Immerse yourself in Australia’s Aboriginal experiences
Aboriginal people of Australia have a rich, living culture stretching back at least 50,000 years. Get a snapshot of the diverse experiences on offer when you immerse yourself in Aboriginal Australia. Discover places steeped in Aboriginal history in the Northern Territory. Visit Australia’s Red Centre and walk around the base of Uluṟu with an Aṉangu guide. Browse Aboriginal art in Alice Springs, where the Arrernte people have lived for 20,000 years. Learn about Dreamtime myths in the intricate rock art galleries of World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park. Find the journeys which bring you closer to the world’s oldest culture. Drive the Red Centre Way to sacred sites such as Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa and Kings Canyon. Follow the South Australian Loop through the Flinders Ranges, where you can hear Adnyamathanha creation stories over the campfire. Drive the Savannah Way to Aboriginal rock art sites across Queensland, the Northern
Territory and Western Australia.
Australians believe in mateship and a ‘fair go’ and have a strong affection for the underdog or ‘battler’. These values stem from convicts and early colonialists who struggled against a harsh and unfamiliar land and often unjust authority. Australia’s most famous bushranger Ned Kelly protested against the poverty and injustice of a British class system shipped here along with the convicts. This flawed hero’s fight for 'justice and liberty' and 'innocent people' has been embraced as part of the national culture and inspired countless books and movies. On the goldfields of the mid-1850s, diggers were portrayed in stories and songs as romantic heroes, larrikins and villains who embraced democracy. The bloody 1854 Eureka Stockade, where Victorian miners rose up against an authoritarian licensing system, came to symbolise a triumph of social equality. Later, during World War I, the courageous ANZAC soldiers who served in Gallipoli gave new meaning to the term ‘tough Aussie’.
Australian English: speaking ‘Strine’
Australians have a unique colloquial language, coined ‘strine’ by linguist Alastair Morrison (imagine saying Australian with your teeth gritted to keep out the flies) in 1966. This combines many long lost cockney and Irish sayings of the early convicts with words from Aboriginal languages. We often abbreviate words and then add an ‘o’ or ‘ie’ on the end as in ‘bring your cossie to the barbie this arvo’. We also like reverse nicknames, calling people with red hair ‘bluey’, saying ‘snowy’ to someone with dark hair, and tagging ‘lofty’ to someone who is small in stature. We tend to flatten our vowels and end sentences with a slightly upward inflection.