By 7pm Saturday I was embroiled in my third cultural hit in 24 hours - my own. Catherine-from-Sydney (on the right, in the photo above) has in previous years stumbled on a pub near ours whose Aussie staff do a wee tribute to our national day: roo burgers, lamingtons, Tim Tams and an Australian music playlist that is planned weeks in advance. For the record, the hats are from the Sydney Daily Mail (melbourne would never do something that daggy, not even for free!).
I've realised how much I miss music from home - the Living End, Midnight Oil, Killing Heidi, Missy Higgins, even Icehouse and Silverchair, and the ubiquitous Crowded House (kiwis, I know, but nearly from home), Men at Work and Cold Chisel's Khe Sanh, which was played four times.
P'raps the best bit though was our chum Sophie (left, in photo above, and below), who is the only English lass I know who can do a passable Aussie accent. She can even distinguish it from an equally plausible Auckland twang. (Smartypants!)
Before we knew it, she had an Aussie bloke and a Kiwi lad convinced that she was from "Coonabarabran, on the NSW south coast, just up from Eden". We picked Coonabarabran cos it's one of those great Aussie place names (I also like Yackandandah) although I made up the location. Nobody called our bluff.
I was relieved to learn online today that it IS actually in NSW. However, it's in the northwest of the state, not the south east. And nowhere NEAR the coast.
Here's where it gets fun. The website http://www.coonabarabran.com/ says that "Coona" (as it's known to the locals) is a friendly country town of around 3,000 people. It's the nearest gateway to the majestic Warrumbungle National Park, and known as the Astronomy Capital of Australia for its stunning night skies.
Checking Wikipedia, I learned that it's also not far from the buzzing nightlife of the towns of Gunnedah, Narrabri, Walgett and Boggabilla.
I PROMISE I AM NOT MAKING ANY OF THIS UP!!!!!
(Except the bit about Walgett having a buzzing nightlife - the only buzzes you'll hear are the night time insects, although they are HUGE!!)
P'raps the best bit though was our chum Sophie (left, in photo above, and below), who is the only English lass I know who can do a passable Aussie accent. She can even distinguish it from an equally plausible Auckland twang. (Smartypants!)
Before we knew it, she had an Aussie bloke and a Kiwi lad convinced that she was from "Coonabarabran, on the NSW south coast, just up from Eden". We picked Coonabarabran cos it's one of those great Aussie place names (I also like Yackandandah) although I made up the location. Nobody called our bluff.
I was relieved to learn online today that it IS actually in NSW. However, it's in the northwest of the state, not the south east. And nowhere NEAR the coast.
Here's where it gets fun. The website http://www.coonabarabran.com/ says that "Coona" (as it's known to the locals) is a friendly country town of around 3,000 people. It's the nearest gateway to the majestic Warrumbungle National Park, and known as the Astronomy Capital of Australia for its stunning night skies.
Checking Wikipedia, I learned that it's also not far from the buzzing nightlife of the towns of Gunnedah, Narrabri, Walgett and Boggabilla.
I PROMISE I AM NOT MAKING ANY OF THIS UP!!!!!
(Except the bit about Walgett having a buzzing nightlife - the only buzzes you'll hear are the night time insects, although they are HUGE!!)
Good for a laugh? Mate, I nearly cried!
Happy Australia Day!
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