The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

Australia - I still call Australia home as someone once sang.

It's been home for me over the last 37 years - wow how time flies - can't believe that. my kids started their high school education then onto uni - got married - had kids and are still here.

And in many many respects it is a great place to live. It is said to have similar social mores to UK - but social mores are difficult to pinpoint sometimes. I personally would say that we may speak similar engish to Uk but our lifestyles are so so different it is sometimes unrecognizable - even the way we celebrate the sun!! slip slap slop you know?

it is cited as being the most successful multicultural country in the world and I by enlarge agree but there are some cracks in the system and some tensions from time to time and it's all about 'making all newcomers welcome' BUT also conform to 'our norms and mores' whilst allowing the celebrations of cultural differences.

One of our recent tension points is focused on young African males who form gangs in the city and get involved in fighting each other mainly it seems but anyhow causing some social disharmony! and sometimes deaths!

the story attached explains this phenomena much better than I can. Mr Dutton, our minister for Home Affairs [formerly 'immigration and border protection ] features significantly in this article.

this you could call the underbelly of the ' highly successful and happy multicultural society' that Australia has become and is still striving to become?


https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...gy-around-race

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

Gumbud - does Oz have any cool (as in not hot) areas at all? Does it ever snow - other than on mountain tops?

I really do not know much about it.

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

from the burnt west coast that gets cyclones and heat to the far east who have the snowy mountains and skiing resorts which I am told can be very romantic. We have extreme bush fires at times and occasional earthquakes - usually small! - some of our farming areas have had drought for several years and are now selling off their cattle because they have no feed for them and can't keep buying it!

but the Indigenous peoples have learned how to live with these extremes for thousands of years and so are never to concerned about weather phenomena!

so yes in the far south of WA there are beautiful weather conditions - cold in winter and not very hot in summer. I did consider moving there at one time and going 'bush' as we say.

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

I've rejoined this site after quite along time and saw the question about the Australian climate. The answer you got about WA is true but leaves out a lot about the rest of the country. The climate goes from tropical in the north (Queensland and Northern Territory) to cool in the south )Victoria and Tasmania). I live in Tasmania and our winters are cold and wet with temps around 10-12C and in summer only a few odd days in the low 30s but mainly in the mid to high 20s.

So, the answer is yes, there are plenty of cool areas in the southern part of Australia. Hobart where I live has snow on the mountain every winter and occasionally down to the city level although it rarely settles on the ground. The main difference to UK weather is that we tend to get more sunny hours in winter days even if the temp is 10-12.

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

welcome back jaywalker - yes I didn't want to turn my posts into a large book of australian climatic conditions - I did at one point consider taking a job in tasmania - one whilst I was still in UK and I got the interview stage in London at Tasmania House and the second time whilst I was living in WA. It is so easy in a way to move around as long as you are offered jobs and travelling allowances that include furniture haulage. I once lived in Ballarat an lovely place IMO very victoriana in designs. Nice people by enlarge and the birth place of freedom for aussie workers started by the blockage and fight with the police in the gold mines. all about fair work conditions!

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

...Yup, GB...You were, of course, referring to the Eureka Stockade....in Ballarat....the legendary Peter Lalor, and all that. In some respects, it could be compared to the ''Battle of the Alamo''...!! Doomed from the beginning, of course. But, it DID accomplish the object of the exercise, at least...that is, fairer working conditions for the diggers and miners.
...And, it`s STILL a popular tourist attraction, although, mostly for Asian families who are curious about some aspects of Australian history.
Your Tasmania House in London has got me a bit stumped, though. Was that what they used to call it before it became Australia House...? Or, is it actually a separate building...? Maybe the Poms were trying to slate Tasmania as an independent state....!!!
As for the weather....it`s real bonzer here at the moment. Up in to the low 20`s already. I`ll bet that we`ll get hit with a 40 plus job before Christmas...!!! Or, close enough to it. Have come along way since the early 1970`s when i can remember sleet storms hitting the streets during the winter, and the temp used to drop down to almost zero on any given night. . Oh, and in case you are wondering...i`m a ''Pommie'' ex-pat....been here since `69. It`s nice to reminisce at times.

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

yes bayardicus - there was once a Tasmania House in London and the job was available for me to accept - but when they told me that they only offered houses to doctors I turned them down - in UK all health professionals could get house with the job! I went to Tasmania House for the interview - and was interviewed by a lowly nurse on holiday in UK and who was asked to fit the interview in - I was not impressed - I interviewed her in fact and decided to turn it down - I regret it now but finished up in WA anyway with cool climates down south in Albany and hot in the Kimberley! but IMO it's a great country - and although we do have our politics they are not as crass as the UK ones and heh we all vote heh!!

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

...So that`s where you hang out these days...the southern part of WA...?
When i first arrived on the migrant ship, it docked in Fremantle for a few hours, so, i had time to do a little exploring. Walked past a group of indigenous Aussies, standing around as a group on a street corner. And, blow me if i didn`t understand a single word they were saying to each other. It was totally like a foreign language....!!

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

No - I'm in the far north now! constant sunshine and cyclones!

Re: The land of milk and honey - boomerangs and kangas!

I see the new PM thinks moving the embassy to Jerusalem would be OK.
High proportion of Jews in the important seat Turnbull vacated.
To quote Marx (Groucho) :"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."