The Seekers were an Australian musical group originally formed in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group (with a touch of folk) to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Essentially Australia’s first “supergroup” the band’s most popular configuration consisted of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley with best selling songs including “Georgie Girl”, “I’ll Never Find Another You” and ” The Carnival Is Over.”
In 1967 The Seekers were named joint “Australians of the Year”. In 1995 the group was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. They were individually honoured as Officers of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of June 2014.
Sadly, we lost lead singer Judith Durham in 2022.
Have a listen to this: considered by many as an alternative National Anthem.
Louis de Bernières is an English novelist, best known for his 1994 historical war novel, “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.” I’ve mentioned previously that I would have enjoyed the movie of the same name about Italian soldiers who occupy the Greek Island of Cephalonia during World War 2 except for three things:
Nicholas Cage
Nicholas Cage
Nicholas Cage
The writer holidayed in Australia at one stage where he came upon a statue of a dog during a visit to the Pilbara region of Western Australia. What can I tell you about the Pilbara? It’s remote mining country, wickedly hot and with nothing but red dust for miles.
But I digress. Back to the statue …….
The dog’s name on the statue was “Red Dog” ( 1971 – 1979), a kelpie/cattle dog cross.
He had a series of owners and lengthy periods travelling on his own, essentially becoming a beloved friend and mascot of the greater Pilbara community. “Red Dog” was made a member of the Dampier Salts Sport and Social Club and the Transport Workers Union and was also given a bank account with the Bank of New South Wales which was said to have used him as a mascot, with the slogan. “IfRed banks at the Wales, then you can too.“
When “RedDog” died, presumed poisoned, a local vet had him buried in a secret unmarked grave. There is a plaque, fixed to a boulder, very close to this site, just outside of the town of Cossack WA. The plaque states:
” Red Dog
The Pilbara Wanderer
Erected by the many friends
Made during his travels.”
This story so inspired de Bernieres that he wrote the novella, “Red Dog”, published in 2001, which was adapted to a film of the same name in 2011.
As of 17 November 2011, the film made more than A$21 million at the Australian box office since opening in August 2011. Red Dog is ranked eighth in the list of (Cinema of Australia) highest-grossing Australian films of all time. Eleven days after opening, Red Dog became the highest-grossing Australian film of 2011. Much of this success is because Nicholas Cage was not involved.
*For bonus trivia, the soundtrack to the movie features some truly great Aussie pop music. Grab a glass of plonk and prepare to flit across the lounge room floor.
*I remember seeing this movie with Cat Balou. There was laughter, tears, and bopping to the music in our seats. It was my last time being in a cinema where everyone clapped at the end of the movie.
The quokka is a small marsupial the size of a domestic cat. The quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.
The quoll is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia and New Guinea. They are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in a den. Of the six species of quoll, four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea.
Unfortunately, I have never spied either of these creatures in the wild. Add to Must Do List.
Australia has around 140 species of land snake, and 32 recorded species of sea snakes. Some 100 Australian snakes are venomous, although only 12 are likely to inflict a wound that could kill you.
Our spiders too have a bad reputation. We have some of the most venomous spiders in the world. Some spider bites can be harmful and need emergency medical treatment. Some too can kill you.
But we’re going to leave those alone and look at the Platypus. These solitary, secretive creatures are nearly extinct and there is a huge push to remedy that situation.
Although not cute and cuddley like the Koala here are my Top Ten Platypus facts :
The platypus is a mammal.
The platypus and the echidna are the only mammals that lay eggs.
A baby platypus is called a puggle.
They don’t have stomachs.
They are carnivores.
They don’t have teeth.
They knuckle-walk like gorillas and anteaters
Female platypuses don’t have nipples. Instead, they release milk from pores in their mammary glands.
Male platypuses have venomous spurs.
Platypuses swim with their front feet and steer with their back feet.
Have I seen a platypus in the wild?
Certainly. In the Royal National Park south of Sydney whilst picnicing, and in a stream on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland. On both occasions I held my breath in excitement.
Lastly, some truly weird information. Did you know that in March 1943 the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, telegrammed Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin, requesting six platypuses be sent to Britain forthwith. There was a strict law in place preventing the removal of platypuses from Australia, but given who was asking, Curtin decided to make an exception, just this once.
