American Reacts to 25 Things That Only Happen in Australia

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to 25 things that only happen in Australia! Thanks for hanging out with me on your arvo!

[@craign6341]

A lot of these are total BS. The warning signs are not for entertainment, you can’t use half of a $10 as a $5, and we don’t call Ugg boots ‘ugly boots’.

[@aussieaussie4453]

uggies

[@suemillist9544]

And the rent a grandma bit? What the?

[@christinesavage4837]

@@suemillist9544 there are plenty of these around but basically same as hire a hubby, just a marketing ploy.

[@suemillist9544]

@@christinesavage4837 Melbourne Rez here, can’t say I’ve seen or heard of them. So it’s a nanny service?

[@HamTransom]

You can use half a $10 as a $5 at a bank, not in shops

[@ceevio_art]

A lot of of this vid is just plain BS. *Rule of thumb:* if a video about *Australia* has a narrator with an *American accent* (or any other accent that is not Australian), chances are its going to be full of crap. A $10 note ripped in half is *NOT* legal tender. Rent a granny is *NOT* an Australian idea, nor is it unique to Australia. Compulsory voting is *NOT* an Australian idea, nor is it unique to Australia. Over 20 countries have compulsory voting. (Belgium was the first.) Tasmania is *NOT* an island nation. It is a *State* of Australia, that happens to be an island, same as Hawaii is a State of the US). The segments of the Opera House 'sails' put together do *NOT* make a complete or perfect sphere, even though the design is based on "segments" of a sphere. Tourists who overstay their visas (once caught) are locked up in detention camps and extradited back to their home country. And they definitely are given *NO* access to Australia's Social Security programs. More likely, their passport will be flagged and they will be blacklisted from ever returning.

[@mundusa]

51% of a note is legal tender but only a bank will honour it.

[@bazzag7614]

You cannot rip or tear Aust plastic notes they would have to be cut! I have seen a $5 note left on top of a heater & it shrank to about half size.

[@joanneginever1890]

Thanks for the heads up Chris. I agree, videos about Aussies done by an American for other Americans are almost always a load of nonsense full of distorted facts or just outright falsehoods. I'll give this a miss😕 Bye 😊

[@Bronlynn23]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 yaaas!! People that are not Australian should make videos with “facts” about Australia!!

[@dcmastermindfirst9418]

Too right mate. These yanks are clueless

[@unsub0007]

I'm Australian and I've never heard of a rent-a-grandma. That sounds like bullsh*t.

[@craign6341]

Most of this video is bs.

[@madenabyss6981]

And yet I googled it and u can rent a grandma

[@kayreading7790]

We do have ‘Adopt a Grandma’. I actually thought of volunteering for this myself a few ago.

[@valsyaranamual6853]

Australian! I have heard of it!

[@andyossie]

This was a new one for me

[@anserbauer309]

Maybe don't choose 'only in Australia' videos compiled and narrated by Americans. They tend to over-simplify and 'dumb-down' to the point of just being wrong. Australia was _first_ discovered by our indigenous people 50,000+ years ago, then possibly the Chinese in the 1400's, then in 1606 the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed on the western side of Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline. Not Abel Tasman, after whom the island State (not nation) of Tasmania is named.

[@Reneesillycar74]

The Portuguese are in there very early as well.

[@matthewcarter2677]

Aboriginals in the Top End and FNQ may also have maintained trade with PNG

[@Shep-ql2gi]

I think you mean the Indonesians not the chinese they had longstanding tradelinks with the northern tip

[@janined5784]

@@Reneesillycar74 Yep, Ferdinand de Queros. He prayed over the land and dedicated it to God and called it the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. Sounds good to me.

[@craigdart4371]

Yeah I agree like this guy is a drongo

[@ethanHEART1]

Tasmania isn’t an island nation. It’s part of Australia. It’s our southern most state.

[@alyssaoconnor]

Unless the mainland doesn’t want to recognise us, which is pretty often lol.

[@stevehartnett9665]

@@alyssaoconnor don't confuse him ,he's confused enough already (I'm from Tassie》

[@bernadettelanders7306]

@@alyssaoconnor Ya know us mainland Aussies luvs ya Tassie, I think of you as just like all states, another Aussie state 😊

[@hermansnazzledorf2950]

@@stevehartnett9665 Look on the bright side you still rank above New Zealand for us 🤣

[@stevehartnett9665]

@@hermansnazzledorf2950I live in WA . I've been to New Zealand , the south Island was just beautiful and the people we're lovely. I've also been to the USA

[@grandmothergoose]

If you want to learn more about Australia's plastic money, watch "Secrets of the Australian Dollar". Deliberately damaging currency is illegal and cutting it in half doesn't equal half the note value, it makes it worth nothing, however a damaged note can be turned into any bank, they'll deposit funds into your bank account equal to the note value, and send the damaged note off for recycling. Don't go tearing money up, that's just stupid. To get the opera house into a perfect sphere, each "sail" needs to be sliced along the top seam first. Each side of each "sail" is one "segment". The animal signs on roads are real warning signs to tell us that animals may be present on the road. However there are entertaining and trivia signs along some roads. Kangaroo meat is the most lean in fat and highest in iron meat in the world that is available for human consumption. Australians will race anything that moves, and if it doesn't move, we'll push it.

[@ashleyking6743]

Dude I’m so glad that you were able to actually explain the opera house sphere thing. I always thought that it would make an m&m shape lol. Cheers mate.

[@pamelahardy2907]

I just googled it and it actually is worth the value of the remaining percentage as long as it is above 20% This is the case with any note so that a quarter of $100 will be $25. However it also states that no one is legally obligated to accept damage notes

[@grandmasmagic3858]

"Australians will race anything that moves, and if it doesn't move, we'll push it." chuckle...oh so true mate...

