems, they smile disarmingly and look for a stick. Major engineering feats have been performed with sheets of corrugated iron, string and mud.
Alone of all the races on earth, they seem to be free from the 'Grass is greener on the other side of the fence' syndrome, and roundly proclaim that Australia is, in fact, the other side of that fence. They call the land "Oz" or "Godzone" (a verbal contraction of "God's Own Country"). The irritating thing about this is... they may be right.

TIPS TO SURVIVING AUSTRALIA

Don't ever put your hand down a hole for any reason - WHATSOEVER.

The beer is stronger than you think, regardless of how strong you think it is.

Always carry a stick.

Air-conditioning is imperative.

Do not attempt to use Australian slang unless you are a trained linguist and extremely good in a fist fight.

Wear thick socks.

Take good maps. Stopping to ask directions only works when there are people nearby

If you leave the urban areas, carry several litres of water with you at all times, or you will die. And don't forget a stick.

Even in the most embellished stories told by Australians, there is always a core of truth that it is unwise to ignore.

HOW TO IDENTIFY AUSTRALIANS

They pronounce Melbourne as "Mel-bin".

They think it makes perfect sense to decorate highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.

They think "Woolloomooloo" is a perfectly reasonable name for a place, that "Wagga Wagga" can be abbreviated to "Wagga", but "Woy Woy" can't be called "Woy".

Their hamburgers will contain beetroot. Apparently it's a must-have.
How else do you get a stain on your shirt?

They don't think it's summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.

They believe that all train timetables are works of fiction.

And they all carry a stick.

Foxy,

Are you going to respond to my question at p.2?

Ben Pobjie would say that. He is closely associated with The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, New Matilda, Crikey and the ABC. A lefty poet who would just love the watering down of the Australian way of life with enforced multiculturalism, mass immigration, and close ties with Communist China.

Dear Chris,

There was a time when to be Australian was to be
English, only sunburnt. There was a time when to
be Australian was to be a dangerous criminal, but
far enough away geographically from normal people
for them to feel relatively relaxed about you.
And the list goes on. But today barely anyone evn
remembers what life was like back then.

What will define Australia in the post-modern era?

In the upcoming centuries the line-up will
probably be unimaginably different. We should therefore
let the celebration of our nation be not only a reflection
of our past but a salutory lesson for our future.

We need to learn from people like Sir Weary Dunlop, and
Caroline Chisholm, and all their historical kin, so that we
can become the Australians we aspire to be, and more
importantly, create the Australia we aspire to live in.

My feeling is that we are uniquely placed in Australia to be
able to do precisely that.

Weary Dunlop was a great Australian.

I dont think he was religious, but he admired the philosophy of budhism if i recall correctly.

Yes, Australia has had some incredible people who led by example, and Dunlop was one of the greatest.