When you look at Sydney and Melbourne, you can see the very modern side of Australia; when you visit the Great Barrier Reef, you see how Australia was blessed by one of the most amazing natural wonder of the world. When you walk towards central Australia, you'd meet aboriginals who may not look like Australian to you but actually they were the first people who occcupied this vast land. Here's one of Australias's most recognisable icon, ULURU.
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| Ayer's Rock, Central Australia |
If you can only learn one song from Australia, Waltzing Matilda has to be your choice! This song is known as "the unofficial national anthem of of Australia." This cartoon may help you define some of the Australian slang words that appear in the song! (words in purple are defined for you below)
WALTZING MATILDA
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolabah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never take me alive", said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".
Matilda: a romantic term for a swagman's knapsack.
swagman: a man who travelled the country looking for work.
billabong: a lake (a cut-off river bend) found alongside a meandering river.
coolibah tree: a kind of gum tree which grows near billabongs.
jumbuck: a large, naughty sheep.
billy: a can for boiling water in, usually 2–3 pints.
Tucker bag: a bag for carrying food ("tucker").
troopers: policemen.
swagman: a man who travelled the country looking for work.
billabong: a lake (a cut-off river bend) found alongside a meandering river.
coolibah tree: a kind of gum tree which grows near billabongs.
jumbuck: a large, naughty sheep.
billy: a can for boiling water in, usually 2–3 pints.
Tucker bag: a bag for carrying food ("tucker").
troopers: policemen.
Traditional Australian instrument - didgeridoo
When didgeridoo meets a western orchestra