[@mavendisrrpt810]

@@grandmasmagic3858 pretty much sums us aussies up perfectly

[@grandmasmagic3858]

chuckle @@mavendisrrpt810..yup 👍

[@7thsealord888]

The road signs with wildlife on them are to warn drivers. A lot of Aussie wildlife have absolutely no road sense. Koalas are endangered. Colliding with a wombat or a kangaroo can be extremely bad, for somewhat different reasons - wombats tend to dig in and brace when threatened, so can become a massive speed bump; and if a kangaroo comes through your windscreen, the smartest move you can make is to exit the car immediately, regardless of the speed you're going at.

[@vikkievenden9988]

hahaha exit regardless of speed id be out in 2 seconds sorta like when a huntsman is in the car

[@aidanm5578]

Roo through the windshield is just natures fast food

[@robynmurray7421]

If you have compulsory voting, as Australia does, you have to make sure that everyone can vote easily. The electoral commissions, independent bodies that run state and federal ele toons, go to great lengths to make sure people can vote, whether they live in big cities, tiny desert communities or the Antarctic scientific base. Postal voting is not controversial here and there is also pre-poll voting so people can vote ahead of election day. And elections are always held on a Saturday. This is on contrast to the USA where some states appear to make it difficult or impossible for people to vote.

[@Zozette27]

So true, plus us Australians grumble if we have to wait in line for more than a few minutes to vote.

[@robynmurray7421]

@@Zozette27 You can always buy a sausage sandwich while you wait.

[@Zozette27]

@@robynmurray7421 - Last month I did a postal vote because I was concerned I might come down with covid and I desperately wanted to vote. However for the 2020 Tasmanian election I decided to vote early on Election Day. When I arrived they were only beginning to set up the sausage sizzle so I missed out. I won’t be voting that early again.

[@DaveWhoa]

also they dont get hotdogs. which is kinda weird

[@pascalswager9100]

I've got a stupid failure to vote fine! Just for the local election, what reason should I use? The actual reason was I read the sign wrong and thought the polls were open till 8pm, it was 6pm, but it was one of those dot light signs on side of road, it looked like an 8!

[@chrisdore6387]

The craziest part of that for me was that in the video, the narrator called Tasmania an island nation. It's a state, just not one on the mainland.

[@mrd4785]

Some of the stuff in this video are BS like the rent a grandma, the wildlife signs being for amusement etc. There might be some obscure law that allows you to walk into the bank and deposit a torn dollar note, but deliberately defacing currency is a crime and I don't think any retailer would accept it as payment.

[@turquoisebubbles2042]

Right , it’s just such bad fake news

[@brettevill9055]

Compulsory voting means that “energise the base” strategies don’t work - everyone gets out on polling day anyway, because they have to. That makes Australian political competition rather less divisive and more moderate than in other countries. Australian politics encourages one-issue extremism less than other countries’ politics does, because of compulsory voting. Compulsory voting also means that well-organised, well-funded parties get no advantage from “get out the vote” operations, and that makes it easier for independents and small parties without corporate donations to compete. It’s one of those things where we all have to do our bit to make the system work. Think of it as being like doing jury service. Without people sharing the burden of jury service nobody gets fair jury trials. Without everybody sharing the burden of voting we wouldn’t get to live in a responsive democracy.

[@7thsealord888]

Also worth noting, you have to REGISTER to vote, and show up at election time to get your name ticked off the roll. But you can do whatever you want with the ballot paper. Also, Aussie elections are held on SATURDAYS, rather than during the working week.. It is also possible these days to vote ahead of election day by various means.

[@brettbridger362]

@@7thsealord888 I'll just clarify that. You are required to turn up on election day (or at a pre-pole station or use a postal vote) and get your name ticked off. As your vote and the paperwork are separated, they cannot actually confirm your vote was valid and you are not required to submit a valid vote, anyway. So you can put in a blank vote, of similar and you will not be fined. These incorrect votes are called 'informal vote'.

[@leahhaines5713]

Some of these are stupid, we call them UGG boots, no you can not tear $10 in half and use it as a $5 bill, the signs are not for entertainment, the car and kangaroo means warning at dusk and dawn you're more likely to hit a kangaroo and they can do alot of damage as well as hitting a wombat it might be small but definitely makes an impact, never heard of rent a grandma before. I think this bloke needs to do more research or even ask an aussie

[@carpevinum8645]

Compulsory voting also means that issues like employment making voting difficult are mitigated. Early voting is significantly easier than it appears to be in the USA and employers preventing it isn't a thing.

[@Mirrorgirl492]

@@leahhaines5713 I think the DID ask Aussies and they spun him some yarns 😅

[@listayngeorge6929]

There are a few videos that explains how Australian polymer money changed the game.

[@unoriginalsyn]

Our Mint and Canada's actually make most of the world's currency, in fact the two mints were recently embroiled in a court case over who developed a certain security feature in the currency

[@miniveedub]

The opera house sails don’t make a sphere and they weren’t based on orange segments, Jørn Utzon, the architect, said they were inspired by the sails of boats sailing on the harbour. Voting has always been compulsory in Australia. Voting is always on a Saturday, postal voting has always been available and there are pre poll stations for people who have a valid reason for not being able to attend on election day. Your name is placed on the electoral roll for your electorate when you turn 18 and stays there unless you move to another electorate. When you turn up to vote your name is marked off the roll and you are handed your ballot papers, then it’s up to you whether you fill them out for a valid vote or leave them blank before you place then in the ballot box. We use a preferential voting system so you mark numbers beside the candidates in order of preference; the candidate with least votes in the first round of counting gets their ballot papers returned and sorted by their second preference; this keeps happening, working down the numbers on the ballot sheets until all the votes are counted and there is a clear winner. Polling usually takes place in school halls and community centres so school P&Cs and local charities often set up sausage sizzles and cake stalls/bake sales to raise money by selling to those who have turned up to vote. There is even a Democracy Sausage website you can look up to see which booths have sausage sizzles or whatever available.