The story goes that Churchill kept a colourful menagerie containing black swans, a lion called Rota, white kangaroos and other creatures. Many of these were gifts from individuals or organisations hoping to gain favour or publicity.
Australia sent a sole platypus to England though sadly, Winston the platypus never made it to the platypussary that had been so carefully constructed for him. Though the journey through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic was risky, the voyage proved uneventful. Winston was always “lively and ready for his food”. But on 6 November, just four days from Liverpool, the Port Phillip suffered a submarine attack. Winston was found dead in his tank immediately afterwards.
Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska was born in November 1920. She was a descendant of the Noonuccal people of Minjerribah. [North Stradbroke Island]. Her totem was Kabool the carpet snake, who could not be eaten by his people.
Kath was strongly influenced by her parents. Mother Lucy was one of the ‘stolen generation’, who was not taught to read or write at the mission, gaining domestic skills instead. Her father, Ted Ruska, was the foreman of a gang of Aboriginal labourers employed by the Queensland Government. Their measley income was supplemented by using the traditional hunter/gatherer skills of the Noonuccal people.
Lucy was determined her children would read and write. Her father said to her ‘Just ‘cos you’re Aboriginal doesn’t mean you have to be as good as most white children – you have to be better.’
Kath attended Dunwich State School which she left at 13 to become a poorly paid live-in domestic servant. In 1941 she joined the Australian Women’s Army Service. [AWAS]. She was promoted to corporal, worked in switchboard operations and later as a pay clerk.
In 1942 Kath married Bruce Walker – a descendant of the Logan and Albert River Aboriginal people – though a dependence on alcohol led to domestic violence and the complete breakdown of that marriage.
To support herself and young child Kath became a domestic servant for the family of Sir Ralph and Lady Cilento who encouraged Kath to write and taught her to draw and paint.
In 1964 her poetry anthology, “We Are Going”, was the first book to be published by an Aboriginal woman. The title poem ends:
“The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter.
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place.
The bora ring is gone The corroboree is gone And we are going.”
“The Dawn is at Hand ” was published in 1966 and the third collection “My People: A Kath Walker Collection,” was published in 1970.
In the 1960’s Oodgeroo fought for Aboriginal rights. In 1963 she met Sir Robert Menzies, the Australian Prime Minister. When he offered her a drink of wine she told him that if he had done that in Queensland he could have been put in gaol. It was not until 1967 that Aboriginal people had the right to vote.
In 1972 Oodgeroo returned to the birthplace of her people – the Noonuccal. She established an education and cultural centre at Moongalba [sitting down place] on Stradbroke Island. By 1987, 26,500 children had experienced sitting down and learning at Moongalba.
In 1988 she adopted a traditional name: Oodgeroo – paperbark tree – and Noonuccal – the name of her people.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal earned many awards:
• 1970 Mary Gilmore Medal
• 1975 Jessie Litchfield Award
• International Acting Award
• Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Award
• Doctor of the University from Griffith University.
In 1970, as Kath Walker, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to the community. In 1987 she returned it as a protest against the forthcoming bicentenary celebrations of Australia. She stated, “Next year, 1988, to me marks 200 years of rape and carnage, all these terrible things that the Aboriginal tribes of Australia have suffered without any recognition even of admitted guilt from the parliaments of England…. From the Aboriginal point of view, what is there to celebrate? … I can no longer with a clear conscience accept the English honour of the MBE and will be returning to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England.“
Oodgeroo Noonuccal died in 1993 at the age of 72.
Note:
This is very much an abridged version of a life and I recommend reading:
Australia’s national symbols that have been officially chosen , either by vote, legislation or proclamation, to represent Australia and its states and territories include:
the Australian National Flag.
the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.
our floral emblem, the golden wattle.
We’ve previously covered the Flag. Boy, was that a dry topic……
Let’s tackle the Commonwealth Coat of Arms next.
The Commonwealth Coat of Arms is a formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia. It depicts a shield, containing symbols of Australia’s six states, and is held up by native Australian animals, the kangaroo and the emu. The seven-pointed Commonwealth Stars surrounding the crest also represents the states and territories, while golden wattle appears below the shield.
