So with the huge mix of nationalities, sunny weather, and endless beaches instead of land borders around their country, what sort of people are Australians? Here is some information about the Australian nationality, typical Australian food, Australian wine regions, Australian beer, and Australian beaches and beach culture.
Photo: Angela Cumming. Australian Capital Tourism
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Photo: Kate Callas. Australian Capital Tourism
Australian Culture: Australian Nationality Australia has changed incredibly since the days of a British colony. With the discovery of gold in 1850s, Scotch and Irish, Americans and Chinese started to arrive. After the Second World War when Australia was attacked by Japan, more than 800,000 Europeans were encouraged to move to Australia. All of a sudden many European cultures were mixed and Australians started making wine and growing olives, drinking coffee and eating home-made cheeses. Many Asians have also arrived since and today Australian big cities have a Chinatown, a Little Italy, communities of Greeks and Vietnamese. In Spanish restaurants you’re served by Spaniards, in Indian restaurants by Indians and in South African restaurants by South Africans. Top it off with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and you get a colourful mix where everyone feels at home.
Courtesy of Tourism Northern Territory
Australian Culture: Typical Australian Food From all these different cultures, Australia has developed its own variable cuisine, made from local products in a climate where they grow year-around. Every state celebrates its food festivals with cuisines mixed from Europe, Asia and Middle East. Every state has also its specialities, although it doesn’t mean it’s the only place you can get them - you can try oysters and honey from New South Wales, exotic fruits (and wines) from Queensland, milk products from Victoria, salmon from Tasmania, olive oil from South Australia, cheese from Western Australia. All that said, the average Aussie loves a simple steak on a backyard barbeque.
Australian Culture: Australian Wine Regions With the perfect climate for grapes to grow, and a lot of Italian immigrants, it is not to wonder that Australia developed an excellent wine culture. Every southern state has their wine districts: Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Barossa Valley in South Australia, Yarra Valley in Victoria, Swan River and Margaret River in Western Australia, only to name a few. Queensland does have a few wineries in the Granite Belt in the very south of the state, but in most of Queensland, the climate is too hot for the grapes to grow. But what grows best in Queensland? Yes, tropical fruits. Today Queensland’s tropical fruit wineries produce wine from lychees, pineapples, passionfruit and pawpaws, with some appropriate names like – forget about Shiraz and Sauvignon – Paradise Gold and Rainforest Red!
Australian Beer Is Not Only Fosters But when it comes to amount of consumers, the winner in Australia is – beer. Every state has its breweries: Toohey’s in New South Wales, XXXX (pronounced “Four X”) in Queensland, VB (Victoria Bitter) in Victoria, Castlemaine in Tasmania, Cooper’s in South Australia and Emu Bitter in Western Australia. With such a variety of beers, ordering a beer in an Australian pub is not all that straightforward. You can’t just go and say, give me that beer. You have to name it, then express your wish for a size, and that’s where the things get complicated because every state uses different terms for a glass of beer. In New South Wales, you ask for a schooner (425ml), in Victoria you’ll ask for a pot (285ml), in Tasmania you ask for a 10-ounce (285ml), and in Western Australia you ask for a middy (285ml) or if you’re really thirsty, for a pint (568ml). But if you happen to ask for a stubby in Darwin in Northern Territory, be warned – their famous Longneck contains 2000ml of beer!
Australian Beaches and Australian Beach Culture Beer goes hand-in-hand with beach, and Australia has no shortage of either. With miles of beaches to every side of the continent and plenty of sunny days, Australians have developed a beach culture. 85% of Australians live less than 50km from a beach, and a lot of them are blessed with a beach almost on their doorstep. Cities have at least one famous beach: Bondi and Manly in Sydney, St Kilda in Melbourne, Glenelg in Adelaide and Cottesloe and Scarborough in Perth.
Beaches and Australian Culture It used to be that Australians spent the whole day sunbaking on the beaches, but with the growing awareness about how dangerous the sun is Down Under, they now keep active instead and surf, snorkel, dive, paddle a kayak, jetboat or parasail behind speedboats. It’s also popular to play a game of cricket or beach-volleyball, or just sit back in the shade with an esky and have a picnic and a few beers. Australian culture is all about having fun – Australians are living in a lucky country, and they know it.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
