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5 Quirky Traditions You Will Only Find In Australia

And we aren’t ashamed of them either

By DeeDeePublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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5 Quirky Traditions You Will Only Find In Australia
Photo by Johnny Bhalla on Unsplash

I’m Aussie born and bred, and I really enjoy travelling to other countries whenever I get the chance. But, I will always call Australia home, for so many great reasons.

For such a young country, Australia has so many fun and quirky traditions and pastimes. Here are some of my favourites.

  • Meat Pies At The Footy
  • Bunnings Sausage Sizzle
  • Bare Feet In The Supermarket
  • Wearing Your Togs To Christmas Lunch
  • We Like To Eat Our Coat Of Arms

Meat Pies At The Footy

They say if you never attend an AFL match, can you truly call yourself an Aussie?

What is AFL?

Australian Football League is Aussie Rules Football. A game that consists of 18 teams from around the country.

When at the footy, you MUST enjoy a meat pie. It’s considered Australias most famous snack. But note — there is a particular etiquette to enjoying our meat pies. The Aussie meat pie is a hand-held food (no knives and forks here) and BE CAREFUL when you first bite in. They can be HOT, like lava!

The Aussie meat pie has been designed to be eaten one-handed so that your free hand can hold your beer!

Bunnings Sausage Sizzle

Heading to Bunnings for the sausage sizzle is a weekend tradition.

What is Bunnings? 

Bunnings is a hardware chain where anyone who is renovating, or gardening tends to congregate. Their stores contain an amazing garden centre where you can find all kinds of awesome plants (perfect for indoor plant tragics like me).

When you visit Bunnings on the weekends, there is always a stall set up outside for the sausage sizzle. The sausage sizzle is generally a fundraiser. A sausage on bread, onions, mustard and dead horse (aka tomato sauce) will sell for a gold coin donation ($1 or $2).

Due to the pandemic, it’s been a while since sausage sizzles have been happening, so I’m guessing the donation might be a little more now.

By Jonathan Taylor on Unsplash

Bare Feet In The Supermarket

I’m located in Queensland which is a northern state, and it’s warm all year round. My home is close to the beach and our community is made up of tourists and surfers.

It’s not unusual to pop down to the local shops or supermarket wearing thongs (aka flip-flops) or bare feet. Most people don’t even look sideways or blink an eye.

By Gilles Seguin on Unsplash

Wearing Your Togs To Christmas Lunch

Christmas for us Aussies takes place at the height of summer. And depending on where you are in the country, it might be mildly warm or stinkin’ hot. If it’s stinkin’ hot (like where I am located) you are unlikely to be dressing up too much.

Plus, when you celebrate with close family and friends, nobody cares what you wear.

What are Togs?

Your Togs are your swimsuit.

Some Christmas celebrations take part by the pool or on the beach, hence the swimsuit! We’ll most likely be taking a dip between courses to cool off.

By Toni Cuenca on Unsplash

We Like To Eat Our Coat Of Arms

Many foreigners will find this utterly disgusting but we Aussies aren’t averse to chowing down on our national animals.

The Australian Coat Of Arms (also known as the Commonwealth Coat Of Arms) depicts two of our native animals, the kangaroo and the emu. Many tourists love to see the kangaroo in the wild and don’t understand that we are happy to BBQ that big, bouncy creature.

Kangaroo meat is actually very healthy. It’s high in protein and low in fat. It’s also very tasty. You can buy kangaroo meat as mince, bangers (aka sausages), steaks, and fillets.

Then there’s Emu meat. The emu is a flightless bird and is a cousin to the ostrich. Emu meat is high in iron and protein and is extremely low-fat.

While it’s more difficult to source emu meat, you might find it available at speciality butchers in the form of drumsticks, thigh cuts, mince and snags (aka sausages).

By David Clode on Unsplash

Some Aussie Terms Listed Above

  • AFL — Australian Football League.
  • Dead Horse — Tomato Sauce
  • Thongs — Flip Flops
  • Togs — Swimsuit
  • Bangers — Sausages
  • Snags — Sausages

More Aussie Terms You Need To Know WHEN You Come Visit

  • Arvo — Afternoon
  • Barbie — BBQ
  • Bikkie — Biscuit
  • Bottle-O — Bottle Shop
  • Cozzie — Swimsuit
  • Dunny — Toilet
  • G’day Mate — Hello Friend
  • Maccas — McDonald's
  • My Shout — This Round Is On Me!
  • Pissed — Drunk or Intoxicated
  • Servo — Gas Station
  • Sanga — Sandwich
  • Stoked — Pleased, Happy
  • Tinnie — Can of Beer
  • Woop Woop — Out in the middle of nowhere, or very far away

PS. Despite what you’ve seen on TV, an Aussie would never say “shrimp on the barbie”. We don’t eat shrimp, we eat prawns!

australia
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About the Creator

DeeDee

🇦🇺 Social Media Marketer, Pinterest Coach & Freelance Writer. Writing about Social Media, Travel & Wellness.

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