[@leglessinoz]

the shapes of the sails are indeed taken from the surface of a sphere. They are ellipsoid in shape and all have the same radius. It's how he solved the problem of getting the self-supporting shapes. Not to say that the look wasn't inspired by the harbour and the boats on it.

[@robertthomson1587]

While the legislation (Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918) technically makes voting compulsory, in practice the compulsion extends only to getting a ballot paper and submitting it (at a polling booth, or via postal vote etc). There's obviously nothing prohibiting you from leaving your ballot paper blank, or drawing all over it, or deliberately making it informal. And Tasmania is not an "island nation". It's one of the states of Australia.

[@feldegast]

you lose your drivers license because you can't renew it if you have outstanding state debts which your $50 fine becomes if you don't vote without a good reason

[@terben7339]

@@feldegast It's actually a licence, not a license (which is a verb)

[@geoffdrewer1978]

Compulsory voting 🗳 may seem harsh, but it makes our democracy healthy, and ensures it's easy to vote. For example I showed up about 1/2 hour before the polls closed and walked out 8minutes later having been marked off the roll and lodged my ballots. Didn't need to show id either.

[@susanread1246]

Don't forget the good old sausage sizzles held at polling booths for local charities, kids athletics etc.

[@Kayenne54]

Compulsory voting means there isn't a democracy. Actually.

[@findmeintime]

Err whilst it may be easy enough to vote the voting process is bizarre and most people don't understand what they're doing. Which Lib/Lab take great advantage of.

[@anserbauer309]

@@findmeintime I think the results of the last election show that voting misunderstandings are much less of a problem than they used to be. The number of districts showing evidence of strategic preferential voting increased significantly, with several counting stations having to stop counting votes in favour of established parties when it became clear independents were actually ahead on preferences. It's taken a long time, but it seems like Aussies are getting it.

[@dcmastermindfirst9418]

Rubbish. We got compulsory voting because nobody would vote if they had a choice. We Aussies know that politics are bullshit.

[@craign6341]

For the opera house, you need to think about each piece separately - ie one “point” has 2 sides. It’s the sides that can be joined into a sphere.

[@graemejohnson9025]

When you drive from North to south on the Sydney harbour Bridge, look down, Sydney Opera house, is a Nuns Scrum...

[@sigmatus303]

For the most part "Footy" refers to Rugby League, Rugby Union and AFL. Soccer is the most common term but you will hear Football. One think they dont say in this video is in Australia that aside from calling ourselves "Aussies", we call New Zealanders "Kiwis" Americans "Yanks" regardless if they are from the "South" or "North", we also tend to call British "Poms". We have nick names for alot of countries.

[@melindafrazer1427]

you mean we have nick names for everything!.. even that random guy you dont know, has a nickname. he is called Old Mate....

[@stevehartnett9665]

Rugby league stole the name footy from the AFL.

[@sunshyne8539]

Spot on@Scott

[@adammuggleton4107]

For Americans, to understand the size of Australia, think of a place with the population of Texas within an area the size of continental USA (excluding area of Alaska), Australia’s population is 26 million in 2022. Sydney and Melbourne are closing in on 6 million people each, following up with Brisbane nearing 3 million and Perth at 2.5+ mil. Adelaide is at 1.5 mil. Australian cities are awesome.

[@Jessie20032]

Sure are , but in saying that even medium sized cities and country towns are awesome too 😊

[@TheEmeliaJean]

if you cut an orange into wedges then cut those wedges you get pointy bits. Cut those wedges in half width wise then you get similar shapes to the Sydney Opera House.

[@NaomiiKimberley]

I live near mount wingen (underground fire) locals pronounce it "whinge-en" the mountain is commonly known as burning mountain and it a burning coal seam. A nice hiking trail to get up there. There's a little viewing platform where you can see the red and white rock and can see the steam coming up on occasions. There can be a bit of a horrid smell.. because you know... of the constant burning haha. It's actually a moving coal seam.. predicted to hit my town in about 5 thousand years give or take haha

[@bcurrie9511]

The $10 spit in 2 to make 2x$5 is illegal as we can't damage or deface deliberately.

[@brettbridger362]

The sign with the 'roo is warning drivers that there may be 'roos on the road (mainly) between dusk and dawn and if you hit them with your car it will go badly. Therefore, they recommend that you drive at a maximum of 65 km/hour during these times.

[@traceymarshall7991]

The Opera house makes a circle just like a pizza makes a circle lol. all the points face the middle 🙂

[@kathleenjeffery4079]

The golf course is set out like a drive and play setup, for people driving across the Nullarbor that are also golf players. There is a video on YT that shows the different holes/towns.

[@ceevio_art]

The "longest golf course" - The Nullarbor Links - is not actually one single golf course. Its a "tourist trail" designed to encourage people to stop & visit sleepy little towns between Adelaide & Perth, rather than driving right on by. You play a couple of holes at the first town's regular golf course, then drive a few hours to the next town, play a couple of holes there, drive to the next town, play a few holes there...and so on.. until you've played 18 holes of golf. It takes about 4 days. You get your card stamped in each town, and then get a little trophy or certificate or something at the end so you can prove to all your Facebook friends that you are lame. 🏆 But seriously, it pumps a few extra tourist dollars into these small towns, and helps to break up the notoriously long drive across the Nullarbor Plain.

[@aidanm5578]

Haha. That facebook comment caught me off guard.

[@Kayenne54]

As if that highway isn't boring enough, they introduced golf along the way. good grief.

[@wolf1066]

"get a little trophy or certificate or something at the end so you can prove to all your Facebook friends that you are lame." I thought that playing _golf at all_ was the only proof required of being lame XD

[@Kayenne54]

@@wolf1066 Personally, don't like golf. Old mate was watching golf game one Saturday afternoon, so I stopped (still standing up) to briefly watch. Looked at all the nasty storm clouds gathering, and said "Gee those guys should get off the green" - hardly finished speaking and lightning struck really close by, video transmission blinked out for a second, when it popped back in camera guy was still shaking (and I heard a muffled curse or two from spectators) and everyone decided holding a metal stick in a thunderstorm, under trees, wasn't a great idea after all.

