TRAVEL : Holiday types

Do you ride a 'roo? Quirky questions from would-be tourists ...

Joshua Crouthamel

Do you ride a 'roo?

"My wife and I enjoy walking tours. How long will it take us to get from Perth to Sydney on foot?"

Joshua Crouthamel

More about Weird:

Topics:

Weird Australia

We come from a land Down Under, and as such, we know the Outback as our own backyard. But what do people from other countries think of us antipodeans?

You've probably been cornered by a Yank overseas and been asked about your pet kangaroo, or taken a Pommie to task when, upon hearing you hail from Sydney, he's asked if you know his cousin Frank from Broken Hill.

An Australian tourism site once posted some of the most beguiling questions received by potential travellers to our fair shores, as well as potential answers. It's been an email favourite for years, but we thought it was worth another look. Any of these sound familiar?

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I've never seen it rain on TV. How do your plants grow? (UK)

A: We import all of our plants fully grown and then sit around watching them die.

Q: My wife and I enjoy walking tours. How long will it take us to get from Perth to Sydney on foot? (Canada)

A: How long did it take you to do your last 4,000 kilometre walk? Bring a bottle of water.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Australia? If so, can you send me a list of all of them in Brisbane, Cairns, Townsville and Hervey Bay? (UK)

A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: What is the weather like in Vienna in May? (USA)

A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney, and is milk available year-round? (Germany)

A: No, we are a peaceful nation of vegan hunters and gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Are the rattlesnakes in Melbourne deadly? Do you sell anti-venom at the grocery store? (USA)

A: Rattlesnakes live in A-mer-i-ca, which is where you come from. Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make great pets.

Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? If so, when? (France)

A: Occasionally, and if so than during our Christmas annual leave.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go in Australia? (USA)

A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

What's the craziest question you've been asked about the place you call home?

User comments

Well I have studied Australia since I was a kid, so I guess Im more knowledgable than most who travelled here. Can't say the same thing for the Aussie who asked what state the city of California belonged to. Or the young lady who thought "The Hills" was an actual reality show and that was what she thought all Americans were like. That was just sad.

Danny of Perth, obviously its your boss who is niave and dumb for having you work for him. if all you have to do all day is sit and read mail re stupid touristy questions then it is quite plain the you are not employed gainfully and have insufficient work to do. Be careful man, one day your dumb boss just might wake up to the fact that his company is carrying to much ballast, Unless of course, you are employed by the government and if so, all I can say is , Get off your *** man, I am paying your wage. this is not a personal attack on Danny, just something to take tongue in cheek.

Well from looking through the past few comments it seems we have enough 'special' ppl already here. So many ppl that can't even spell, let alon pass judgemnt on others. Drew from vic. Plz don't breed

Wat of Melbourne. I have had questions like these here asked in various travels of mine. Some friends coming from Scotland for a wedding in Sydney found it was $400 cheaper to fly in to Perth on the day before the wedding, than land in Sydney a few days before hand. They also said, "we'll just hire a car and drive to Sydney, should only take a few hours" lol. Also many Americans are amazed to hear that we celebrate Christmas on the same day as them. I have been asked if it ever rained here, but then heard an Aussie asking the same thing in LA.

one day i was online talking to all these americans when 1 pops up and asks me if i had electrisity in australia. i laugh and say no mate i have my computer pluged into the gumb tree out back. another person asked me if we had washing machines over there. if not how do u wash ur cloths. i say no we dont have washing machines but we have to have a lot of kids, cuz they go down to the river n splash in the water till the crocs go to them while the adults wash the cloths. it dosnt matter if we loose a kid cuz we got plenty more at home.

No! Unless you talk to them face to face. LOL There are so many ppl around the world who are ignorant and dumb. Perhaps it's heriditary or of from High society or of low society. Their level of education sometimes its a factor or maybe instead of feeding their brains with KNOWLEDGE ( Take note , NO one can steal your Knowledge,always remember that,knowledge is POWER! ) instead they are feeding their body with FATS. LOL lol

Any Aussie who has been living overseas for a long time will knoo that these questions are no hoax. I have lived abroad in many countries for many years, and it never ceases to amaze me what ridiculous questions people ask about Oz. My favourite was an English girl who sincerely asked 'Do you use cutlery in Australia?' to which I of course answered, 'well yeah, on special ocassions like weddings and stuff'. And if i had a dollar for every time I'd been asked if kangaroos jump around in the streets I'd be a rich woman. In saying that, an Aussie friend recently asked me if there were supermarkets in the Czech Republic, so we can't laugh at how little the world knows about us when we know *** all about the rest of the world. I could think of much worse things for the world to have misconceptions about. Nothing wrong with jumping kangaroos all over the streets...

swet1met said - we value our sheep and we don't eat our anthem as for speaking English its not our fault you cant hear properly open your ears and listen dumass. Well, swet1met, we value our sheep too, just not in the biblical sense. I have never seen anyone eat their national anthem - just how does one eat a song? I wouldn't call anyone dumass when you obviously don't know the difference between and anthem and an emblem, SFB.

These Questions a bit exaggerated...........Maybe,I remember when I arrived in australia many years a go my australian neighbour invited me for afternoon tea, i met a woman there that asked me if we had shops or supermarket in my native country Italy,and she asked me if we had any motor car i just looked at her in disbelief and i said yes we have shops and i asked if she ever heard of alfa romeo or lamborghini or ferrari to mention few, So you see ignorant people are every where not just in america, canada and england

Dear Loudar (do you mean Louder) of Sydney, You have obviously never ventured far from your house. I lived in Cloncurry (which is near Mt Isa in the middle of Queensland so you do not have to find it on a map) when I was a child and whilst there watched Kangaroo in the wild box each other and also attended a few of the travelling boxing shows where kangaroos and men boxed each other. Maybe if you had investigated the answer to the question instead of just using your limited knowledge on the subject you would not have given an answer which demonstrated your lack of real knowledge about your own country.

Write a comment

Email: *
Your email will not be shared with any third parties or published with your comment.
Nickname: *
Location: *

Subject:
*
Comment:
*
Maximum characters 1000

* Indicates required field

Comment guidelines

Avoid using:

Personal attacks
Irrelevant comments
HTML tags
Personal information
Offensive language
Text in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

See full comment guidelines

Comment guidelines X

Thank you for sharing your opinions with other users of NineMSN. People will find your comments more helpful if you include relevant information and avoid some common pitfalls.

Please note: All reviews and comments submitted are subject to moderation, NineMSN reserves the right to alter and / or remove any content that does not comply with usage guidelines.

What to include in your comment: