AUSTRALIA AND THE BUSH

THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH

• Did you know that the typical Australian landscape is called the bush? 

The bush is a place sparsely populated or uninhabited and it includes desolate and dry regions, forested areas and farming landscapes.The indigenous people of Australia, the Aborigines, traditionally have had a spiritual relationship with the bush, seeing themselves as belonging to the landscape.

• What is it about 'the bush' that is so special to Australians?

The bush has an iconic status in Australian life. It appears in Australian literature, painting, popular music, films and foods. The bush was something that was uniquely Australian and very different to the European landscapes. 

• Do you know any famous Bush ballad? I am sure you have heard of the very well-known song Waltzing Matilda. If you haven't, watch the following video:

FUN FACTS ABOUT WALTZING MATILDA

-Waltzing Matilda has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia".
-The author is Banjo Paterson, a nationalist poet who wrote the original lyrics in 1895.

-The title is Australian slang for travelling on foot with one's belongings in a "Matilda" (swag) slung over one's back.

-It narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or "swagman" making a drink of tea at a bush camp and capturing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's owner arrives with three police officers to arrest the worker for the theft, the worker commits suicide by drowning himself in the nearby watering hole, after which his ghost haunts the site.

-For over 100 years ‘Waltzing Matilda’ has been represented and reinterpreted in countless artistic works, through music, film, television, dance and literature

-The song has its own museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton, Queensland? You can have a look at their webpage by clicking here:

http://www.matildacentre.com.au/

• Now that you know a little bit more of Australian culture try to find a song, a painting, a film or any artistic work in which the Bush is represented and share it with us!