[@wolf1066]

@@Kayenne54 Never really seen the point of golf, personally. Got a job caddying when I was a teen in high school; wandered all over the golf course, towing this guy's golf clubs around, paid attention to the game enough that I was able to usually have the club he'd need already in my hand before he asked me for it... and he paid me far less than it cost me in petrol to get to the golf club and back that day. Changed my opinion on golf... I _had_ thought it was a game for rich wankers, but this taught me it was a game for rich wankers who don't pay their staff decent money for a day's work.

[@sarahtaylor2488]

We don't call our farms ranches. The bigger ones are called stations. When it comes to the first police force, you have to recognise the fact that many convicts were sent here for, what we would today call, misdemeanors or petty crimes. Most were not criminals but simply trying to survive and with British prisons being overfull, were sent here instead. Yes, footy is AFL and it's spelt footy, not footie!

[@BrickNewton]

And all the real criminals went on to run the Queensland police dept. 😂

[@1legend517]

In all my life of living in this country I've never heard of rent a grandma. That's a new one to me.

[@kevanwillis4571]

In the past I would use kangaroo meat to make a curry. We called it Skippy the Bush Vindaloo.

[@JustJokes-bw4fs]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@blakenisbet7567]

The trivia thing is true but your correct in the fact that the animals on the signs are to notify you that they are on the roads in the area

[@brosert]

Voting in Australia is very different to how it works in the US (it might make an interesting video in itself), but one of the fundamentals is that it is compulsory to vote. Some pedants will tell you "it's compulsory to show up, not vote" - technically they're wrong (this has been tested in numerous courts), but since voting is anonymous you can't actually get in trouble for turning up and invalidating your vote (and some people would argue that invalidating your vote (and essentially voting for noone) is actually voting anyway). I've heard the money thing before (about tearing the bill in half), but it's not as simple as they make out. The reserve bank will pay partial value for notes up to 80% incomplete, but most stores will not accept incomplete banknotes, let alone scale the value and the RBA states "there is no obligation to accept an incomplete bannk note"

[@rostallar4243]

Love your reactions to things in Australia 🇦🇺, you should watch some Documentaries on our beautiful land! The land down under, We love our Sunburnt Country! If you came here & drove this beautiful land of ours & you ran into a Kangaroo you would understand that sign!

[@TheProteanGeek]

Ripping a $10 note in half does not make you have two bits you can spend as $5... I have no idea where he got that dumb idea from. You can certainly tell it is plastic and there are parts on the note that are clear. The newer notes have more and it is pretty cool. Never heard of a rent a grandma. That's a load of crap.

[@minkeytalk1769]

I have never heard of these two things either, also the signs along the long straight highways ( hundreds of miles) are not to keep the driver amused or awake but to warn drivers of the various animals in the area, that might just dart across the road at any time.

[@Dr_KAP]

If you take the half a note to a bank they’ll give you $5. No longer needs a serial number or anything. That’s probably where it comes from but yeh they did stretch the truth a little 😂

[@TheProteanGeek]

@@Dr_KAP ahh yeah,I didn't know that was current policy. I've only dealt with a couple cases and they were where more than 80% of the note was intact or if it was torn in half but I had the whole thing. Though honestly I gave it to someone else to deal with lol

[@Dr_KAP]

@@TheProteanGeek yeh I only know because someone else reacted to this video and so I googled it at the time and was really surprised!!

[@fasteddie9201]

Believe it or not this is true. I tried it just for fun and it works.

[@feldegast]

when you cut an orange into quarters, you get POINTS at the ends

[@itzrayha2621]

I once convinced one of my British friends about drop bears 😂 hilarious. ‘Yeah, before we bought this property, there was an attack and two sightings. *sigh* they’re so common nowadays…’ ‘wait fr 😓’. It was hilarious. Some Aussie’s did the same to a (I think German) news reporter and had her dress up in all these wacky costumes to ‘keep away the drop bears’. XD you can really have some fun with it lol

[@xenamerry]

Captain James Cook, British explorer, cartographer and naval officer, was the first recorded explorer to land on the east coast of Australia in 1770. He had with him maps showing the north, west and south coasts based on the earlier Dutch exploration. He was famous for his 3 voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to New Zealand and Australia in particular.

[@paulrust316]

The golf course is between SA & WA. The hole are at "rest stops" a few hours apart & was made so drivers don't get road fatigue.

[@DeadlyDigger]

Dropbear is a mythical creature based on a very aggressive koala that drops from the tree tops onto unsuspecting people below

[@TheLocalGent]

we call what the Europeans call Football, Soccer. Footy isn't just AFL. it could refer to Rugby League, AFL or Rugby Union!

[@TheLocalGent]

also a "Drop Bear" isn't exactly a Tale. Koalas can be vicious in the wild with crazy claws haha. in the Territory they literally JUMP DOWN from trees to protect their children. thats were the name came from. don't get it twisted they will FXCK you up ha. but if your going to Aussie Zoo then obviously they are bred into that & a bit different lol. and YES i have wrestled & boxed many Kangeroos haha

[@TheLocalGent]

when they say the Dutch "founded" Australia before the English thats a blatant lie. the English didn't even "found" Australia. Aborigines have been on this land before any over humans. Aborigines are the LONGEST LIVING CULTURE ON THIS PLANET!