Although the kangaroo and emu have never been designated as official animal emblems of Australia, they were chosen to symbolise a nation moving forward based on the fact that neither animal can move backwards i.e. symbolising progress.
I just adore the Golden Wattle, deemed our floral emblem. Growing up in a little bush suburb in the outer suburbs of Sydney, now considered suburban sprawl, the wattle was ever present. Celebrating Wattle Day whilst in Primary School holds special memories.
Writer May Gibbs (1877- 1969) in her children’s books about nature ( Snugglepot and Cuddlepie) featured the cheerful Wattle Babies, “the most good-natured of all the Bush Babies. Their bright yellow clothes brighten the bush on a Winter’s day. In Spring they love to go boating and swimming with their frog friends and have fun playing hide and seek with the baby birds.”
As one species of a large genus of flora growing across Australia, the golden wattle is a symbol of unity. Wattle is ideally suited to withstand Australia’s droughts, winds and bushfires. The resilience of wattle represents the spirit of the Australian people.
The green and gold of the wattle is the basis of our national uniform in sporting competitions.
The letter M has been hugely problematic. Melbourne, a capital city in Australia’s south, bores me to tears – sorry, not sorry – and marsupials have been done to death.
So let’s talk about a couple of lads who have captured my imagination since the teenage years : actor and film producer, Mel Gibson, and Breaker ( as in horse breaker) Morant.
Both talented and controversial figures. Gibson won huge praise as Max Rockatansky in the 1979 Australian movie, Mad Max. This was a post apocalyptic world with a collapsed society , a shortage of resources, destruction of the environment, and war. All fun things.
So popular was Mel as Mad Max that Mad Max 2 followed in 1981, and then Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985. ( We wont mention any others in the franchise. Without Gibson they were pure malarkey). Of course, Mel found fame and fortune and moved to the other side of the world -which is not surprising the way he wore leather – where he has gone on to produce and star in some monumental movies. Sadly, he is often the topic of disdain which is odd given that country’s penchant for the likes of Donald Trump.
Harry Morant too is often judged poorly, despite his talent for writing bush ballads and skill with horses. The subject of film and numerous books, The Breaker’s execution by British firing squad in Pretoria in 1902 continues to create debate.
I am currently reading PeterFitzsimon’s version of events. Three weeks in and I’ve made it to page 21. ( Message to Pete : why is each and every book you write the size of a doorstop? And you know that bandana around your forehead? Loosen it; that may help.)
Anyway, M is way too challenging.
I’m off to Miles in the Western Downs for a few days because of its proximity to the Dingo Fence. Promise more focus for N.
Lord Lamington was born in London on 29 July 1860 as Charles Wallace Alexander Napier COCHRANE-BAILLIE holding the aristocratic title of Baron Lamington. He was Governor of Queensland from 9 April 1896 to 19 December 1901.
The story goes that a maid-servant was working at Government House in Brisbane when she accidentally dropped the Governor’s favourite sponge cake into some melted chocolate. Lord Lamington was not a person of wasteful habits and suggested that it be dipped in coconut to cover the chocolate to avoid messy fingers. Lord Lamington devoured this new taste sensation with great delight and the maid-servant’s error was proclaimed a magnificent success by all!
Thus the birth of the Lamington.
In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the lamington was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as an iconic “innovation and invention”.
The title of World’s Largest Lamington belongs to Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce and a local bakery, who earned a Guinness World Record for a lamington weighing 2,361kg.
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup self-raising flour 1/2 cup milk.
Beat the eggs well, gradually adding the sugar until dissolved. Add the milk and vanilla essence and then stir in the self raising flour and whip the butter into the mixture. Pour the mixture into a cake tin or lamington baking dish and bake in a moderate oven of 180 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes and then stand for 24 hours preferably in the refrigerator, before applying the icing.
THE CHOCOLATE ICING
4 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons boiling water
3 cups desiccated coconut.
Stir the cocoa and icing sugar vigorously in a large bowl, adding the milk, butter and boiling water, warming the chocolate mixture over a very low heat until it has a smooth creamy texture. Cut the sponge cake into equal squares about 5cm x 5cm and, using a fork or thin skewer, dip each piece into the chocolate mixture ensuring that the mixture is liberally and evenly applied. Dip each piece into the desiccated coconut, allowing the lamingtons to cool on a wire tray for several hours.
