Aussie Food

G'day mates.

The food here in Australia is similar to California. They call their meals breakfast (or brekkie, because Australians love nicknames), lunch, and tea (this is their dinner). They eat pancakes, bacon and eggs, or cereal (called muesli) for brekkie; sandwiches and salads for lunch; and roasts, barbeque, pasta or fish for tea.

The most typical Australian food is barbeque. Barbeques are found everywhere: at home, on the beach, or in parks. They barbeque steaks, chops, sausages (called bangers), fish, or vegetables. This is where the famous line by Paul Hogan, who starred in the movie Crocodile Dundee, comes from. In a television advertisement to encourage tourists to come to Australia, he says, "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you." Some of the shrimp (called prawns) are really as big as the one in his hand and they are delicious.

Another typical food is meat pies which are eaten for lunch. Meat pies are small pies with meat, vegetables and gravy inside. This is what they look like.

One other food that is popular here is vegemite. It is a dark, salty paste made from yeast that they spread on buttered bread. They eat it for breakfast, lunch or snacks, like people in California would use peanut butter. Children here like it, but it has a strong taste and can be an acquired taste for non-Australians.

Good on ya, mates, and keep your questions coming.

Kookaburras in the Trees

In my friend's backyard there is a family of Kookaburras that has lived here for about 15 years. They are beautiful birds, but can be a nuisance because they will dive into their fish pond and eat the largest fish. As a consequence, they have to cover the pond with mesh to save the fish.

These birds are only found in Australia and one of the most interesting things about them is that their call sounds like they are laughing. The main purpose of the kookaburra's call is to let other birds know of its territory and boundaries.

A kookaburra lives in one place for most of its life. It also mates for life. Kookaburras use their strong beaks to catch prey, including fish, small snakes, lizards, rodents, worms, beetles and other insects.

To catch its food, the kookaburra uses a wait-and-pounce technique, taking up a post with a good view. When prey appears, the kookaburra drops straight down from its perch, its wings back, with beak ready to grab its dinner. Large prey items like lizards and snakes are bashed against a tree or a rock, to kill them and soften them up before they are eaten.

Here is a photo of a kookaburra and the sound that it makes.

This is what a kookaburra sounds like.

Bye mates.

(Information about the kookaburra, including the sound, is from the New South Wales Government Department of Environment and Climate Change website: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/plantsanimals/TheLaughingKookaburra.htm)