[@peterhoz]

The golf course is real. Its just a long drive between the green and the next tee each time! Basically its a tourist thing. There's not much else out there. BTW one of the holes is near where Skylab crashed in the late 70s (another one to look up LOL). Kangaroo meat is delicious, and yes it is very much like deer/venison. It is reputedly the healthiest red meat, being excessively lean and high protein. Best cooked med-rare, sear it otherwise it will dry out. And yes there's roo jerky. I'm not a fan of the sausages, but the steaks are very nice. They're still only eaten by a minority of the population, but they are great environmentaly compared to hoofed meat as they use little water and don't cause erosion (or methane!).

[@TheOzflyer]

Cockroach racing happens but it’s not a big thing at all, it’s a novelty event usually held in some country pubs

[@Richard-ug4el]

With the Sydney Opera house, just think of an orange. If you peel it and pull it apart, all the little pieces have pointy ends. But together they're a sphere.

[@EmmaDaisy]

Re: the Sydney Opera House. Peel an orange, separate each segment, then cut them in half. They still have “points”, and if you put it all back together it’ll still form a sphere.

[@navarian4579]

when thinking of the opera house, stop thinking of the points separately, start thinking of the parts as segments of an orange, next time you peel one and pull it apart, take note of the segments, cut each in half, place them on a plate, you will suddenly see the opera house on your plate

[@Paldasan]

Never buy UGG branded boots. Just buy ugg boots. I do worry about the script writer, the jokes are always so forced and unlike a 'dad' joke they're never remotely funny, and the incorrect information always rates pretty high. Edit: Kangaroo is pretty good. Can be a little tricky to cook as it is very lean. You do not want to over do it. I think I prefer Crocodile though, a lovely mix of chicken and fish. Also if drop bears weren't real, then why would the Australian National Museum have a page dedicated to it?

[@fab3laundry]

Exactly, I have seen drop bears jump out of trees and rip unsuspecting American tourists to shreds. They hate accents.

[@tishwho]

I could never eat Kangaroo meat. Childhood memories of culled kangaroo being boiled for dog food are too graphic

[@xenamerry]

William Dampier English explorer, pirate, navigator and naturalist, became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He headed for Dirk Hartog Island at the entrance to Shark Bay, near present-day Carnarvon in Western Australia. He made landfall on 6 August 1699. From there, he spent about 3 months charting the roughly 1400 kilometres of coast between Shark Bay and Lagrange Bay, south of Broome. He didn't like what he saw of Western Australia and didn't recommend it to the king of England (William the 3rd). In 1796, (26 years after Captain Cook, Captain Matthew Flinders, a British navigator and cartographer (drew maps) led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, (then called New Holland). After sailing with the famous Captain Bligh (from Bounty fame) on the Providence, Flinders' adventures brought him to Australia onboard the Reliance. He explored the coastline around Sydney in a tiny open boat called Tom Thumb. He next proved that Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) was an island by finding and sailing through Bass Strait (named after George Bass his ship's surgeon). His most successful voyage came between 1801 and 1803 when he charted the coastline of Australia, completing and linking together other partial surveys to give us the first complete picture of our island nation. (I was taught at school that Bass was a botanist and studied and named all the flora in Tasmania but that teacher was very wrong. They did have a botanist but it wasn't Bass).

[@lashinka2574]

You know when you cut an orange or an apple into segments? See how they went from being round to then being pointy on the end of each segment? That's how the opera house makes a sphere if all the pieces were put together 😊

[@StephyPaige98]

Never heard of cockroach racing but there is a yearly crocodile race somewhere. I heard it on the radio, the year before a croc escaped and got into the car park 🤣🤣

[@judywest-thepaintingnana9434]

Try cutting an orange in half, and continue cutting it in halves and you get segments. The segments are pointed at each end. That is the shape of the sails on the opera house.

[@anthonyrobinson5694]

Syydney Opera House statement could be read as if you take each individual slope and move it, the total slopes will make up a sphere Pause the video clip at 5:08 while you work it out. On the Left you have three segements of the roof, the left side and the right side, then add in the same of the right, the total segments will together make a sphere.

[@karenstrong8887]

Dirk Harthog discovered Australia in 1616 but he was still Dutch. I had to go through my grade school files in my head to find that. There is Trivia on the highway to my sons house. We would like to complain that the last lot of questions have not been changed for 18 months. They only have 3 questions. We will never forget that Mount Bartle Frere is the tallest Mountain in Queensland. Grade school missed that but trivia didn’t. I think it was a Kiwi bidding on his own Country. I don’t know why because most of them live in Australia with us. They don’t even need a Visa. We are allowed to insult each other like siblings do but if anyone else does we will stand together and kill you. Just like family. If we count all of the people that never went home from their holidays and Kiwis our population would be much larger. Still not a crowd. No, I don’t eat any of our Coat of Arms. I used to raise the orphans. Twice I remember my Mother making Kangaroo tail soup. You did not leave that table with anything left, not if you valued your life and that is why I kept my dog under the table. It is a very lean and healthy meat. A lot of the world does eat it, I can’t even feed it to my puppies. It would be like eating a sibling, although I do have one I would like eaten by anyone. It would have been more helpful if an Australian made that video instead of an American. He pronounced a lot wrong. I would not go on a road trip to see Australia’s big things. I do go to see our silo art. It is amazing. Look it up if you haven’t because the world has started to notice.

[@triarb5790]

The Indigenous people discovered Australia when they canoed across the Straits around 100,000 years ago. Took white man a reallllĺllly long time to get here.

[@anserbauer309]

It's now accepted that Willem Janszoon was the first European to make contact with and document part of Australia (300km Cape York coastline) in 1606.

[@paulmccarragher4106]

Kangaroo steaks are wonderful if seared on both sides and served with a side of salad and chips. Emu eggs make the most wonderful sponges known to man, snake taste like fish and shark, or flake as we call it, is the most succulent fish lightly battered in beer batter with chips, no bones. Cockatoos are tasty but have to be cooked right. Place them in boiling water with 2 large rocks, when the rocks turn soft throw away the birds and eat the rocks.

[@TallowTheQuoll]

There is a fairly popular video on our plastic money that explains why it's basically the future of note style currency and is being adopted in countries outside of Australia now.