At approx 4 am on Saturday, 30th of May, 1942, a Japanese pilot flying his Yokosuka(Glen) floatplane flew low over Sydney Harbour to do a reccy on the anti- torpedo boom net that had recently been constructed between Georges Head and Green Point. His observations were relayed to the Japanese Army’s submarine 50 kms north-west off Sydney Harbour.
The plane was spotted by members of an artillery battery on Middle Head who believed it to be an American aircraft. The sighting was reported to the Duty Officer (Intelligence) at Garden Island Naval Base where it was considered a non-issue.
In all there were five Japanese submarines off the east coast, three of them carried midget subs fixed to their rear upper decks. The objective of the exercise was to attack the shipping on Sydney Harbour.
The three midget submarines detached themselves at around 5:40pm on May 31st and headed to Sydney Harbour. The first became entangled in the boom net and was spotted around 8.15 pm by a Maritime Services Board watchman who rowed out to investigate what he thought was a possible mine. The pilots of the submarine determined their situation to be hopeless and self destructed the vessel.
The second midget snuck into the harbour undetected as it was travelling in close proximity to a ferry. The submarine had its sights on ” The Chicago”, an American cruiser. Luckily, the crew were in a state of readiness and went into evasive action.
The submarine’s first torpedo bypassed the cruiser and ran onto the Garden Island wharf where it went under a Dutch submarine and HMAS Kuttabul, a Sydney ferry converted to provide accommodation in port for naval personnel. The tornado detonated against the retaining wall, the force of which destroyed HMAS Kuttabul, killing 19 Australian sailors and two British.
In the early hours of June the 1st, the third midget submarine sneaked into the harbour and was detected by “The “Chicago” as it went out to sea. Local vessels attacked accordingly and the Japanese fell.
The story of HMAS Kuttabul was an important one during my childhood growing up in Sydney. Both my parents were Sydney people and my mother would recount the fear she felt when ” the war came to town.”
This was not a topic included within the NSW Department of Education’s curriculum in the 1960’s and 70’s. We were too busy focussing on Florence Nightingale and Captain Cook.( No, it was maths and Chaucer I slept through.)
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boil,
You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.”
– Andrew Barton Paterson
So begins Banjo Paterson’s bush ballad “Waltzing Matilda” which has long since become known as the “unofficial national anthem of Australia”.
“The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one’s belongings in a “matilda” (swag) slung over one’s back. The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or “swagman”, making a drink of billy tea at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat.”– wiki
The song doesn’t have a happy ending. After a fine meal consisting of billy tea and lamb cooked over a fire, with remnants safely stashed away in his “tucker bag”, the grazier arrives with three policemen to arrest the worker for stealing his sheep. The worker drowns himself in a small watering hole.
“Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
“You’ll never catch me alive”, said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
“You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me”.
According to Paterson’s initial wording of the poem the Swagman wasn’t always so jolly.
So why is the itinerant worker now considered a jolly swagman?
Sydney tea merchant, James Inglis, wanted to use “Waltzing Matilda” as an advertising jingle for Billy Tea, by slipping a copy of the song into the packets of Billy Tea as a promotional stunt. However, the tea manufacturers were concerned that the song ended on a distressing note.
In early 1903, eight years after Paterson wrote the original poem, Inglis purchased the rights to ‘Waltzing Matilda‘ and asked Marie Cowan, the wife of one of his managers, to try her hand at turning it into an advertising jingle. Cowan made a few minor changes to the words and melody , including adding the word “jolly” to the opening line.
The addition of that one word changed the entire connotation, elevating our swagman from a starving, thieving, homeless hobo hounded by police to a happy chappy enjoying life on the land. “Jolly” was added purely to enhance advertising prospects.
Incidentally, in Winton, outback Queensland, you’ll find the Waltzing Matilda Centre, a Museum centred around the poem. It’s an absolute gem. Nearby, I encountered my first Coolibah Tree which I had thought was much like leprechauns, unicorns and mermaids. Winton is well worth a visit.
Brizzy Mays Books and Bruschetta 