Australian Pastimes

"Since the beginning of our modern history we have been known to do anything for fun"

Australians are into just about anything and everything

Pastimes in Australia Aussie Rules Football Fishing Boating Surfing

Pastimes is such a gentle word! "PASTIMES"! Hmm! Not really a suitable word when it comes to Aussies, we are a very competitive people and more or less "ATTACK" the time we spend enjoying ourselves. It has often been said that to the Aussie 'recreation' becomes 'wreck re-action' - yeah that is about right.

Sport

220 years ago this island continent was discovered by the British. Since that time we have grown from a penal colony and developed into a great commercial power and a SPORTING nation. We have built many beautiful CITIES and quaint country towns. Australians possess a great ability to enjoy themselves and few people have more fun than AUSSIES.

The Original Inhabitants Loved Their Sport As Well

Boomerang throwing was invented by the ABORIGINALS centuries before the white man came and it is a great Aussie pastime today. It is a lot of fun because once you have learnt to throw it properly, you do not have to go and chase it? "It comes back on it's own."

The Boomerang is not the only thing the Original Australians invented.

It appears that the Australian Aboriginals had more than a bit to do with the invention of our FOOTBALL in a game they called Marn Grook that was played with 50 to 100 players. The ball was small in size like an orange, and was made of opossum-skin, with the fur side outwards. The game was somewhat similar to the current Aussie Rules game. It was very rough and the players were barefooted and in the raw! I can here the girls saying "I'd like to see that"!

Well you can every weekend - Australian Rules Football is played all over the country. "DO THEY PLAY WITH OUT CLOTHES?" Go and watch a game!

Our summer team sports like CRICKET have a great following and you will see the teams all dressed in their whites playing cricket on ovals all over the country and if we do not play we love to watch and applaud our favourite teams. Then there is tennis, couples smashing the white or yellow ball from one side of the net to the other, double's or singles, day and night. Tennis is played in just about every city or town in Australia.

And of course we LOVE our HORSES. Horses have been the backbone of a growing nation and very important over the last 200 years. Little wonder then that we love to race them as well.

Australian Pastimes in the Water

We are also a surfing nation; we love swimming and diving, SURFBOARDING or kneeboard riding, surf-skiing, wind-sailing, kite-surfing or just spending time on the BEACH with mates and friends.

Another popular pastime is FISHING which has a tremendous following and there are fishing tackle shops everywhere. Whether it be river, lake or ocean fishing there are great fishing spots are still to be found and all year round you will find kids on the wharfs, mates out rock fishing or sitting in the tinny (small steel boat) on a quiet RIVER, right up to those that enjoy the big boat off-shore chasing Marlin or catching Sail-fish.

Social Events

The Aussie weekends are spent doing any number of pastimes, DANCING, GARDENING, HIKING OR BUSHWALKING, SCUBA DIVING , horse riding or just spending time with friends enjoying a glass of WINE or a beer around the BBQ.

CARAVANING is a great interest to some. We travel in all manner of motor-homes, flat-tops, pop-ups, trailers you pull, done up vans, old buses all decked out right up to ultra modern caravans with all the features costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We have people of all ages travelling the country, one group is known as the grey army. "I saw on a van the other day with a slogan stating, "Looking for adventure before dementure"

Australians are also very much into family time, spending time at the zoo, aquariums, THEME PARKS or enjoying a coffee at the local cafe, they even enjoy thong throwing or volley ball competitions on the BEACH.

No matter where you are in the country there will be Australian's gathering together, celebrating with food, wine, sport even the WEATHER, dance, MUSIC, ABORIGINAL culture and much more.

We can not leave out our world famous pastimes like the News Year's celebrations, with our famous fire works displays which is broadcast all around the globe.

Exploring The Great Outdoors

Australian Wildflower Adventures

From September through to January in various parts of the country the wildflowers are in full bloom and many families spend their weekends and holiday breaks going on a 'wildflower run' as one of their favourite pastimes.

The 'wild colour' starts in the northern Western Australia from mid-August and as late as January will still be seen in the southern parts of the state.

Hiking and trekking in the high mountainous country is also a great pastime and the wildflowers start to show as the snow start to melt away. Australia has some very unique wildflowers and orchids and are a source of a great pastime in documenting and photographing them.

Australian Photography

Australians have long been interested in cameras and photography as a pastime. Most Aussies have a camera, especially nowdays with mobile phones, however they also often carry around a digital camera [DSLR] or even a film SLR camera for those who are really keen photographers.

And the is so much to 'shoot'! Not only are there so many SPORTING or MUSIC events to capture on 'film' but the landscape is varied and captivating with unique flora and fauna to photograph.