[@TallowTheQuoll]

This one. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaWogHR_g7mrrK8

[@louislynge]

In addition to cockroach racing, we also do: Hermit crab racing, mud crab racing, cane toad racing, camel racing, and anything else you can bet on... Generally Aussies love to have a bet.

[@xenamerry]

While Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years and traded with nearby islanders, the first documented landing on Australia by a European was in 1606. The Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed on the western side of Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline. Before this Europeans had long believed there was a land mass in the southern hemisphere which they called Terra Australia Incognita, meaning Unknown South Land. On 25 October 1616, Dirk Hartog, a 17th-century Dutch sailor and explorer became the first European to set foot on the shores of Western Australia and only the second to record encountering the Australian continent. He was also the first to leave behind an artefact to record his visit, the Hartog Plate. Landing on a rugged offshore island (now known as Dirk Hartog Island), he left a pewter plate describing his ship's arrival and voyage.Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, celebrated navigator and explorer, under Anthony van Diemen (governor general of the Dutch East Indies) command. Tasman is best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Tasman was the first European to discover Tasmania. (The island was first encountered by Europeans in 1642. The first British settlers in the early 19th century retained the name). He was also the first to confirm Australia as an island continent. Abel Tasman is officially recognised as the first European to ‘discover’ New Zealand in 1642. His men were the first Europeans to have a confirmed encounter with Māori.

[@ricohact]

Here’s a video about how Australia invented the polymer bank note kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaWogHR_g7mrrK8

[@AnnaAnnaTT]

voting in Australia is on Saturday to give people the best opportunity to vote in person. People in Australia can also choose to vote by mail = a postal vote. If a person REALLY does not want to vote, but does not want to be prosecuted for NOT voting - then they can turn up at the voting venue and have their name ticked off the list of registered voters but then put the empty voting paper into the ballot box (and cannot be fined) = their vote will be recorded as an "INFORMAL vote by the people who later count the votes and find no writing on the voting paper. Once registered to vote means that the person must then vote from then onwards

[@TagSpamCop]

13:40 Kangaroos are farmed. They tend to reproduce quite quickly, and in some of the outback areas, they actually cull them. Australia might be the only country that eats its own national mascot. We also eat emu too, although that's much less common. Kangaroo meat is sold in supermarkets, but beef, lamb, pork and chicken are all much more popular. Kangaroo tends to be quite lean and has a unique, slightly gamey taste.

[@harryconsu3746]

Kangaroos are largely totally peaceful and sometimes curious. I once had a half grown wild roo form a weird interest in me and would follow me every day and would hop behind me about a metre behind - a few times I stopped dead to see what it actually wanted from me - turned out nothing, it just stopped and waited for me to start walking again so it could continue stalking me.... very odd kanga and it never followed anyone but me and btw I never fed it or encouraged it.. curious few years of my life

[@anneliediederiks]

Australians does not like eating kangaroo meat, they believe it has worms in it 🤷🏼‍♀️ We arrived here just over a year ago. We eat the kangeroos and the meat is a lot like deer, yes. We made kangeroo biltong which is the South African version of jerky. It was good 👍🏻

[@fab3laundry]

Yep pin worms 🪱

[@unoriginalsyn]

Ummmm, eat them all they time, used to hunt my own 🤷‍♀️

[@AC-kc2qt]

True we do not eat kangaroo meat as a rule 99.5

[@mehere8038]

We have secret ballot voting, which means it's impossible to have compulsory voting. It's just compulsory to spend the time thinking about if you want to vote/who you want to vote for, which means you have to show up at the polling booth & get your name marked off, or access & send in a ballot in another way, such as mail ballots, early voting etc. If you don't want to vote for anyone, you can just hand in your ballot paper blank, but traditionally, if you're not going to vote, you draw a duck (with an i) & balls on the ballot, either one big one covering all candidates, or some people actually draw separate little ones in the boxes next to every candidate's name. 95% of people over 18 chose to vote properly in the last election though, we normally get over 90% of people do. Used to be lower, but nowadays people see it as their civic responsibility to attend their local polling booth, vote & then buy their "democracy sausage" to help a local charity & the compulsory nature of it means our independent electoral commission is obligated to ensure everyone has access to vote, so it's a good thing. Most city/urban people will have a polling booth within 1-2kms of their home & locations like hospitals all have them & places like nursing homes have mobile voting booths visit them sometime in the couple of weeks before the election to make sure everyone that wants to gets the chance to vote. In remote parts of Australia, the electoral commission staff hitch a ride on the flying doctor planes when they do regular clinics & take all the ballot papers to the remote areas & give people whatever assistance they need in voting. We do have Indigenous communities that live in remote areas that often speak little to no English, so those communities need additional assistance to be able to vote (this was shown clearly with the plebiscite we had on rainbow marriage, which was run by the census people instead of electoral commission & in some communities the men burnt their ballots, cause of bad translations & then believing the question being asked is if they should be compelled to marry another man, rather than being allowed to. Electoral commission normally manages these situations with proper translations & information to make sure their votes count. By making voting compulsory, the electoral commission has an obligation to do this, not just say "those people chose not to vote" & kangaroo is a game meat, so sort of like deer I think, but I've never tried deer, but it's meant to be less gamey & more like beef than deer meat. It's basically just a stronger version of beef & is great in dishes where the meat flavour washes out. Very popular as the burger patty in burgers here (but not at fast food places). Beef, chicken & lamb are all more popular than kangaroo, but roo meat is sold at all major supermarkets, so it is a mainstream meat. The lamb promoters have managed to make lamb our "National dish" rather than roo, they do great Aussie humour ads for "Australia Day lamb" every year. I would say you should do a react video to those ads, but I think they probably have too many local references & probably wouldn't make much sense to you. AFL would be cool to see you do a reaction video to though :) Actually our other codes of footy would probably be cool too, that's rugby league & rugby union & while doing the AFL, check out the AFLW - that's women playing the same game, same rules, no going soft cause they're girls

[@xenamerry]

Back when I was a kid (I'm 74 now 2023), Kangaroo Tail Soup was a delicacy served in top hotel restaurants like the 'Chevron' in Melbourne. Now you can have roo steaks etc. It's a great meat. My friend lives in the country and killed and cooked roo meat for me. It is great. Like mild beef maybe and very tender but you have to cook it gently and quickly on a low heat. I think he's wrong about finding it easily in a butcher's or supermarket. It's probably easier to get in pet food.

