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fair dinkum... An old fashioned expression, yet fair dinkum remains as Australian as Aussie Rules footy, Vegemite, pavlova and Ned Kelly.  The expression most likely originated with coal miners from Nottinghamshire (where billy cans and damper were imported to the colonies by ex-pat locals; billy for boiling water, and damper - a poor man's bread made of flour and water). A dinkum was the negotiated wage for a coal miner, so most likely the fair dinkum was a just wage for gold miners in Australia in the 1850s. A fair dinkum Aussie… It was OK that Heath Ledger played the part of national icon bushranger Ned Kelly because Heath was a fair dinkum Aussie. It was not OK that Mick Jagger played Ned because he is not a fair dinkum Aussie. At the other end of the national stereotype spectrum is the ocker, a fair dinkum Aussie male whose life consists of sport, beer and barbies. MUSIC OF AUSTRALIA Didgeridoo (the traditional aboriginal wooden "drone pipe")! This song was composed, and is performed and sung by Richard Walley, one of the greatest and most famous Australian Aboriginal composers and musicians. Pub With No Beer PICTURE AUSTRALIA Picture Australia is a digital resource discovery tool that presents over 1.5 million photographs, artworks, objects, maps and works of art over the internet.  Location: Oceania Status: UN Country Capital City: Canberra Main Cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin Population: 18,090,000 Area: 7,713,360 km2 Currency: 1 Australian dollar = 100 cents Languages: English, Aboriginal languages Religions: Anglican, Roman Catholic, others |