[@banjo1973au]

Although it is compulsory to cast a vote, what you write on your ballot is up to you, so if you wanted to, you could vote informal. I used to oppose compulsory voting until I saw an episode of The Newsroom in which some US states introduced measures that made it difficult for some folks to vote in the hope that, with voting in the US (and indeed most democracies) being optional, they would give up and not bother, thereby effectively disenfranchising them. With it being compulsory to cast a vote, however, the state has a greater obligation to ensure that every voter can cast their vote. It also, as Brett Evill pointed out, can help civilise the whole process as well. I remember I was once handing out how to vote cards for a political party at a small polling station, and all of us would take in turns in handing each other's opponents cards if they need to eat, go the toilet, etc and vice-versa. Where else in the world could THAT happen? Yay for compulsory voting :)

[@egrffin8534]

Is the Opera House inspired by an orange? 1. Rind Over Matter. The initial concept for the Opera House's unique sails supposedly struck architect Jørn Utzon while he was peeling an orange and admiring its segmented nature. It's also believed snails, palm fronds and ancient Mayan temples served as inspiration for Utzon's one-of-a-kind design.

[@tonyhicks635]

The sails of the Opera House. Take each side of the roof as a sail. They are all curved triangular pieces (picture the segments of the orange peel). Just line up the edges.

[@ryanboscoe9670]

Dude the clue to it being a sphere is that he made it while eating an orange. Orange wedges... It's not hard just think of how you would cut up an orange

[@WittyScrewdriver]

Yep, each orange wedge cut in half width wise will give the Opera House sections… except the opera house was designed because the architect liked the look of the boat sails on the harbour, I’m guessing the orange was probably the inspiration for how to do it.

[@clabood]

We do have trivia questions on the road but the signs of animals are 💯 to warn you of the possibility of the those animals on the road haha.

[@kawaiimarea]

My Dad would sometimes scare me as a kid and tell me that a drop bear hurt my uncle. I was too smart for his jokes :)

[@paulrust316]

Koala's get pissed off the gum leaves & do fall out the trees (also sleep 20 hours a day), when they fall out the trees they get really pissed off so don't try & pick them up, they have sharp claws & are really strong.

[@peteryoung8462]

The golf course is real- it's a way to break the long trip across the Nullabor. You stop for petrol and a meal, play the local hole, then drive several hours to the next hole/rest stop.

[@naroe2001]

you can tell the money is plastic as soon as you touch it. Each note is a slightly different length, and recently dimples were added to assist vision impaired identify their money by touch

[@HaurakiVet]

If you separate the roof sections of the opera house along the ridge lines you will have a number of curved but flattish panels. These panels should fi together as claimed, no ridges involved. The ratio of sheep to people (if it is important) is higher in NZ, about 6 to1 as I recall.

[@Vince_Steele]

As a thought experiment, cut an orange peel into 8 equal triangular segments. Now take two of those those segments and join them at an angle to form a sail shape. You now have a point at the top of the sail. Now reverse the process and put the segments back on the naked orange. This is how you'd take the Sydney Opera House sails, and then turn them into a sphere. You first have to disconnect the two halves of each sail and treat each newly made section as a sphere segment. Laying them flat against the sphere, bulging side up, instead of standing them up in pairs, as a sail shape.

[@annmillar1481]

Kangaroo meat is delicious if cooked correctly. I usually barbecue it. For just a few minutes so its rare. It takes like beef steak. It has very little fat, and high in protein.

[@carriebizz]

I personally don't eat kangaroo and never will I cannot. I like that voting is compulsory. In the suburbs of Melbourne you don't see roos or koalas. I give Americans a break as they aren't taught about other countries as they think they are the only country that matters

[@alisonard2026]

Recommendation - the movie "The Dish" a comedy about Australia's involvement in the moon landing.

[@BrickNewton]

Or The Castle - an average Australian mans struggle to get to his Commodore “Ay Steve, can you move the Camira? I need to get the Torana out to get to the Commodore.” “Sure thing Dad, but I'll have to get the keys to the Cortina if I'm gunna move that Camira.” “Alright mate, just watch the boat”

[@aperinich]

Kangaroo Jerky or Biltong, is the best~! Kangaroo are herbivores, and grazers, so their meat is naturally flavoured. Kangaroo meat that is sold comes from farmed kangaroo only, its not advisable to eat wild kangaroo, but of course the native population have been doing so for many tens of thousands of years, since the 'roo were MUCH bigger~!

[@clivegilbertson6542]

HiThere... for another perspective on the size of Australia...the US marines send 2500 personnel to Australia to the Bradshaw Field Training Area every year work with Aussie troops...That "area" is 870,000 hectares or bigger than the state of Conneticut. Yes we do eat Kangaroo which is 97-98% fat free meat. I can buy from my local supermarket, Coles, and always have a kilo of mince in the freezer...

[@anxiousteengamer8141]

footie depends where your from in the country, in my part of nsw we call NRL-> footie, afl -> afl, soccer -> soccer and Rugby Union -> either rugby or union

[@jackelbrash3444]

Hey Ryan , I hope you can hear us laughing when you say some of things you do ! I have only come across your videos in the last couple of weeks , but i'm loving them. Yesterday , i was watching something and they talked of cubed poo , and you said " well , i think it depends on the shape of their sphincter ." You got me , i nearly choked on my drink , seriously belly laughed. AND , LOVING your tshirts . I'm definitely going to buy a couple after this xmas crap is over with ! They're really great. The only downside to your videos is , they're WAYYYYY too short ! We just start getting into your great sense of humour , and then you say goodbye. You're not cheating on us are you ? ! People do eat roo , yes, but it's a very rich meat. Not my cup of tea , but lots love it. Marinated on barbies usually. I prefer crocodile , that is unbelievable. It's like a steak-sized prawn . Served with a buk choy salad ..... Very yummy. I live near another 'big aussie thing ' - the big oyster . We hate it ! Lol, it's very ugly ! Looks like a very ugly girl part ! ! Google it. Also , sparrow fart is the crack of dawn ! Did you end up watching a whole episode of Hey Hey yet ? Really glad you now know about Bondi Rescue , those young fellas are bloody legends , the lives they save leave one speechless. The amount of tourists that come here and head straight for our most famous beach , and can't even swim a stroke . Just crazy. They have no idea what a rip is , and how far it can take you towards losing your life. And i know that you love music , so please check out our fav aussie music show Spicks and Specks. Watch a couple ! Truly , you'll love it . And the Mrs will too. ❣ So , do you have an email for us to arrange sending you something ?

[@AbbyMaskell]

I can't believe the mushroom playground at the belco markets was in this video.

[@fi77er]

The drives licence is suspended until the fine is paid. On the voting thing some people will do a donkey vote so it won't be counted and some people just don't both to register. You have to register before you first vote.

[@barryluxford5969]

In Australia you are required to attend the polling both and get your name checked off. If you don't want to vote you can just put blank ballot papers in the the collection box. That is how we get a lot of the informal votes.

[@anthonyglee1710]

I’d take all these “facts” with a pinch of salt. Plenty of countries use polymer bank notes. I’m from the UK and we use them and they’re so much more hygienic, you can wash them no problems. Ironically handheld cash is dying out here in the UK though, in favour of contactless on phones and cards.

[@anserbauer309]

That's all true, but Australia was the first country to introduce polymer banknotes.

[@Zozette27]

I believe that Australia owns the patent for polymer bank notes.

[@Reneesillycar74]

An interesting fact: Australia also makes currencies for other countries.

[@rickyd.989]

Yes Mr UK man, of course you have plastic notes, as do some other countries. But we invented them and other countries now use our technology.

[@triarb5790]

They started here and most polymer notes for other countries are made here too. Sorry Poms, you are wrong again. 🇦🇺

[@CASA-dy4vs]

5:31 I’ve been there it’s a huge playground in Canberra inside a place with lots of endangered stuff

[@thebagsbunch9368]

I drive past the big cheese in bodalla every day 😅 it’s huge but it’s getting pulled down soon it’s really old

[@carolynwhetham9514]

It was Dirk Hartog who was Dutch was here first & landed in north west WA. Was too desolate with no fresh water so left.

[@PaulSmith-ss6zm]

I'm Australian and to me the drop bear is the huntsman spider they are harmless and big and hairy and sometimes they can fall off there perch out of a tree camping out.. or at home in the middle of the night.. imagine your asleep and one falls on your face! Suddenly waking up with a big hairy spider on your face... would feel like a bear 🐻 a drop bear 🐻 😆👍

[@jazzy21133]

If you don’t vote in NSW it’s a $55 fine, if you don’t pay it within 28 days, you’ll have to pay legal fees (court, lawyer, etc.) 3:07

[@julieosborne2948]

Kangaroo meat is very lean, low fat. Easy to buy here. Kangaroo tail cooked on a fire is amazing…. juicy as. I don’t eat meat anymore but I went to an indigenous festival years ago and tasted it cooked by indigenous women on the fire. OMG… it was amazing!

[@edwardlansdowne291]

If you don't want to vote but you don't want to get fined you can just draw a frowny face or something on your ballot and put it in the box....no one checks that you actually voted. if you don't show up to vote and have your name checked off the list you will get fined. BUT if you go to the trouble of showing up why would you not then vote, it's the only bit of say that most citizens get.

[@melissaelffmoff3105]

If you take a orange and cut it in half and in half again you can start to see the same shape as the Sydney Opera house. So when they say the shape is taken from sphere just think of the shape you get from cutting an Orange!

[@kiwi007]

We have plastic money too in New Zealand, they dont mention how hard it is to feed into a machine if it gets buckled.

[@Cindy-xg6yn]

Australia's money is printed using Polymer which is a type of plastic. It makes the notes more difficult to counterfeit and includes a range of security features.

[@xenamerry]

I didn't know that wombat poo is square but I've looked it up with pictures and it's true. The edges are rounded, not sharp straight lines but you can clearly see the square shape.

[@Rottnwoman]

We eat the Coat of Arms. At dinner one night in a local restaurant I had Emu sausage and my son in law had Kangaroo - that's what is on the Coat of Arms!

[@Cindy-xg6yn]

Voting is compulsory in Australia for adults. I suppose you can fold up your voting form and stick it in the box blank unless they're using an electronic system but you have to check off your name at the time of voting. You're supposed to register once you turn 18.

[@frenchys_prospecting]

I’ve had my granny for 12 years now. She’s been great.

[@xenamerry]

The original convicts were mostly sent to Australia because Britain had no room for them. Times were bad in England and people were arrested for stealing bread just to survive, so it's feasible that some of them would make fine police.

[@margi9103]

Kangaroo has a slight gamie taste. It’s a very lean meat and should be cooked to medium rare to medium, not well done. There is another video on You Tube that explains our polymer notes. Our money is very difficult to counterfeit and several countries now use polymer notes. When the notes are taken out of circulation due to wear and tear or damage they are recycled and made into other items e.g., compost bins.

[@kaosgaming9604]

14:18 that’s where the term “shitting bricks” came from